Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
“It violates Covenant to undermine her authority in her own land,” Alek reminded me. “If we don’t catch the conspirator and Genevieve loses territory—or worse, her throne—we’re fucked.”
I nodded. Peace treaties were often easy to make—as the Covenant had been—but a bitch to keep.
“You’re not violating it. I am.” Jocelyn shrugged. “So it would really be more of a coup since I’m the heir and all.”
“Not helping,” I whispered her way.
“Are you more powerful on your land? Would it help you for a locator spell?” Alek asked.
“Like I’m actually going to answer that.” Jocelyn arched a brow and her hair flew higher.
Alek glanced between the two of us. “Fine. do it your way, Jocelyn. I owe you after everything you’ve done to help find Avi, even if you are the one who helped her sneak out in the first place.”
Jocelyn swallowed, but her chin rose.
“If it doesn’t go your way, then tell Genevieve,” he ordered my way. “She’s a powerful ally, but she’d be a terrifying enemy.”
“Agreed.”
“Good luck, Jocelyn,” he said in way of dismissal. “Have you fed?” he asked me, putting his hand on my shoulder and leading me toward the door.
I nodded. “A couple of hours ago.”
“So you’ll be okay for another few days in witch territory if it comes to that.” His eyes bored into mine, looking for the truth.
“I’ll be fine.” I left out the part where the feeder’s blood had tasted like sawdust and it had taken every ounce of my willpower to drink. A hungry vampire in the middle of witch territory would be an unparalleled disaster, especially since witches never consented to feeding. Ever.
“I can sense hunger, brother,” he warned quietly. “Be careful.”
I nodded, unwilling to lie to my king and tell him the hunger he sensed had been beating at me for days, that I still wasn’t sated despite the feeding. My appetite sure as hell wasn’t going to compromise our mission.
We parted, and I shut the door, turning to find Jocelyn’s hair still rippling around her. “Come on, you can’t be that pissed at me.” I gestured to the hair.
She scoffed. “You wish you had this effect on me.” Her cocky smile wavered. “It’s honestly an energy thing.”
I cocked an eyebrow at her.
She blew out a frustrated breath. “I got angry, my powers rose, ready to defend me, and now I have an...excess of energy. So it’s going to do this until I cast a small spell or run a mile.” She shrugged. “Most witches learn to control it by now, but the more power you have, the harder it is to keep it on a leash, and I’m…” She held out her hands, palms up. “I’m me.”
“You’re the most powerful of your kind,” I guessed quietly.
Her mouth opened, but my phone rang, interrupting the moment. I answered it out of habit and lifted it to my ear. “Gloria?” What the hell had I been thinking, seeking out a match with everything going on?
Jocelyn’s eyes brightened and an impish smile tweaked her lips.
Fuck me, I wanted to run my tongue along the seam of those lips, to touch and taste—
“Benedict! I’m so glad you answered,” Gloria replied. “I have a couple of names for you.”
“Right.” I loosened my tie slightly. Fighting leathers would have been appropriate for searching lycan lands or demon lands, but Genevieve had always demanded a certain level of courtesy, so suit it was. “Who do you have in mind?”
Jocelyn’s smile widened and she came closer, rising up on her toes to hear the matchmaker respond. I liked the way she smelled way too much to force her away.
“I was thinking perhaps Victoria Matthews?” she suggested.
Jocelyn’s eyebrows rose and she leaned in.
“Victoria?” I warned Jocelyn with a glare, but she only came closer, her hand resting on my shoulder. “Actually, we’ve...seen each other a few times and there’s just no chemistry there.”
I’d fucked her over the banister after an equinox ball about a decade ago, and that was about all I remembered of the encounter.
“No chemistry?” Gloria repeated with disappointment. “What a pity.”
What a pity, Jocelyn mouthed, her smile turning purely devilish.
“Hmm,” I said in response.
“How important is...chemistry to you?” Gloria asked, and I pictured her taking notes. I switched my phone to the other ear and hoped Jocelyn got the point.
“Yes,” Jocelyn whispered in my ear, her lips grazing my skin. “How important is chemistry, Benny?”
Heat stroked down my spine. Damn, if my body went off with just her lips on my ear, how would it feel to have them wrapped around my cock?
“It’s...very important,” I managed to say. What the fuck? Was I fifteen over here? Unable to think, to talk, because a female was this close? “I want a match that will last forever, not just a friendship.”
“Noted,” Gloria replied.
Jocelyn slid around my body, the tips of her breasts grazing my chest. I’d had this woman under me on the training mat more times than I could count. I’d had her in submission holds, her ass pressed to my dick, and yet this moment pushed me to madness like no other.