Page 63 of The Sanguine Selection
I rub my thumbs up and down the crease of her thighs pulling slightly to spread her pussy lips. I can see how she glistens. “Tell me, slave.” My voice is raspy, my mouthwatering as I move my thumbs to the sides of her clit and pinch the little bud.
She shouts, back arching as I soothe the ache with soft circles around her clit, then I sink a finger inside her. I fucking groan when I find her core already clenching around me, but pull my finger out and show her. “Too late, pet. You lied. Just look at your honey covering my fingers like the needy little thing you are. Your body craves us even if your mind does not. The proof is right here on my fingers.”
I make a show of sucking her arousal off my finger, my brother letting out a growl of his own. I am lost in the sensations of her and forget myself almost completely when the orchestra falls silent and the vibe of the room shifts.
Mikhail, Marek grumbles, and he juts his head to the stage upon which stands Lord Navar, one of my most trusted vampire lords and also the vampire on the top of my shit list.
I blink, and release my pet, closing her legs as Marek fixes her dress and we all turn our attention to Navar. He stands arrogantly, as all older vampires do, with his hands clasped behind his back. He gazes out into the crowd ensuring all attention is on him before extending his arms out to his sides. As he lifts them higher, a throne emerges from out of the stage floor and my dead heart lurches. Because it’s not just any throne.
It’shers.
Did you know about this?I demand from my twin.
Not a fucking clue, he grumbles back.How did he even find it? It was missing from the throne room upon our return.
I had assumed it was destroyed.Should we put a stop to this?
Marek is quiet for a moment, then says.Let’s see how this unfolds. I am curious what Navar has up his sleeve.
“What aren’t you two saying?” our pet asks quietly. “You’re doing that weird silent mind shit again, aren’t you?”
“You are a clever little thing,” Marek muses, skating his fingers up and down her arms.
She shrugs. “Not really. But seeing as you keep me locked in a cage in your rooms, you two are the only entertainment I have. And I… I’ve paid attention.”
I wish to ask her more but Navar clears his throat and fixes his gaze on us. “Tonight is a momentous occasion. After a century of slumber, our kings have arisen!” Libarynn members clap and shout out their fealty, the sound humming in my chest. He gestures towards the throne and I almost look away. Memories of what happened that night, of what we did—
Navar flaps his hands, signaling for everyone to quiet down. “Now, as a special surprise for our kings, I have had the throne of their previous Blood Slave refurbished. Consider it a token of my appreciation for your newest Blood Slave and my fealty to you. Let’s have her try it out, shall we?”
I don’t like this at all,Marek says, concern lacing his words.But we show no fear tonight, only power.
Then we should put a stop to this—I start but Marek cuts in.
And let him win? Prove us unworthy to remain in control? We will be a mockery.Marek is silent for a moment, then says,It is just a throne. It isn’t hers. Not anymore.
Then he grips our slave’s hips and lifts her from his lap before standing beside her. I follow my brother as he leads her by her leash up the set of steps at the side of the stage. Marek slips on the mask of a king and extends a hand to Navar, shaking it with enthusiasm. “This is most appreciated, and unexpected, Lord Navar. The crown will not forget this…gift you have bestowed upon us.”
Navar walks around the back of the throne and appears on the other side, then pats the seat with his hand. “Come on then, Blood Slave. Libarynn is waiting. The throne is yours.”
I attempt to squash the feeling of unease that settles over me. I glance at our slave and notice how uncomfortable she’s become, knowing it has nothing to do with the throne and everything to do with him.
But I squash my feelings down. She means nothing to me. Nothing but the blood in her veins. I should not care whether she sits on this throne or not. And as Marek tugs her leash, guiding her to the throne I know one thing for sure.
She’s not the only one who's been lying.
31
Oxana
Staringover the stage at Lord Navar, several things became clear to me at once. First is that a noticeable shift had taken place in the ballroom. And not just the unnerving attention of a room full of vampires all set upon me. It’s the tension, a thickness that I can almost inhale, a smokiness that clogged my lungs. It’s like the static generated before expelling itself in a bolt of lightning spearing itself in zigzagging lines across a darkened sky. It makes the tiny hairs on my arms raise in suspicion.
Secondly, the behavior of my kings is…off. They want to resist me, and seem to almost be desperate to keep me away but their actions tonight have been quite contradictory. And while they have…used me before in front of the eyes of others, it was at Sintara. And as fucked up as it is to say, I feel safe there with the kings surrounding me. But not here. Not in this strange castle with strange people. All the leering, the blatant lusting. How quickly they seemed to forget we were sitting in a public ballroom as they bared me and tasted me. It felt different. They lacked control.
Something is wrong.
Thirdly, and probably what I see most clearly, is Lord Navar himself. The bastard is almost smug as he stands beside a rather gaudy throne, patting the seat with his pale fingers. He disgusts me, from his voice to his actions, to the way he strokes that damn beard of his as if it were his pet dog. And how, right now, the kings seem oblivious to his blatant display of manipulation. Mikhail and Marek are not idiots, but for some reason, they either don’t notice, or are choosing indifference. I can’t fathom the latter as being true which makes this realization even more scary—they simply don’t notice.
“Come,” Navar coaxed, beckoning me with a single finger. “The throne is yours now.” I felt myself pressing away, backing as faraway from him as possible as the warning bells were ringing loudly in my head.
