by Kitty Wilder
She looked at it confused for a moment, caught off guard by the chivalry.
Games. Don’t be Doris.
She slipped her palm into his slowly, then allowed him to pull her to her feet.
“I must admit, I was expecting a lot more resistance from you upon your darling John’s arrival, but here you are, sweet as ever. I’m glad to see you took our little chat to heart. You deserve better than him.”
Certainly better than you.
“And what do I deserve? To starve and bleed out in your cold dungeon? What’s with your own sudden change of heart?”
“Hardly, sugar. I told you every hospitality I have to offer is yours, so long as you behave.”
“So as long as I do every little thing you tell me to, you’ll be agreeable and hospitable?”
Anyone can honor those terms.
“For now, yes.” He gently grasped her elbow and began to lead her out. “I have other plans, but that’s a conversation for another time.”
She halted and turned to look up into his ghostly face, letting her body remain close enough her breasts brushed his torso. “To make me your queen?”
The candlelight twinkled in his eyes. “If you can prove worthy.”
She played coy and aimed a coquettish smirk up at him. “You want to make me a vampire, don’t you? That’s what this is all about. You’re going to change me and then what?”
“Wright did not exaggerate when he said you were a quick student.”
She leaned in a little closer, pressing her body into his as she looked up and felt his grip on her elbow tighten. “Why wouldn’t you have just asked? Maybe I would’ve said yes.”
His white brow furrowed slightly as he dropped his hand to her lower back and positioned her between the end of the dining table and his body. “Because a god does not ask for anything. He takes.”
She licked her lips. “So I’ve noticed.” She leaned back and grasped the lip of the table and arched her back so her breasts pushed forward and strained against the delicate lace hugging them.
That chilling grin spread across his face as he watched her invitation.
Lucy told herself it was to stay in his favor and perhaps slowly lure him into a false sense of security. She hoped endearing herself to him would offer her at least one moment where he would lower his guard enough for her to slip away. But in some dark corner, even she did not dare explore, a part of her tingled with excitement at the thought of becoming a dark vampire queen. John may have offered her the violent love she had been craving, but Lerexus was offering her more power than any mortal could ever have hoped to possess, and despite herself, she was tempted.
His hand slid up her back and grabbed a fistful of her long hair and yanked it back so her scarred neck was exposed.
She recoiled slightly, scared he meant to change her right this moment. She doubted she could live through one more casual drink. The next time he bit her, it would be the last.
He leaned in and inhaled deeply, savoring the scent of her fear, but did not sink his fangs back into her. His mouth closed down on her neck, but it was in a lusty kiss, his lips caressing the goosebumps that formed there, then dragged up along her jawline.
She swallowed her fear and accessed that recessed corner of herself.
How would a vampire queen act?
She kept her hands on the table but breathed softly. “Is there something here you’d like to take, Master?”
An inhuman growl rumbled in his chest, low and primal. His fist closed around her throat and he forced her onto her back. “You cannot take what is already yours.” He pushed up her skirt with his other hand and then nestled himself between her open thighs hanging off the table. He kept his hand firmly on her throat to pin her securely down, then lifted his robes and pressed the head of his cock against her pussy lips. “Say it,” he ordered gruffly. “Say you belong to me.”
Just like a petty, jealous child. It’s not enough to take away what was John’s, he has to own it.
“I am yours, my Lord,” she lied sweetly.
He sucked in an excited breath and then forced himself into her.
Lucy groaned from the sudden plunge but was shocked to find herself enjoying the feeling of him stretching her around his shape once more, and despite all the hate she felt burning inside her for him, he really was quite handsome. He was thick and filled her all the way to her delicate cervix easily and his free hand groped the roundness of her hip and pulled her into each of his thrusts, digging his nails into her soft skin with each forceful tug. He leaned forward and moved his hand to support himself on the table beside her as he used the angle to grind over her swelling clit with his fevered movements.
“Are you going to make a mess again, sugar?” he taunted. “Don’t think I didn’t see that smile when you ruined my sleeve and the sitting room floor with that first shameless orgasm last night.”
She hated herself for the moan that slipped out despite her absolute revulsion at the new nickname he had given her.
“Go on then,” he growled as he fucked her harder, angling his thrusts to grind over her, “make another mess in my dining hall. Squirt your filthy pleasure down my legs and the expensive furniture beneath you. Ruin it all with that spiteful cunt.”
Her hands left the table and brazenly fisted in his velvet robes and tugged him into her as she arched and bore down into his thrusts. She stared defiantly into his pink eyes, accepting the taunt.
You think you’re in control, but you just can’t resist fucking me, no matter how superior you think you are.
Beneath all your grandeur, you’re just as weak as any mortal.
Her eyes closed as she moved with him, letting her body take control, glad to oblige his dare.
Salt and pepper stubble. Piercing gray eyes. Rough hands on my body.
“Come for me, princess.”
“God damn it!” she cried in frustration with herself. “I’m a fucking queen!”
Lerexus laughed triumphantly. “Yes! Now make that greedy cunt come, little queen!”
Lucy came loudly and shuddered against the table. Her legs squeezed his body tightly between her thighs and shook violently as she gushed and writhed through the pleasure.
