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“Good.”

Her fingers slid into my hair and tightened at my nape.

I put one hand around her waist and pulled her against me. The other settled along her jaw. Her pulse jumped under my thumb, but she moved closer and lifted her mouth.

I kissed her.

The first touch was slow. I’d imagined taking her mouth since she walked into the throne room with a torch raised and blood on her hand. The reality was warmer and far less careful.

Bryony opened for me. I angled her head and kissed her deeper, keeping my fangs away from her lips. Her grip tightened in my hair as my tongue met hers.

She tasted of tea and the bread she’d eaten earlier. I could also taste how close her blood ran to the surface. Hunger stirred, controlled and separate from the need pulling her closer between my thighs.

The chain at my waist tightened. I ignored it.

Bryony pressed against my chest. Her breasts softened against me, and the sound she made went straight through my body. I moved my hand from her waist to the curve of her arse and held her where I wanted her.

Her hips shifted forwards.

She pulled at my hair, and I let one fang touch her lower lip. No bite. No blood. The small scrape made her shiver in my arms.

I wanted her on my lap. I wanted the chain gone and a locked door between us and the rest of Harrowmere. Neither was available, so I took the kiss until my control began to thin.

Then I eased my mouth from hers.

Bryony followed for half an inch before stopping. Her lips were swollen, her cheeks warm and her breathing uneven.

I hadn’t kissed anyone since the night Adrian took Harrowmere. I still remembered how. Bryony made me want to continue until the chain broke or the court dragged me away.

“Was that another vampire ability?” she asked.

“No. That was entirely me.”

Her mouth curved. “Good.”

I kissed the corner of it once and made myself release her. The chain had gone rigid behind me, and hunger was beginning to notice how close her throat remained.

“We need to go back to the sitting room. The court is pulling harder, and I’d prefer to end this lesson while I still remember what we were discussing.”

Bryony glanced down between my legs. “Your attention appears to have moved on.”

“I can manage several subjects.”

She laughed and stepped back far enough for me to stand, her face still warm as we left the pool.

We returned along the silver path with our hands linked. The waist chain loosened as we reached the sitting room, although it didn’t give back the ground it had allowed me to cross.

Harrowmere had added a plate of sliced apple and cheese to the table. Bryony sat in the chair near the fire and started eating. I lowered myself to the rug beside her, where the chain could lie loose across my lap.

The red rose I’d taken from the garden remained in my hand. I put it beside her plate.

She touched one petal. “You said becoming Blood King changed some things. Which parts of you were already vampire, and which came with the title? Give me the useful version.”

A direct question deserved a complete answer. I gave her the useful version without a history of every king who had carried the same powers.

“The senses are vampire,” I said. “So are the fangs, strength, speed, healing and need for blood. Compulsion is vampire as well. Becoming king tied me to Harrowmere. I can feel its wards, open some of its doors and draw power from the court when it recognises my authority. Sharing my senses with you comes from the link Harrowmere made between its heir and king.”

Her gaze moved from my eyes to the chain across my lap. She was sorting what belonged to me from what the court had added, exactly as she’d separated hunger from desire.