Page 65 of Fated to the Vampire Prince
The words were like sandpaper on my tongue.
Neither of us said anything for a long moment. She simply studied me, like she was trying to solve a complicated problem. “What about you?”
“Whataboutme?” I asked. Slowly, haltingly, her hand found my shoulder, pushing me back against the couch. “What are you doing?”
She didn’t answer, except with a look. Then she slid her leg over my lap, easing herself down on me. Straddling me. The tips of her breasts pressed against my shirt. My cock straining against her heat.
Every instinct in me howled to take her. To mark her. To stop resisting. All I could do was look up at her like I was staring into the face of a goddess.
“You could be my first.”
Chapter 30
Dites-moi de partir
CLAIRE
Bastien was staring at me like a war was raging behind his eyes. I hadn’t forgotten what I’d heard him say last night when I caught him touching himself. The way he fisted his hard length with my name on his lips.
“Claire, I’m going to come so deep inside you. I’m going to give you all of me.”
Now, after watching Tansy and Devlinn, I knew exactly what that meant—what it looked like and how good it would feel. It made me lean into him, pressing that hardness against me and exhaling a luscious breath as images drifted in my mind. His breath mingled with mine in the inches between our lips. His intoxicating scent of bergamot and fresh pine winding its way through my senses.
Carefully, I set my palms on his chest, letting them mold to hard muscle beneath his vest. He reacted to my touch, inhaling deeply. Muscles flexing.
“Claire.” My name spoken so softly, so sweetly, and laced with so much desire. It lifted goosebumps across my bare skin.
It was time to step into my power.
My fingers danced to the first button on his vest, and I pushed it through the hole. He didn’t move to stop me. Didn’t speak. Just stared at me as I worked until it was open. Next, I untied his cravat, letting the fabric slip free of his throat. Watching the cords of muscle flex in response to my touch.
All the while, his gaze remained locked on me.
The shirt was next. I freed the first button, then the second, until, at last, I saw his necklace—the one with the pulsing dark red stone. I ran my finger over the edge of the gem, which was set inside a gold pendant and was warm despite the cool temperature of his skin. A wave of déjà vu settled over me, leaving me lightheaded. The memory of a kiss I couldn’t remember tingled on the edges of my consciousness.
“What is this?” I asked, my eyes crinkling at the corners as I tried and failed to remember something that was just beyond my ability to recall.
He rolled his lips together. “My bloodstone.”
I’d only seen it twice. The first time was at the Sanguination Ball when it was glowing through his shirt. The second time was…at the bathhouse. Funny. I’d grown up around witchcraft—crystals and moon magick went hand in hand—but I’d never seen a gem pulse.
The choker around my throat squeezed my airway as if in warning: say nothing about your past.Or else.I shook my head to clear the thought, refocusing on him.
“Does it always pulse like this?” I asked.
Bastien studied me for a moment, his full lower lip caught between his teeth. After a few seconds passed, he said, “A bloodstone beats with the pulse of a vampire’s mate. So long as they draw breath, it beats.”
My gaze sank back to the stone while my thoughts spiraled.Was this why he kept pushing me away? Because he had a mate? Jealousy curled inside my stomach at the thoughtof someone else being fated to Bastien. I didn’t understand why. It’s not like I cared for him. I had plans to deceive him. But all the same, something inside me despised the idea of him touching or kissing anyone…but me.
“Do you know who she is?” I asked.
He hesitated. Then nodded once. “I do.”
A chill swept over my skin. “Does she know you’re fated to her?”
He regarded me with that tormented expression. “I’m not sure that she does.”
I looked away as a strange mix of emotions tumbled inside me. Who was this person? And was she the reason why he looked so tormented? Because he was here with me even though he was fated to another?
