Page 128 of A Dance of Water

"I didn’t steal her from you." Tharen rolled his eyes.

Smoke filled the room, mingling with the tendrils that emanated from the red circle of fire that kept Azgorath trapped.

"No?" said the King. "Then you didn’t make a bargain with her to be the first to fuck her? Even knowing that I would lie with her in the Temples of Aedis?"

Tharen bared his teeth. "Not quite." His icy eyes quickly flicked to Graves, then settled on Luella, where she still struggled on his lap. "You know, Vale, all this miscommunication could be rectified if you simply asked."

Luella jabbed an elbow in Tharen’s stomach. "I already told him. It was my choice to give t-that away."

"Seeing as you cannot even say the wordfuck, I doubt you’d offer up your pleasure so freely," Vale said as he released Tharen.

Her cheeks grew pink, and Vale licked his lips as his dragon rumbled.

"Stop tormenting her," Azgorath hissed.

"Oh, I can assure you, beast," Bastian said lowly, "she’s not being tormented." He paused, resting his chin on his hand. "Not in the way you’re thinking."

The vampire’s words lingered in the room, and Azgorath curled his hand into a fist and punched it back through the wall behind him. A loud thud filled the room as his hand went right through it; dust fell from the hole, and Bastian sighed.

"Do you parasites think of anything besides sex?" the demon snarled.

Bastian’s eyes flashed, emotions flitting over his face before he donned a carefully constructed mask of sensuality and crooned a simple: "No."

Vale knew Bastian was lying. He could see it in his eyes. The vampire was fond of their Vincire. He just didn’t want to admit it aloud.

Graves tapped a long finger against the tabletop, silently drawing Vale’s attention.

"I was there, Vale. I wouldn’t have allowed her to be taken advantage of. Not in that way." Graves held Vale’s eyes as he spoke, and Vale found truth in them.

He nodded once.

That truth hurt more than he was willing to admit: she had freely given away her pleasure to Tharen.

His dragon’s hiss turned to a long, keening rumble.

Mine, mine, mine.

She’s ours.

Don’t touch.

Take her away, claim her, make her ours first.

His fingers tightened on Luella’s shoulder, and he notched a finger under her chin, tilting her head up. She could not see him, but he could see her. He watched the way her teeth nibbled on her lower lip, the slight flush to her cheeks, the way her hands curled in Tharen’s shirt as if she didn’t know if she wished to pull him closer or push him away. In her struggles, Graves’s cloak had pooled to her waist, leaving her upper half, clad only in her silken robe, bare to his eyes.

This creature had slighted him. She deserved to pay just as much as Tharen.

Vale rubbed his finger harshly over her bottom lip, pulling it free from between her teeth. She shuddered under his touch, the bond between them roaring to life, much like the rain that had picked up.

He continued rubbing her mouth as he said, "Tell me, exactly, what you gave him"—he leaned down and let his lips brush over her ear—"darling."

Luella inhaled sharply. "T-Tharen wanted to be the first to…"

She trailed off, and Vale tsked.

"How else would you be able to do what is expected of you, if you cannot even say the words? Say it," Vale demanded.

Her hand shot up to clutch her chest as the Binding mark forced the words past her lips:

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