Page 73 of Midnight Queen

The erratic heartbeat I had just seconds ago freezes in my chest, along with every other one of my muscles. Locked in place, I gape at him. “What?” I repeat like an annoying parrot that only learned two words.

Silas releases my chin so he can gently cup my face. “You’ll be thirty-one… the same age as I was when I turned.”

My hand releases his swollen cock so it can grip the countertop so I don’t fucking fall over.

“You’ll do it? You’ll turn me?”

“Yes,Mon Soleil, I will turn you.”

“What changed your mind?” I ask, my head tilting.

“It’s more of awho. Duke pointed some things out to me, one of the biggest ones being that I’ve been allowing what happened to Cecily to control my life—but also many others’ lives. There will be a memo going out in a few hours that describes the revised law.” Silas rests his forehead against mine. “It still scares me to death, but I love you, Quincey, and I want more than one lifetime with you. I selfishly want to claim all your years as mine.”

“I love you too, and that’s why I don’t want to wait six years for our eternity to start.”

Silas kisses my forehead before pulling back so he can look at me. His hands slowly trace lines down my body. “No, this is the only offer you’re getting. As selfishly as I want your years, I also want your warmth for a little while longer.” His fingers brush against the sun pendant that I can’t figure out how to remove—not that I’d want to. “I miss the sun, Quincey. You will always be mine—human or not—but I want you to be able to enjoy the sun for a little while longer before you’re confined to the night like me. I want you to enjoy the thrills of being human for a few more years.”

“You know, I’m quite fond of the moon myself.”

His lips twitch like he finds humor in that. “Good, because the moon will be your constant companion six years from now.”

My body jumps when his fingers trail downward once more. “You’re not going to budge on this six years thing, are you?”

“No,” he says simply. “I will give you everything you could possibly want.Anythingelse, I would do it in a heartbeat, but this is the one thing I cannot.”

He’s given me everything I could ask for and this is the one thing he’s asked of me. I can wait for him. “Six years really isn’t that long, is it?”

Silas takes hold of my thighs and drags me to the edge of the counter. “Those few years mean nothing when I’m promising you eternity.” The head of his cock glides through my wet center, bumping against my clit.

“And I promise to love you each and every one of those days.”

He slowly sinks inside of me, filling me until he’s completely stolen my ability to breathe.

It’s okay, though.

Silas has already stolen my heart; he might as well take my air too.

But is it really stealing when it’s freely given?

Nothing has been calm or tranquil since I first met Silas. There was always something happening, but for the last three weeks, everything has been peaceful.

Eerilyquiet.

And while that seems like a good thing and something I should probably be thankful for, I find myself feeling anxious. Like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Or more like I’m waiting for the next attack to happen.

Since the impromptu meeting at the church, there haven’t been any more deaths at Silas’s properties.

At any given second, I’m expecting a bomb to go off somewhere in the city or for armed men to show up at the house again. I just know in my gut that something bad is coming.

“What’s wrong with your face?” Duke asks, pulling me away from my dark thoughts.

“Nothing is wrong with my face,” I argue, catching the orange ball he tosses back at me. We’ve been doing this for an hour and while it seems like a mundane task, the repetitive motion is helping Duke with his balance and coordination. “I’m just thinking.”

After getting out of the intensive care unit, he was moved to a rehabilitation center close by. They’ve been doing physical and cognitive therapies to help him regain his strength and mobility on his right side.

I’ve tried to come by every day to spend time with him and if I can’t make it, Della is here. We’re all doing our part to make sure Duke knows he’s not alone. There are days that I can see the sadness and doubt in his eyes. Those are the days that I cheer him on most. If he can’t believe in himself, I will do it for him.

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