The Vampire Queen’s Human(2)

Neris’s mouth crashed onto my throat, fangs sinking in deep and fast.

Pain exploded through my neck. But beneath it, fire roared to life… sweet, warm heat flooding my blood. My body reacted instantly. The need was immediate, aching.

She didn’t stop. She drank. Deeper. Harder. The suction yanked straight down my spine, through every nerve. I felt her heartbeat hammering against mine. And under the iron taste of her blood I tasted me. My fear. My strange courage. My growing hunger for her.

She groaned against my throat, the sound vibrating straight into me. My hands moved on their own, gripping her hips, nails digging into the silk of her dress, pulling her closer. She laughed, rough and satisfied, and rocked her hips against me.

She pulled back. Dark blood coated her full lips. A single drop rolled down her chin. She licked it slow and deliberate, eyes locked on mine, pupils blown wide.

The throne room fell silent.

Neris rose and her voice rang out, cold and absolute.

“This one stays.”

Every vampire froze. The advisor took a shocked step back, but Neris didn’t glance at her. She turned and walked straight toward me.

My legs shook. Heat ran through me. The bond was already forming… her centuries of emptiness pouring into my mind, feeding on every frantic beat of my heart.

She stopped inches from me. Cold skin pressed against me. Her thumb brushed my lower lip, smearing my own blood, and she whispered, voice rough.

“I don’t know what you’ve done to me, Jonas… but I already want more.”

Her fingers slid down my chest, then lower. She touched me… firm, possessive… and I made a low sound that made the guards shift.

“Come with me, little soldier,” she said, voice low and dangerous. “The throne room has seen enough of you for one night.”

She led me through the corridors to her chamber. The door clicked shut behind us.

She shoved me onto the silk sheets and was on top, straddling my hips, eyes burning into mine.

“Tell me your name,” she commanded.

“Jonas.”

She smiled, slow and dark. “Jonas. Now I have a name to keep.”

Her hand slipped under my shirt, nails dragging down my chest. I jerked hard at the touch. She felt it, and watched the way my body answered her.

She leaned down until her lips brushed my ear.

“I’m going to ruin you for anyone else, Jonas. Slowly. Deeply. Until you can’t remember anything but my name and the way it feels when I take you apart.”

Her hand moved lower. She pressed closer. I was already aching. Neris went rigid, staring with open, feral hunger.

She pushed me back against the silk and leaned down.

The stretch was immediate. Pain flared. Then something deeper shifted, and everything melted into pure heat. I cried out, hands fisting the sheets, trying to push back against her.

“Take it,” Neris growled against my neck. “Take every part of your Queen, Jonas.”

She moved hard and deep. Hips snapping forward with merciless power. The drag and pressure filled me until I felt split open and owned. My breath came in broken gasps.

“Neris… harder,” I gasped. The name tore out of me. I was hers. She was mine.

Her nails raked down my chest. She bit my shoulder hard enough to draw blood. I held her tighter as she pulled back, then moved forward again.

Sounds filled the room… my gasps, her breath against my skin.

I reached up, grabbed her hips, and pulled her down harder. She laughed dark and satisfied and moved faster. The bed creaked under the pace.

“I’m going to ruin you,” she panted against my ear. “Say it.”

“I’m yours,” I groaned. “Yours… ruin me… please…”

She reached between us. The dual sensation shoved me over the edge. I shook beneath her as she followed with a low, broken sound.

She stayed close, trembling, breathing hard against my neck. The bond hummed between us, full now with both our memories. I could feel her mind… already addicted, already terrified of how much she needed me.

She pulled back slowly. The loss left me empty and aching. She sat back on her heels, staring down at me with dark, possessive eyes.

“You’re shaking,” she whispered.

“So are you,” I managed, voice hoarse.

She laughed once… soft, shaky… and leaned down to kiss me, hungry and not gentle. Her tongue slid against mine, tasting blood and everything we’d just shared.

When she pulled back, her forehead rested against mine.

“Sleep with me tonight, little soldier,” she whispered. “Because tomorrow I’m going to take you again. And the night after that. And every night until you’re ruined for anyone else.”

My heart was still racing when she pulled me into her arms. For a moment, neither of us moved.

Then the bond surged… sudden, sharp, nothing like the warmth before. A flash of memory that wasn’t hers slammed into me, quick and gone before I could place it.

Above me, Neris froze.