I’m entangled in blankets and in Samael’s arms, enjoying this time with my mate when a knock on the bedroom door interrupts us. Samael is a blur as he runs to open it. Two vampires in red and black uniforms – the colours I’ve noticed all the workers in the castle wear – are on the other side of the door and present Samael with a large box and a glass vase full of flowers.Once he thanks them and closes the door, he returns to me, carrying the deliveries. “These are for you my love,” he says sweetly, handing me the vase; the glass work is beautiful; intricate floral designs make it almost as lovely as the flowers it holds. Roses, baby’s breath, snowdrops, and poinsettias are overflowing out of the vase, the aroma coming off them is alluring. I inhale the scent of the flowers deeply, and smile at my wonderful mate.“Thank you Sam,” I say, using his nickname again. I place the vase on the bedside table and throw my arms around him. “No one has ever gotten me flowers before, I love them!”
Samael places a kiss on my cheek, and we exit the bedroom. The walk to the banquet hall is long; but he keeps our pace slow for me, as if he couldn’t care less if we were late. The heels take some getting used to but are actually not too difficult to maneuver in.For the first time in my life I feel elegant and beautiful. I don’t even have to remind myself to smile as we enter the banquet room, my face is split open in a wide grin.The way the vampires in the room all go silent and stare at Samael and I in shock sends a strange kind of thrill through me, it’s almost gloating.“*It’s because all the women here wanted him, Aurora. These banquets were taking place so he could choose a queen, and now he’s walking in here with you, someone who wasn’t at the first two banquets and who isn’t even a vampire,*” Danika reminds me. The thrilling feeling grows stronger as I realize it’s jealousy in the eyes of almost every female in the room, and even some of the males. And they are all so stun
I motion to Soleil that I want to stop, and we make our way off the dancefloor. “Where’s Samael?” I ask Dimitri immediately.“He left. Former king came, something about… something.” He reaches out for Soleil, “Come here you” he mutters, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close.“His father came by, said he needed to discuss something to do with the council meeting tomorrow,” Adrian says, and I gratefully turn away from Dimitri and Soleil who are getting more and more explicit, to face Adrian and Adelaide.“Oh,” I wonder what was so important.The five of us end up chatting for a little while, and I realize I am growing extremely fond of this new little family I’ve discovered. Adelaide soon gets pulled away by some witches from her coven, and Dimitri begins trying to convince Adrian to go in on a boat with him once they get their signing bonuses. A boat? I look at Soleil questioningly. “He likes to fish,” she explains. Oh, that makes sense.As the two men continue argu
My eyes are glued to Aurora’s body as she sways to the music. I’m about to join her on the dance floor when my father approaches.“A word please, son?” he says.“In the morning, father,” I sigh at him. He seriously wants to talk now of all times.“This is about the council meeting tomorrow; I am afraid it cannot wait.” He does look worried, but I refuse to let Aurora out of my sight and watching her enjoy herself is too precious to miss.I shake my head and my father’s eyes narrow, he grinds his teeth and lowers his voice, “If you want your queen to be accepted in this kingdom, you will come with me, now.”I sneer at him, was that a threat? I look at Adelaide, who rolls her eyes, “Yes, I’ll keep an eye on her.”I turn to my father, giving him a hard glare. “Lead the way.”He walks through the crowd to the front doors of the banquet hall, and I follow him out of the room and halfway down the corridor before he heads into a hidden supply closet built into the wall.“If anything happens
I exit the portal with Aurora, and immediately pull her to me, claiming her lips with mine. She moans into my mouth, and I feel my cock straining against my pants, her little noises make me crazy, and I lift her up, bringing her to sit in one of the armchairs in front of the fire.She sinks into the plush material with a relaxing sigh and I leave her for a moment to fill a bowl with warm water from the sink in the bathing room and retrieve a soft hand towel from the closet. I lay the bowl on the floor and kneel before her. She looks down at me while I begin removing her shoes, which I know have caused her some discomfort throughout the night.“There should be some clothes for you in the closet. I had a new wardrobe ordered for you, but we can go shopping to pick out things you actually want as soon as possible,” I inform her, hoping the clothes Lilith, Rhiannon, and Briannon picked out are to Aurora’s tastes.“I’m sure they will be fine; I don’t know much about clothes. I’ve always ju
I rush from the room, wanting to make it back to Aurora as fast as possible, and cross the castle, arriving in the kitchens in no time at all. Evelyn is gone for the night but one of her team leads and a few cleaning staff are still here. The rest of the workers are probably still tending to the banquet.“Holy Nyx, you’re the king.”I give the young kitchen worker a smile. “Yes, I know I do not usually come here directly, but I have a special request.”The girl straightens up importantly. “Yes, of course. Anything you like!”“What is your name?” I ask her.Her eyes widen, “Sibyl, your highness. Though most people call me Sibby,” she chuckles awkwardly.“Ok Sibby, may I please make a request to be delivered to my room? My new queen is very hungry after a long night.”“Of course, your highness! What’s her favourite food? I can whip it up in no time!” Her wide eyes are eager, she picks up an apron off the counter and ties it around her waist hurriedly.“This may be an odd question, but d
