Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
He shifted a hand around my hip, his fingers finding my clit with a few expert moves, and I exploded in a wave of heat and sparks, the power of it almost enough to make me lose my grip on the headboard. Hawke thrust two more times, strong and long, until he found his own release.
Our breaths were matched as he calmed beneath me, glancing up at where I still gripped the headboard.
“You can let go now, Avi,” he said.
I uncurled my fingers, noting the divots I’d left in the wood, then instantly collapsed. Hawke shifted us, settling me on the soft mattress. He hurried off the bed, but was back before I could complain. I could barely move. I was so spent, let alone argue about wherever he’d gone.
Silently, gently even, Hawke slid a hand between my thighs, using the soft cloth he’d retrieved to clean me up as my head sank deeper against the pillow. When he was done, he disappeared for another moment before standing at the side of the bed, sliding into his leathers.
“Assassin meeting,” he said by way of explanation, but the heavy blanket of sleep was tugging me down into a space where I could barely respond.
He smirked, leaning over me to plant a kiss over my lips. “Sleep,” he said. “I’ll see you after you’ve rested.” He slid the silk sheets over my body, and I smiled up at him.
At my mate.
In that moment between exhaustion and wakefulness, I let myself imagine this was how our life would be from here on out. Nothing but joy, dark pleasure, and him racing off to save our world only to return to me with new stories to tell.
And by the time I heard the soft snick of the door shutting, I was slipping into that beautiful dream, wishing like hell our reality wasn’t such a nightmare.
“There has to be something,” Lyric said as she shoved another ancient tome back into its place on the estate’s library shelf. My brother’s mate and now vampire queen looked downright human sometimes when she was irritated. Something about the crinkle between her brows, the urgency that vampires usually lost after their first hundred years. But she was new in her role, and I couldn’t help but smile at her as she sank into one of the leather loveseats, a massive amount of texts and scrolls spread out on the table before her.
I flashed Olivia a worried glance when she sank into the armchair next to Lyric. I sat on the opposite side of the little study area, wanting to help in their efforts to locate missing information to denounce Samuel and Saint’s claims to the throne, but I knew there wasn’t anything.
“We’ve been searching endlessly,” Olivia said, her voice soft to help soothe Lyric’s clear agitation.
Lyric leaned back against the couch, defeat lining her features as she looked at me. “It’s just so unfair,” she said. “I know I’m new to the whole vampire royalty business, but this is just utter bullshit.”
Olivia and I shared a laugh, and finally Lyric joined in.
“Well, it is!” she said after she’d reeled in her laughter. “Marrying someone you don’t love, don’t even know that well, is absurd.”
“That’s politics,” I answered. “I’ve always known there may be a possibility my marriage would be arranged, even with Alek’s progressive moves against it. Princesses have that responsibility to choose partners that are advantageous—”
“Ugh,” Lyric groaned, shaking her head. “Why couldn’t you find a mate before this? That would put an end to all of this nonsense and you could be happy. We’d find another way to subdue Saint and we could all just be a family.”
Olivia’s eyes widened on me, and I subtly shook my head. Hawke’s mark practically burned beneath the glove I wore, as did every other part of my body with the thought of him. I’d slept for a good five hours before rousing, not a dream or nightmare in sight. I’d come straight here after dressing, needing some girl time in a big way.
And I trusted Lyric with my life—she’d become one of my dearest friends—but she was my brother’s mate. Mates trumped all other obligations, and if I told her my secret, she’d be in a bad situation not telling my brother. I’d never put her there.
“Yeah,” Olivia said, shrugging. “If only fate worked that way.” She arched a brow at me, and I swallowed hard.
I had only two weeks with Hawke, my mate.
Two weeks to enjoy him, to truly live the life I’d always wanted.
And then…
Well, then I’d have to hold good to our bargain. I’d have to break the bond between us and move forward as planned.
To save my family, my world.
But the notion was harder to conceive now, when that bond burned bright and strong between us after what we’d done.