Page 40 of Fated to the Vampire Prince
He lifted a shoulder, feigning indifference. “If I were my uncle, I’d very much like to see you. But, alas,” he said with a sigh, “I am not him, as he constantly reminds me, and therefore cannot give you very good advice.”
The sudden urge to find Bastien overtook every other thought in my head. He hadn’t fed from me last night, and I wondered why he hadn’t come to me tonight. I reached for my gloves, which were just inside the tent, and slid my hands into the fur lining, then laced up my boots. The younger vampire stepped out of my way as I left the warmth of the tent and shivered again. Despite the chill, the heat generated by the jealousy twisting in my stomach was enough to keep me warm.
“Which tent?” I asked.
He bit his lip before pointing to a small clustering of tents closer to the edge of camp. “One of those.”
Hugging my arms to my chest, I thanked him, then stormed off. Not caring if Bastien and his excellent hearing heard my approach as I crunched through the thin layer of snow. If he was feeding from another or… or doingotherthings, he could be just as embarrassed as I was.
Two of the tents had the curtains drawn, and with halting steps, I peered through the flaps of the closest one, but immediately backed away when I saw a man from Bastien’s council with another. Both of them shirtless. Definitely not feeding.
I curled my hands into fists and made my way over to the tent. My breaths became shorter the closer I got. Forcing myself to verify my worst suspicions, and satisfy the voice in my head that was telling me I was a complete and utter failure, I peered through the closed flap, and had to hold my breath at the sight before me.
Bastien.Naked from the waist down.Sitting on a cushion. Head tipped back. Fisting the hard length of flesh between his legs.
He wasn’t with anyone else, and he certainly wasn’t feeding. He was… well, I didn’t knowwhathe was doing. All I knew was that it was the most decadent thing I’d ever seen. The sight of him doingwhatever it was mademe clench with desire. I struggled to look away from the action of his hand. The way he massaged himself up and down in a fevered way. Like he was chasing something. Something I wanted to chase, too.
“Claire,”he whispered through our bond like he was speaking in my ear, pumping himself harder. Spreading his legs wider.
The way he said my name had every nerve standing on end. I gripped the tent flaps to steady myself, thankful that his eyes were closed and that he was completely lost in the moment.
“I’m going to come so deep inside you. I’m going to give you all of me.”
With those words ringing in my ears, Bastien moaned, and hot release spilled over his hand. I couldn’t look away. Transfixed by what he’d said and what he was doing. Continuing to work himself up and down.
I told myself to leave, to go back to our tent, but I was frozen in place. Chest heaving. Body trembling. The ache between my thighs pulsing.There was nowhere else I wanted to be.
The snow crunched beneath my feet, and his eyes flew open. For a heartbeat, neither of us moved. I could tell by the look of mild surprise on his face he hadn’t realized I’d been watching him. Which meant I had two options: turn around and leaveor stay.
Chapter 20
Vouloir
CLAIRE
Istood there, holding the tent flap for dear life, indecision holding me in place. I knew leaving wasn’t an option. There was no way I could pretend I hadn’t seen what I’d seen. I swallowed hard.
Or what I was still seeing.
Bastien didn’t move to cover himself. No. He was still gripping his thick shaft, slowly pumping up and down,up and down, then squeezing right around the tip in this slow, seductive rhythm that I wanted to learn. Like maybe hewasn’tfinished.
He never looked more like a prince than he did right now. Sitting on a cushion with his legs spread. Unashamed and unhurried. Like there was nothing to be embarrassed about. Like he didn’t care that I’d caught him with his pants around his ankles.
Moaning my name.
I needed to know why he’d opened our connection and said my name. The desire held me in place. Maybehe’d been imagining kissing me the way I’d been imagining kissing him. And if he was, maybe I was doing something right after all.
This was all for a good reason, I reassured myself. The more he trusted me, the closer I could get. And the easier it would be to kill him. Because that was still my mission. Right?
On my next shaky inhale, I removed the cloak Tyson had given me and dropped it in the snow, along with my gloves, knowing the sight of royal blue would infuriate him. Then parted the curtains and stepped inside the tent. Bastien tracked my movements as I closed the curtains and did up all the ties. I didn’t want an errant breeze to interrupt this conversation.
When I turned back around, my breath caught. He was beautiful. Spent and glistening. And the desire to touch him like he’d been touching himself made sweat collect along the base of my neck. I wanted to run my fingers over him and bring his hard length to my throbbing middle while he kissed me into oblivion. I didn’t know why, or where the idea came from, only that there was a primal need inside me to be filled with him. It was shameful, but I was already a ruin.
Bastien reopened the connection between us, which only drew me deeper into the fantasy. Pulling my attention into him and forcing me to unburden my worries as I listened to the sound of his voice.
“Why are you here?”
My stomach tightened and my muscles clenched.Why was I here?The answer was simple, yet very,verycomplicated. I couldn’t tell him that I’d been worried he was feeding from someone else or that he was in another’s tent. Lusting after her. I barely wanted to admit that I had those thoughts to myself because why should I care what he did so long as I could get information from him? But for whatever reason,I did.
