My eyes roll back as her head starts to bob. I grip her hair and tighten my fists in it, urging her to go faster. Pleasure rushes through my whole body as I’m consumed by the sight of her on her knees.
I can’t take it anymore. I pull her up, yank her around, and bend her over. Her hands splay against he wall, and she starts to moan as I pound into her. My sounds of pleasure mix with hers to fill the entire room.
It doesn’t take long for my body to be coated in sweat. I reach around and take hold of her, kneading her breasts, feeling her tight, small, perfect body. I run my hands all over it, then take hold of her neck and choke her from behind. She utters my name, repeating it over and over again as waves of pleasure rock her body. I hook a finger in her mouth, and she sucks it in deep. I put a hand on her lower back and press down, forcing her to ache for me even more, loving to see her little body contort for me.
I pull out and rip her around. Our mouths meet again in a fiery crash. Her heart is reflected by my heart, and together we drown in each other’s passion.
I walk her back against the wall. Her shoulders go against it. I keep kissing her, her hands continue tearing into my back. Our tongues collide, and she moans even deeper as our bodies touch.
I pick her up and lower her to the floor. She lies there with her dark hair spread around her face like a halo, looking up at me with desire consuming her eyes. I kiss her again, passionately, then shift my hips, and I enter her so we are as one.
The climax comes soon after, mine mirrored by hers, made all the more meaningful by the locking of our eyes. She screams my name, and wave after wave of ecstasy washes over her body.
Finally, both of us collapse together, spent. I roll to the side and stare up at the ceiling, trying to catch my breath.
“That was…” I start to say.
“Incredible,” she finishes for me. I look over at her, and she smiles. “If all it takes is a little bit of magic to evoke that reaction from you…”
“Don’t get any ideas,” I warn, but I can’t help but smile.
I don’t remember the last time I felt like this for a woman. The feeling inside me is more than mere lust. Even though I’ve only known Beth for a short time, I feel an intimate connection to her, past what only desire would bring.
“Don’t go falling in love now,” she quips, then turns away and picks herself up.
She gives me a look as I gaze up at her, propped on one elbow. “You didn’t answer.”
“What do you want me to say?” I ask lazily.
She sniffs, but smiles at the same time. “That there is no danger of that.”
“Well, I can’t promise you anything,” I say, also rising. “All I know is, that was, as you said, phenomenal.”
She gives me a coy smile and starts to get dressed.
I pull my pants up but forget my ruined shirt.
“You’re planning to go to The Haven then, right?”
She hesitates. “I told you what I saw,” she says. “There was no pull to that coven. My cosmic twin is important. The constellations showed that I am linked to her. But I do not think the time is right. Not yet.”
“You still want to meet Logan,” I note. “You want to see your Father.”
A guilty look flashes over her face.
“I wouldn’t advise it,” I say. “Not after what happened to me and him in that… other realm. He is dangerous now, Beth. More so than ever before. He’s started using Blood Magic, and it has consumed his mind. If,” I add after a moment, “he’s even still alive.”
She freezes, her back away from me. “Don’t say that.”
I walk up to her and put my hands on her upper arms. She stands rigid. “He fought me. I did not initiate the fight. Neither of us knows what happened when he returned.”
She whips around, and I see that her eyes are moist. “He is my father,” she tells me. “And if he’s let himself be consumed by Blood Magic, I will find a way to fix it.”
“Beth,” I say softly, “we don’t even know if he’s still alive.”
“Don’t—” she points a finger up at me. “Don’t ever say that again. If my father is dead, I would know it.” She presses a hand over her heart. “Right here, I would know it, Dagan.”
I step away. “As you say,” I tell her. I see no use in pressing the issue.
“Anyway,” she continues. I told you what I saw in the secret room. You never told me what it showed you.”
I explain to her my vision in a few quick sentences.
She sighs. “How are you going to find Beatrice?”
“I have no idea,” I answer truthfully. “I feel the pull internally, to go and search, but I know that’s a remnant of the influence exerted against me, nothing more.”
Beth hesitates. “I could… help you,” she says.
“How?”
“If you have access to a belonging that was once hers… a bracelet, a ring, something like that… I know a spell that would help us track her location.”
“You said ‘us’,” I tell her.
She rolls her eyes. “You think I’m going to let you go out there on your own? After what… just happened?”
I smile. “That’s a damn welcome change from the woman who entered this room not so long ago.”
“I’ve had a chance to steel my nerves,” she says plainly. “Something… might have helped with that.”
I bark a laugh.
“So?” she asks. “Do you have anything that belongs to Beatrice?”
“We would have to go back to The Crypts for that,” I answer slowly. I narrow my eyes. “But of course, you knew that, didn’t you?”
She smiles sweetly. “Of course, I did.”
Chapter Fifteen
Eleira
Beneath The Haven.
I grunt as I drop down and my feet hit the ground of the underground cavern.
Quickly I move out of the way. A ring of guards already surrounds me. Geordam insisted he and the guards go first to scout out any danger, so that I would not be ambushed by it first.
I grudgingly consented, even though I knew the guards would only get in the way if we ran into any other screechers.
However, I knew I had to let them fulfill their sworn duty to me. Denying them that would have been a foolish move.
I crane my neck up and watch as the other Haven vampires drop in after me. This cavern is very big, but it won’t be enough to hold all of them.
I tell Geordam to lead the strongest of the Elite into the adjacent chamber, which he’s already checked out and determined safe.
I wait, assuming as regal a pose as I can, and the vampires drop in one by one. It’s quite a procession and takes longer than I would have liked.
Second-to-last comes Felix, followed by Riyu. I need the turncoat vampire with me, so for now we had to leave Morgan unattended.
Phillip has a lot to answer for when he returns.
When everyone is collected down here, I close my eyes and grab hold of the Elemental Forces. In grand, impressive sweeps, I coat the whole surroundings in impenetrable barriers.
Even if the screechers somehow discover we’re all gone they won’t be able to do anything to my vampires down here.
“Done!” I announce. I augment my voice with a bit of Fire and Water to make it ring out and be heard by all. “As long as you stand within the perimeter set by the Royal Guard, you will be safe.”
“Safe,” one of the vampires mutters. I recognize him as Tudor. “I’m damn tired of being safe. Vampires shouldn’t be made to cower. We are the earth’s most fearsome beasts!”
My patience with this sort of distraction is at an all-time low.
“You can follow me if you wish,” I say sweetly. “In fact,” I raise my voice. “All of you can follow me outside the boundary, if you so wish. If you feel like you need a second chance to redeem yourselves after being so badly beaten by the Tentoria above ground!”
I cast a look around the cavern, gazing directly into the other vampires’ eyes.
“Or,” I continue, “you can stay here, while I go deal with the danger. I was brought in to be Queen, and being Queen entails caring for all of my subjects. But if any of you feel like Tudor, please, be my guests. Come out with me. Show me how fearsome you are against creatures who can cripple you with a single cry.”
I wait. Crickets.