Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Alaric
I left her room before I did something I’d regret. Or worse, something I’d enjoy far too much.

The second the door shut behind me, I swore under my breath. My body was a riot of tension, every nerve still thrumming from what I’d just walked in on. Goosebumps raced down my skin, and it was a first because it'd been centuries since I felt that. Her scent clung to me, sweet and maddening, like sin and temptation rolled into one. I could still see her, her legs parted,with her fingers buried where I wanted my mouth to be.

Where I needed my mouth to be.

It hadn't made sense before, but now it did. I wasn't only drawn to the fire she possessed. I was drawn to something else. Her smell, her body. Her.

I shouldn’t have gone in there. I shouldn’t have looked, but the bond had pulled me straight to her like a leash around my throat.

By the time I reached my room, I was cursing every god I knew. I’d felt her first, faintly through the bond. It was a whisper of heat, a pulse that wasn’t mine. I’d ignored it at first, because I could. I’d had centuries to master restraint, to shut things out. I'd chalked it up as her getting up to no good like she always did, but then the pulse changed.

It became heavier, more rhythmic, raw even, and when I realized what it was, what she was doing, I nearly lost my mind.

I could have blocked her out completely. I almost did, but I didn’t. I listened, and that was my first mistake.

Her pleasure had burned through the bond like wildfire. The way she’d gasped my name, breathless and wanting, it had hit me harder than any blade ever could. It took every ounce of self control I had to walk away when I did.

Now, standing in my room, I wanted to claw my own skin off. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this undone. Not in decades, not in centuries. Not since before I even became king. My body felt like it was at war with itself, my discipline battling hunger, and logic crushed beneath need.

“Damn you, little hunter,” I muttered, dragging a hand through my hair.

I could still feel the echo of her through the bond. It was soft, dizzying but alive still. She had stopped and was probably still reeling from embarrassment, but she had no idea what kind of fire she was playing with.

Without thinking, I stripped off my clothes and stalked into the bathroom, turning the water as cold as it would go. I hadn't needed a cold shower for as long as I could remember, but I guess we were here now.

The first blast hit me like ice knives against my skin. I stood there, hands braced on the glass, letting it pour over me until my breath evened out.

It didn’t help. If anything, it made it worse.

Because all I could see, even with my eyes shut, was her. The way she’d arched under her own touch, the sound that had slipped past her lips. My name on her tongue like a curse and a prayer.

“Fuck.” I couldn't even recognize my own voice. It was laced with want and lust, and an unhealthy amount too.

I tried to block her out, but the more I tried, the more her hold on me tightened. A low groan slid past my lips as I found my length. I was rock hard, and I almost let out a bitter chuckle.

Rhea's fantasy was still playing in my head, but this time I allowed myself to do a little wandering. I imagined my mouth over her boobs, as I took each nipple into her mouth.

With the amount of fire she carried, I was sure those dark buds would taste like heaven. As more and more images filled my head, I slowly pumped length up and down, my hand tightening around my shaft at just the right tension.

My movements became faster, and the water behind me felt like Rhea digging her nails into my back. My mouth trailed down her stomach, and when I got to her center, I gave her a lick, one that sent a shudder through her.

“Alaric.” She sounded heavenly in my ears, and gods, she tasted even better. I lapped at her like she was the one thing I didn't know I needed until now, and the faster I sucked and kissed her pussy lips, the faster I worked myself. “Yes, Alaric.”

An even louder groan slid past my lips as my release hit me all at once. I came over the bathroom floor, and my breaths were labored by the time I was done riding the high of what I'd just done.

A growl escaped me before I even realized it. I was angry at her, angry at myself, angry that I wanted her this much.

But how? No one, vampire nor human had been able to do this, and yet, she had me jerking to her in just a couple of days. Was this another effect of the bond or something else?

This bond was supposed to be a weapon, a means of control. Instead, it was becoming my undoing, but that wasn't the worst part.

No matter how much of a monster I tried to portray to her that I was, a part of me craved every bit of her.

I shut my eyes, forcing the connection closed. The silence that followed was deafening, like slamming a door on my own thoughts. She wouldn’t feel me now. She wouldn’t sense how close I was to losing control entirely.

When the water finally ran cold enough to sting, I stayed there, jaw clenched, breathing hard.

“We’re both damned,” I said quietly, to no one, and the worst part wasI didn’t know if I meant it as a warning or a promise.

Shit.