I’ve been a nervous wreck all morning. The council meeting is in the early afternoon. I've spent the last hour with Heidi and Harlow in their new room. They never stop smiling, and it hurts my heart that Lucien’s hold over them kept them from being happy.Samael had to meet with Seth around dawn, so I had breakfast with Adrian and Dimitri, before coming to check in on the girls. My two new guards have not let me leave their sight since Samael left us earlier, they currently occupy positions on either side of Heidi and Harlow’s bedroom door, watching as the girls make me over.A little while after arriving here, I complimented Harlow on her makeup, and ever since I’ve been forced to sit in a chair in front of their mirror as they work products into my hair and apply various powders and creams to my face.“Almost done,” Heidi mutters, while Harlow slides a pale pink gloss across my lips.A few moments later, I’m finally allowed to look up at myself in the mirror. “Holy fucking shit.” I
“Goddess fuck, Dimitri!” I panic and rush to him instead, bypassing Adrian who looks uncomfortable, but otherwise perfectly fine. “Aurora doesn’t need guards,” he groans, “She’s good with whatever the fuck that was.”“That was an accident,” I say worriedly, helping him stand up straight and give his back a quick apology rub, “I’m so sorry,” I mutter awkwardly, and he gives me a weak thumbs up.I feel terrible; I hate that apparently my magic comes at a price, and I hate that I lose control of it so easily. I hate that I have to hurt people to use it. I didn’t even mean to draw power from Dimitri… I didn’t mean to do any of that.I look at Samael, but he doesn’t seem at all bothered by Dimitri’s pain, or my little magical outburst, he just gets straight back to business. “Right, one of you comes with us, one of you stays with Heidi and Harlow.” He motions for me to follow him, and I grab Dimitri’s arm, dragging him with me.“I think Dimitri should come with us.” I wave to the girls an
“Eli?” I look down at his bruised, tear-streaked face, and my heart sinks into the pit of my stomach. “What happened to you?”The man in the fancy clothes laughs loudly, “I did. Well, actually, my men did.” He takes a step closer, and Samael’s hand tightens around mine, “Eli here seems to have broken one of our most serious laws; not only did he interact with a witch, but he went as far as accepting help from one.”I glare at him, “How can you even know that?” Looking down at Eli, I hiss, “You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone!” He just cries, his eyes faraway, like he’s not really paying attention to his surroundings.“Cassian, what the fuck is the meaning of this?” Samael growls dangerously, and I notice some of the men shifting uncomfortably, their eyes darting to Samael, then away quickly as if they are afraid to even look at him. Wait, he called that man Cassian… this is the fucking emperor.I grow a bit weary of the situation, and Danika’s senses go on high alert, as I take in a
“Baby, would you come here please?”Samael joins my side, immediately snaking his arm around my waist as if he has been dying to touch me this whole time. I look up at him with a warm smile, “I think you deserve a moment with the man who enjoyed what was rightfully yours.” I turn back to Gregory, who stares at me pleadingly, and smirk at him.“As you know, this is Samael Dema, the vampire king. He’s my mate, the person created just for me by the Moon Goddess, Selene. Can you believe that daddy? A king, who worships the ground I walk on.”I trail my fingers along my mark on Samael’s neck, “See this, it’s a werewolf’s mark, this let’s Samael feel everything I feel, which can be both a blessing and a burden, because he feels my rage and my pain from the things I went through here, the things you put me through.”“My king,” I place a kiss on Samael’s cheek, “take what you want from him, just keep him alive for me.”“I thought you wanted me to only drink from you?” He asks in surprise. “O
I look up at the low ceiling, relieved to see the hooks still embedded into it, they will make this much easier. While Petra is holding her bleeding leg and whimpering like a wounded animal, I walk to the shelves against the wall, and open the delicate looking box that holds their leather straps.Standing over her, I hold out my hand. “Get up,” I order, tapping my foot impatiently.Her tear-streaked face looks up at me sadly, “what happened to you Aurora? Where did my sensitive girl go?”“You destroyed her. Now get the fuck up.” I aim a kick at her leg, then drag her from the sofa, and pull her as she screams for mercy to the middle of the room, directly under the same hook I had been left dangling from many times.“You know I drill,” I say, remembering all the times I was in her position, “arms up, Petra darling.”She cries uncontrollably, lifting her shaky arms into the air, “Good girl,” I say, praising her like a child.“W-what are you going to do to me?” she whimpers, as I fasten
