Page 16 of Queen of the Wicked
His gaze cuts to me, wounded. “Itwasbetrayal, Adelasia. He chose to become something else when things became difficult, knowing I couldn’t follow him. Ihatedhim for it. The momentI felt it through our bond that he had changed, I had a vision of him at the Well, and I rejected him from that moment on.” He takes a deep breath. “I didn’t know until he told you that they took payment from him in the way that they did. I thought he stayed away from me because he was hurt that I rejected our bond. I didn’t know he was a prisoner, a slave.”
The way his voice breaks on that last word tells me there’s still love tangled in the hate. Something he’s buried so deep he’s convinced himself it’s gone, but it’s there. Quiet. Aching. Unresolved.
I press my palm gently to his chest, feeling his pain beneath my fingertips. “And yet,” I say softly, “he has always watched over you with Cassius.”
Kaius opens his eyes, crimson gaze locking with mine, something wild and unspoken flashing there. His next words are quiet, but they cut deep.
“Yes, he was. But that doesn’t make the pain any less heavy to bear.” He lowers his head and wraps his fingers around mine. “I’m sorry Adelasia, for everything you’ve been through since I came into your life.”
“I’m not,” I whisper back. “I’m here Kaius, because I love you enough to pull myself out of the grave for you. I will always love you that much, but at some point, we have to move forward. All of us. And you don’t have to bury Rowan for me to love you.”
Something inside him fractures in that moment. I can feel it like it happened inside my own soul, or like I felt the splinters beneath my own palm. He hesitantly rises a hand to cup my jaw with a tenderness that makes my throat burn and my eyes misty.His thumb grazes my bottom lip as if trying to confirm it’s the same one he’s kissed so many times before.
He gently pulls me closer, forehead to forehead, and for a moment, we breathe the same air.
“You are everything to me,” he whispers hoarsely, finally letting those vulnerabilities spill out of him. “I can’t lose you.”
I kiss the corner of his mouth. “You won’t.”
For the first time in weeks, he truly melts into me instead of holding up his walls like a fortress.
For a little while, the silence doesn’t seem so heavy anymore.
He starts by running his fingertips along every inch of skin he can reach, avoiding the places he knows I like the most. His mouth is hot against my collarbone as he nips just enough to make me slowly bleed.
He licks a drop of blood, sighing at the taste. I climb into his lap and grind against the hardness there, giving us just enough to feel but not so desperate to chase the end.
He savors my body like he savors my blood, siphoning my life through teeth marks that are permanent against my throat. I crave it just as much as he does. He squeezes the tender curve of my breasts as his mouth moves slowly down between the valley towards my belly button.
I lean down, slowly getting comfortable on my back as he works his way down. When his tongue slips through my center, I bite my lip knowing we’re not alone in this palace.
“No,” Kaius whispers against my heat. “Let him hear you.Let him know what’s mine.”
Later, when we lie tangled in the sheets, his breathing finally slow and even, I stare up at the carved ceiling above us and trace the faint humming in my veins into patterns on his chest, like a new language that is yet to be discovered.
And somewhere, far beneath the surface of my thoughts, I swear I can hear laughter.
It sounds like Eternity.
No.
It sounds like…
Me.
Thirteen
Adelasia
The moonlight casts a silver sheen across our bed, painting Kaius’ bare chest in soft light. His breaths are steady, his fingers lazily drawing circles along the curve of my spine. I feel him. Not just touching me, but reaching for me—longing for me. Trying to understand this strange new dynamic to our love as I try to understand this person I’ve become.
But as Kaius touches me with the most tender of hands, something inside me feels unsettled. My limbs feel heavy, my chest feels tight, and my throat is on fire. I gently stir under Kaius’ arm, but everything starts to blur.
“Adelasia?” Kaius asks through the haze. Then, concern laces the lingering satisfaction in his voice. “What’s wrong?”
My lips move, but no sound follows. My lungs burn with effort and by throat feels raw and swollen. I feel…parched. Hungry. My insides twist, my veins ache with a foreign hollowness. I curl into myself, shivering despite suddenly feeling unbearably hot.
Kaius sits up, taking me with him, and he holds my shoulders up with his hands. He takes a long look at my face, and eventually, he sighs. “You’re hungry. Your eyes, they look like a vampire’s when they’re hunting.”
