Page 34

Watching Gerard and Khalid together tore my heart open and then mended it back together again. Gerard’s hands shook as he touched his lover, his bond a torrent of emotion. Relief and joy at being freed from Rome. Awe, even a lingering sense of disbelief, that I would allow—even encourage—them to be together. Then he was lost. In the dusky scent of Khalid’s skin and the heat of his body.

Even though they’d waited for decades for me to free them, they’d been braced to serve me but never touch each other. Never be together again. That must happen in other courts if they believed even Esetta’s daughter might be so selfish as to demand they reserve all affection for me alone.

What kind of queen would demand such strict loyalty? Especially when I could have this. Khalid’s ragged groans as Gerard thrust inside him. Their legs tangled together. Their arms locked around each other. Not needing deep thrusts to rock the bed, not when their bodies rejoiced at simply touching again. Melding together, wrapped in safety and love and trust.

So fucking beautiful.

Gerard gripped Khalid’s chin, arching his neck to the side. Not for himself. For me. Offering his lover to me.

“Can we both feed on him?”

“Goddess, yes, please,” Khalid moaned.

“Only if you feed too,” Gerard said. “You’ll pass out too quickly if you don’t.”

Rik hadn’t climaxed yet, but he immediately lifted me up so I could slide down beside his side and reach Khalid without making them change positions. Pressing my wrist to his mouth, I waited until I felt his fangs in me. The grip of his jaws on my wrist. Holding me. A momentary dip in my system as he fed, though pumping him with my magic would only increase my own strength and pleasure when I fed on him again.

Gerard bit his neck in a deep bite for me and then moved his mouth down Khalid’s shoulder to make his own bite. His lips locked on Khalid, and his breath rushed out in a ragged sigh. I moved closer, licking the trails of blood. Sharing my breath with Gerard.

So fucking intimate to feed at the same time. Looking at each other. Stroking the same lover. Even though we weren’t touching, I could feel Gerard through the bond. His heartbeat galloping harder toward climax, threatening to erupt. He tried to wait. Wanting it to last. As long as possible. His shoulders and neck corded. His fingers digging into Khalid. His nostrils flaring with every breath.

But it was Khalid who came first. A hot wave that spilled over my abdomen, igniting my own need. Again. I locked my mouth over the bite and swallowed hard, pulling several long swallows from him, but I’d already drained him. Even if he was replenishing his strength by feeding, I didn’t want to damage him. Especially our first time together.

:Please,: Khalid whispered, his eyes shut, his bond drifting into oblivion. :Bite him so I can feel his pleasure.:

I rose up enough to reach Gerard’s neck and sank my fangs into him. Holding them both while he shuddered, groaning against Khalid’s skin, unwilling to give up his bite even while he came.

I wasn’t prepared for him to start to cry.

I held him tighter, pressing Khalid between us. Reaching around them so I could stroke Gerard’s back. “It’s alright now. You’re safe.”

:The queen of Rome didn’t let me see him. None of them. Then we lost Zharr and Lucian too. I was terrified I might never see him again. Let alone hold him. Taste him. Thank you, my queen. I can’t begin to thank you enough.:

Tears dripped down my cheeks. Khalid’s too. I squeezed them both harder. “I’m the lucky queen who gets to have you both in my arms.”

14

VORE

When Rik pulled our queen back into his arms, I shifted my focus to guarding rather than hoping I might be allowed to touch her next. At least not until he was finished. Sitting back on my heels, my hands still on my thighs, I waited for an order, while scanning the room for any threat. Especially while the alpha might be distracted.

We might be inside a blood circle but none of us would ever rely solely on the nest’s protection to keep our queen safe.

My sense of smell wasn’t as strong as Xin’s or Itztli’s, especially with all the mixed scents of semen and blood in the room. So I shifted my focus to listening. First, heartbeats. The alpha’s massive heart pumping the loudest, a steady drumbeat like galloping hooves. Our queen’s, lighter but so vital to my very existence. The other two Blood lying together, their rapid heartbeats slowing as they drifted into brief slumber.

Even without the bonds, I could tell from my ears alone that Guillaume stood guard at the door. There was always the slightest creak of leather when he moved, even just inhaling, from all the harnesses he wore to hold his blades. Even over the strong odors of sex, I could smell the dragon nearby too. Though not at the door. On the roof, perhaps. A hint of burning spices too. So Vivian was with him.

Though no surprise at all. Of course the winged Blood would be on the roof, even in the center of Paris. A car slowly passed by on the street outside. Surprisingly loud in the silence at this hour. Dawn was only two hours away. Maybe three. The night had weight to it still.

:Vore.: Rik tapped. Hard.

I snapped my focus back to the room. The bed. Our queen. Then him. His eyes were dark slits, though he didn’t seem to be angry so much as concentrating. :Alpha?:

:When I call you to our queen’s bed, I intend for you to focus on her, not your duties as a guard.:

My gaze flickered down the sinuous curves of her spine beneath her thick braid, coiled to one side. Her rounded buttocks grasped in his palms. His dick very firmly gliding inside her as he lifted her. Back to his face. :I stand ready when you’re finished, alpha.:

I couldn’t help the erection. But I wouldn’t act on it until invited.