A girl runs around the corner from the kitchen, her blonde hair askew. When she spots us, she opens her mouth preparing to scream. I use my speed to run to her, clamping a hand over her mouth, and stopping her from making a sound.She looks up at me with wide fearful eyes, and I realize she looks to be about my age… none of Gregory and Petra’s children are that old yet.“Are you…” I don’t know what her situation is, or why she is here, but I get the feeling it’s not good. “Do you need help?” I ask her, hoping she will trust me even though she has no reason to.My hand is still tight over her mouth, so she nods slowly. I glance back at Samael who just shrugs. Fuck. I wasn’t anticipating this.“I’m going to remove my hand, but if you make a sound, I will make you regret it,” I warn her.“*Goddess, Aurora, threatening her won’t make her trust you any easier,*” Danika scolds me.“*I don’t know who she is, what if I don’t want her to trust me?*” I argue back.Danika sighs, “*she’s just a s
Goddess, it feels like someone is banging on my head with a hammer. I groan as I stretch out my body, refusing to open my eyes. Last night is a blur; after our bath Samael and I stayed up drinking with Adrian, Dimitri, and Kieran. I ended up proving my superior strength to all of them in arm wrestling matches. No one could beat me, even when Adrian and Dimitri teamed up against me; I was still stronger. Which in turn, made me pretty damn cocky and I ended up chugging the last bottle of vodka to prove how tough I was, only to end up puking all over the kitchen floor. I think Samael cut me off after that. “I’ve let you sleep as long as I could, but it’s time to get up, my love,” Samael’s smooth voice whispers quietly in my ear.“What time is it?” I mumble, curling myself up under the soft blankets.“Mid-morning,” he replies, and my eyes fly open.“Oh shit.” I jump out of bed, and run across the room to gather my clothes, feeling Samael’s gaze linger on my naked body. Once I’m dressed,
The room goes quiet, the only sound is his blood dripping onto the floor. I stand up, looking down at the two dead bodies slumped over in their chairs, and a smile forms on my face. That was a lot more emotional than I expected it to be but also quite enjoyable. Holding their lives in my hands made me feel invincible, and I know that is wrong, but I’m excited to do it again tomorrow.I notice my shirt is covered in blood, so I remove it, turning to face Samael, who’s dark eyes are filled with a burning desire for me. It seems he found it enjoyable as well, judging by the bulge in his pants.“Take your clothes off,” I order him, and he obeys so quickly he’s a blur. I lick my lips as he leans his naked body back into the cushions, one arm stretched across the back of the sofa, the other gripping his enormous cock, sliding it up and down his length like he’s getting it ready for me.I remove the rest of my clothes, loving the way his eyes follow every move I make, roaming over my naked b
I slip my elemental dagger out from its holster around my upper thigh and its sleek blade glints ominously in the dim light. When Dr. Maddox sees the weapon in my hand, his struggle against the ropes becomes desperate; he throws his weight against them with all his strength as if he thinks he has a chance of escaping. Well… who am I to say he can’t at least try?Without warning, I raise my fist, and bring it down on his right kneecap with enough strength to shatter the bone. The doctors piercing screams echo throughout the room, high-pitched and ending in a long, drawn-out wail.I walk behind his chair, and untie his ropes, he doesn’t even realize what I am doing until they fall to the floor. He looks up at me with teary and bloody eyes as I circle back around to face him.“I think that’s enough. Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” I say in a gentle tone.He sniffles, nodding hopefully. I smile at him, “Ok, go on.” Taking a step back, I motion for him to get up. “The stairs are just
I stare down at the now lifeless body I’m straddling, a slight sense of satisfaction filling me. I let out a long sigh, “that’s better.” I barely pay attention to Dr. Maddox’s wailing cries as I soak in the feeling of taking the life of one of the men who took mine. Memories of long, dark nights in the freezing dungeon come back to me, maybe I can finally move forward from the horrors of my time there. Though I guess only time will tell; my nightmares may have lessened since finding Samael, but what if getting revenge and having my mate is not enough to bury the years of built up trauma? What if I never truly get the pieces of myself back… back from the Stallards, back from that dungeon, back from the inn where I was defiled for the first time. What if I stay trapped in all those places, never able to move away from it all, never able to let go… My breathing hitches as memories flood my mind, destroying the cage I built for them while I was rotting in the dungeon, and leaving me gas
Theodoric finally notices he’s not our only prisoner and stares in confusion to his right, “D-dr. Maddox?” he stutters out. Aurora changes her position, so she is still sitting on me, but facing her helpless prey, her back resting against my chest, and we watch as Dr. Maddox begins to regain consciousness. Theodoric’s eyes roam from the doctor to Aurora and I, confusion written all over his face. “What is this about? Why have you taken us here!” he screams, his face turning white and his body shaking with fear. Aurora ignores him, still watching Dr. Maddox, whose eyes are slowly opening, “Wha- where am I?” he mutters to himself. Then his eyes snap open and he takes in his situation, looking down at the ropes binding him to the chair, glancing at Theodoric, then setting his eyes on me. “You!” he exclaims, staring at me with a mixture of anger and distress. I just give him a smile, and he finally looks at Aurora. “Is this the so-called friend you said wanted to see me?” He struggles