Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 99529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Memories of his bite danced in my head—the sting of them slicing into my skin, the burst of pleasure as they sank deeper, and the all-consuming bliss as he drank.
My blood hummed.
The marks on my skin gleamed, illuminating the space around us. My body yearned for his bite, but my mind wanted its privacy. “Put your fangs away.”
“No.”
“P-please.”
“I must. The need burns within me.”
“Fight it.”
“I almost lost you. I can’t fight it.” He pierced me with them, hard and unyielding. They ripped into my neck.
I screamed.
Stinging pain exploded in the area. My blood rushed to him within seconds as if at his command.
“No!” I beat at his chest, scratched his face, and struggled to get away.
His arms locked around me like steel. And then my traitorous body reacted with lust.
Dear Ambi. It feels so good.
My nipples perked. My clit ached with desire. But still I fought against him as a longing for sex rose in my core. “Don’t do it! Don’t even—”
It’s done. His voice sang into my mind, laced in beauty and harmony.
I hated it. Tears spilled out of my eyelids.
He retracted his fangs and leaned back. A neutral mask cloaked his face. Dots of my blood decorated his lips.
I shivered.
He licked his lips.
I peered at him through a blurry view of tears. “Are you happy?”
His gold eyes shifted to red. Yes.
“You’re right. You’re not the vampire that walked into the Quiet King’s bedroom.” I slapped his face as hard as I could.
Boom.
His face tilted to the side and then he turned it back to gaze at me.
I climbed off of him, feeling weak again, like I could pass out in seconds. “You are a monster!”
A dark growl left him.
“I cannot believe you did that!”
“I needed to.”
“You didn’t.”
“I lost you.”
“It was my right. My mind.”
He roared, “Your mind is mine!”
Shivering, I stumbled back.
“Where are you going?”
“Why not plunder through my brain and figure it out?” Shivering, I staggered away, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around me. “That’s the last time you bite me without my permission.”
Fast, he leaped out of the tub in a blur of motion.
Oh no!
Terror ripped through my heart.
I backed up as he landed before me with a thump.
Don’t hurt me.
He stepped my way.
Clop. Clop.
His muscles ballooned. Water dripped from them and the long cock that hung between his legs.
“X-xander?”
He roared. “Be careful, queen!”
“Or what?” I stepped back. “I think you’ve done enough for tonight. Don’t you?”
He sneered but said nothing else.
“You bit me without my permission.”
“I needed the bond!”
“And I needed you to respect my privacy.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
“You’re right. I’m not.” He ran his fingers through his sandy blond-and-black strands. “And I’m not myself anymore—”
“No, you’re not,” I said through clenched teeth, turned around, and headed away. “When you’re Xander again, then come back to me.”
He called after me. “And if he’s gone forever?”
“Then I’m gone, too.” I disappeared through the doors.
His rumble came from behind me so loud I almost stumbled from the quake of the ground.
His voice stabbed into my head. Not even death will keep me from you!
“Then I hope I don’t have to put that to a test!” I called back.
Weakness overtook me. I had almost died. Surely, I needed to rest.
I stumbled to his rainbow-covered bed and collapsed onto it.
I’ll just rest for a minute.
Water coated my waist and below.
I yawned.
Just a few minutes.
In the tub, adrenaline had burst through me from one taste of his blood, but now I was weary and full of dread.
He bit me without my permission. He held me to him, ignored my struggling, and drank until the mental connection reformed.
I traced a huge rainbow at the center of the bed with a lazy finger, struggling to keep my eyes open.
What else will he do? How much more will he take? Will I ever stop him if he goes too far?
No. Xander’s voice slid into my thoughts. Not if I don’t desire it.
Chapter 13
Death Lingering
Ian
How many Vampire Kings does it take to change the oil in a lantern?
Five. One King to kill the other and the other and the other and the other, until the last one is standing covered in blood and ready to change the lantern’s oil.
Smiling to myself, I put on my leather costume and stormed out of Queen Regina’s bedroom.
The sitting room’s coarse carpet scratched my feet.
Where is everyone?
The fake queen had left. Only dominas and musicians remained in the sitting room, their faces creased with worry. The dominas huddled in the corner as the musician strummed his guitar with shivering fingers.
“Sir.” A half-naked male servant jumped up and came to me. “Queen Regina asked me to keep you here.”
I slammed my fist into the center of his chest. He traveled through the air, screeching. His body crashed into the floor.
I continued. “She’s no queen of mine.”
“Lord and ladies dance under the moons,” the musician sang. “Come to all and—”