Page 107 of Vow of the Undead
“You will agree to this and for tonight, I’ll do whatever you want.” Even saying it stirred something low in my belly. The pleasure he’d given me only left me aching for more.
His eyes darkened and the tips of his lips tilted. “If I agree to this, you’ll be my wife soon. I’ve no need to convince you.”
“But you want to.”
“And what do you want?”
Isn’t it obvious?If he didn’t hear my thoughts, the wetnessbetween my legs would expose the truth if he ran his hands up my thighs again.
His gaze roved over me, hungry, consuming, as needy as he’d left me since bringing me to the brink of full pleasure. “By the flush over your chest and that look in your eyes? Yes, it’s obvious, my wife.”
I didn’t fight it. At least he didn’t call me Lux.
“So?” I prodded, impatient both because I wanted answers and because I needed more from him.
He tilted his head. “I have a very specific idea that I’ve been thinking about since you sat on my lap in front of everyone.”
“You made me do that.”
“And now I’m going to make you come, on my throne, and on me.”
I barely breathed. I shouldn’t be so distracted with this, but the offer had worked. “Then you will agree to my terms?”
“I will do everything in my power to release them on your timeline. I swear to you.”
It would have to be enough. A king so desperate to control everything wasn’t going to give me another inch.
I nodded and, finally giving in to the need building within me, I slipped my hand in his and kept my grip on the stake with the other. He was malleable now, intrigued by my wants, and I couldn’t lie, I was more than intrigued whenever we touched.
Depraved thoughts slipped into my mind. Thoughts of his hands all over me, as I led him down the secret passageway and towards the throne room.
The candelabras burned so low now that several had extinguished. Wax dripped to the floor like a circle of runes surrounding the throne. Every nerve in my body buzzed with anticipation as I pulled Drak into the throne room. If he was to become my husband, perhaps this craving wasn’t so depraved, monster or not. It was selfish, yes, but not as disturbed as some of my past choices.
And if I chose to be honest with myself, every drop of pleasure from Drak shifted my thoughts away from Kayn.
Dim light flickered over the shining bronze throne. I stepped up to it and spun around to face him, dropping the stake at our feet. The hollow clatter echoed through the empty room.
“So, you have me here, what is it you’ve been imagining?”
My heart sped as he draped his hands on either side of my waist and inched me back step by step until the back of my legs stopped at the cold bronze. I reached out and linked my arms around his neck.
He dropped his mouth beneath my chin, brushing his lips over where my pulse thudded in my throat. Liftinghis lips to the shell of my ear he whispered, “You on the throne as my queen.”
“That’s it?”
The spread of his smile stretched against the soft skin at my neck. “Both of us on the throne. Now is the only time we’ll be alone in this room. Soon it will be filled with the council and our wedding guests.”
Nipping at my ear, his palm followed the curve of my torso, snaking to the ribbons at my back. He tugged, slowly, unraveling the tie and then pulling the ribbon looser and looser from each notch. My hands cupped the back of his neck, fingernails digging in more than I intended as every slow release of the ribbon tested my patience.
I’d denied this attraction to him since he framed my body on the back of that damn horse. Every nerve in my body begged for me to succumb to selfishness once again.
This desire was weak and stupid, but it was mine. The only thing that was mine, for right now. The Gods wanted me to dedicate my life to being a huntress. My father wanted the connection my marriage to the king would give him. Kayn wanted my soul.
I wanted a monster.
I wanted him to tear me apart and carve out the key I’d hidden inside me, unlocking every memory I’d buried. I wanted him to wipe my mind clear of the prickling nerves that tormented me with shame. Nerves that brought me to my knees, shaking and dizzy and spiraling with thoughts that I’d lost control of.
He was just disturbed and violent enough to do it—if it were possible. But hecouldmake me forget. For now. And despite every threat and the murder I’d witnessed in his bedchambers, he was safe.
