Page 59 of Blood So Brutal

Huntyr’s own breath hitched. “I don’t want to be like them.” A tear fell down her face. “I don’t want to be like Asmodeus, either.”

“You’re nothing like them. Do you understand me?” My hand moved from her chest to her neck, my thumb brushing her sharp jaw. “You are the blood queen, my violent Huntress. You are the one who will rebuild this kingdom. Not him. Not my father.”

She waited a second longer, staring deep into my eyes, before breaking our connection with a sudden burst of laughter. She didn’t pull away, though, not as she said, “This has been your plan all along, hasn’t it?”

“What pla?—”

“You want me to become the blood queen and stand against the angels. You want me to stand against your father.”

I prepared to defend myself, prepared to convince Huntyr I was doing the right thing, that I was doing this to protect her, but I didn’t have to.

Because Huntyr closed the distance between us and jumped into my arms, slamming her mouth against mine before I could take my next breath.

Chapter 18

Huntyr

Wolf wrapped his arms around me and held my body to his chest as I kissed him. I latched onto him, pulling him as close as possible while our mouths clashed. He kissed me back, just as hungrily, just as needy. Just as fierce.

I wasn’t sure what changed, wasn’t sure when I started viewing myself as one of them, as one of the vampyres…

But Wolf? Wolf had a plan this entire time. Wolf knew all along what he was getting us into. It was why I had to marry him, why he couldn’t tell me any of it. He wanted me to become the blood queen, yes, but he had no intention to give his father the power.

Wolf gripped my hips and dug his fingers into my skin as his mouth moved against mine, his tongue pushing into me and pulling me closer, creating an addicting spell I couldn’t break.

This. This felt right. For the first time in fucking months, something actually felt good. I could sense it in my chest, could feel the happiness I had been missing for so, so long.

Wolf broke our kiss and pulled away. “Are you sure about this?” he asked, eyes wild.

I answered him by gripping his hair and pulling his head back down to mine. I wanted to forgive Wolf for some time now, but I couldn’t get over that fear, the fear that he was keeping more from me, that he was going to betray me again.

But this wasWolf. I knew in my bones that he was good, that he was mine, that he was true.

Wolf backed me up until I was forced to sit on the armrest of the iron throne. He gripped my waist again and hoisted me backward until my back met the cold metal, and then he nipped my lip between his teeth. “You belong here, Huntress,” he mumbled against me.

I gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him tighter, needing his body closer. “We both do,” I mumbled back. Wolf’s chest rumbled in response, a low growl slipping from him as he continued to kiss me, to ravish me.

His hands gripped my thighs as he spread them, making room for his own body between me and wrapping them around his waist. His body blocked the entrance of the tomb, blocked out the rest of the world. There was only him. There was only us.

Hot emotion built in my chest.

Wolf halted. “Do you feel that?”

My breath echoed off his. “Feel what?”

A second passed.

Then another.

“It’s your power, Huntress.”

He smiled against me but didn’t kiss me again. I tried to focus on what he was talking about, on the hot fuel that burned inside me, that pulsed with excitement.

I couldn’t help it. I found myself smiling too. “Do you think I’ll be able to summon wings with this power?”

Wolf raised an eyebrow. “What’s stopping you from trying?”

I pushed him away with one hand while focusing on that pull of power, focusing on the feelings Jessiah told me about earlier. We were in the depths of the ruins, deep in the blood kingdom, surrounded by possible enemies, but I hadn’t felt this at home in a long, long time.

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