His sharp nails pressed into her throat and the other hand clawed at her shuddering breast as he spilled his vile seed in her and joined her cries with self-satisfied grunts. He moaned with that Cheshire smile that made her stomach turn and then slowly slipped out of her. He released her throat and breast and pushed her legs up by the backs of her thighs and spread them in the air to view his work, watching their mingled pleasure drip out of her and down her spread cheeks. “Gods, look at you,” he chuckled.
She caught her breath and tried to hide the anger welling in her at his attempt to humiliate her by putting her on display in such an undignified manner.
He let her legs fall down and turned to wipe himself off. “You’re becoming quite the bad habit for me.”
She sat up and pushed the hem of her dress down as if it hid anything. “I’m shocked you’d stoop so low. Again.”
He turned back to her with an icy glare. “You sass me again and I’ll have you flogged.” He stepped closer and stared down menacingly at her. “Let’s be clear here: I am still your master. That doesn’t change. Even if I make you my queen, it is my hand that elevates you and my hand that will strike you down should you try to surpass it. I am your lord and will always be thus. Do you understand?”
Rage hummed through her body, replacing whatever shameful ecstasy still lingered. “Of course, Master.”
Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you.
“Now get up. I have chores for you tonight.”
She suppressed the heavy sigh that wanted out, reminding herself that ingratiating herself would lead to escape. She had to get out of this nightmare of a castle, away from everything. She obeyed each order sweetly, reciting her mantra of escape quietly to herself and ignoring the ever present pull she still felt to John. Rage was the answ
er. As long as she stayed angry, she could ignore every other complicated emotion in her and focus on her singular goal: get out.
Chapter 26
Lucy spent the next few nights on her best behavior, scrubbing what Lerexus wanted scrubbed, washing what he wanted washed, serving whatever revolting pitcher of contents he demanded, hopping to his every whim and playing at being the good girl he wanted. He had not touched her again since the night in the dining hall and she found herself amused by the conflict that seemed to storm within him over his desire for her. He continued to dress her in revealing outfits and leer at her at every given chance, but seemed equally disgusted with himself. John watched all this too, forced to keep their captor company as he discussed his grandiose plans for the future of his coven and forced to watch Lucy’s seemingly willing submission. His calm, collective demeanor soon soured to a deep, quiet brooding and this too gave Lucy a small amount of satisfaction as she held onto her anger for him letting her fall into the predicament to begin with. The more she gave into Lerexus’ will, the more jealous Doris grew, and the more jealous she grew, the more incapable she became of holding back her snide comments and soiling her own good position with the master of Castle Sheol until Lerexus grew weary of her bitterness and began to assign her more and more tasks that kept her out of his presence.
A knock sounded on the suite doors, pulling Lucy from her thoughts where she sat silently, staring into the dying fire. She rose, feeling a small amount of her strength returning at being well fed and rested over the past days. She assumed this was to keep her strong enough to work, strong enough to tend to every menial and humiliating task her captor could think of to gloat his victory over her in front of his failed protégé.
She opened the door to find the very devil that consumed her thoughts.
Royal purple cascaded around Lerexus’ lithe body as he waited respectfully in the hallway, his snowy hair glowing orange in the torchlight around him and his eyes shimmering with a deep violet that glazed over her every exposed curve in the sheer black mesh he had her dressed in this evening.
“I was not expecting you so early, my Lord.”
“You’ve been such a good little mouse lately, I thought I’d reward you with a special treat tonight. Follow me.”
Cautiously, she tailed him through the winding halls and staircases of his castle, her bare feet slapping against the cold flagstones behind him until he halted at a heavy arched door with a rusted iron ring nailed into it. “Come,” he invited as he pushed the great door open to a courtyard.
Lucy stepped out into the tepid night air curiously. A warm wind rustled through the overgrown garden, tickling through the naked branches of scattered dead trees and thorny shrubs climbing up the stone walls. A bright moon shone down, bathing the area in a cool light that revealed a faded walking path that wound through the lifeless bushes and empty places where flowers once grew. She could imagine how beautiful it must have been ages ago when some mortal lord occupied the fortress and had the place regularly tended. Now it was ugly, only a rotted corpse of its former glory, its life sucked dry by its current monstrous lord.
She looked behind her where Lerexus stood proudly in the doorway, watching her as if he had just offered her the world.
“It’s certainly not much, but I thought you might enjoy a stroll through the garden and some fresh air. A reward for such good behavior.” He crossed the courtyard to where she stood in the center of it by a crumbling statue of a woman, or perhaps what was once a goddess, holding a basket of flowers. He stepped close, his face a shadow against the backdrop of the moon behind him. His hand reached up and brushed her hair behind her shoulder and trailed a finger down the delicate wing of her collarbone exposed by the low scoop of her neckline. “The nights are warming now. The possibility of future trips here can be yours if you like.”
Ugh I hate it when he’s actually almost decent to me. It’s easier to hate him when he’s just a cruel asshole.
“It was a lovely gesture, thank you.” She turned away and followed the overgrown trail to a cracked stone bench slowly losing a battle against moss attempting to claim it from the ground up. She sat down and tried to imagine the courtyard in sunlight, filled with an array of colorful flowers and lush greenery.
“I’ve always had a fascination with such places,” he continued as he followed her.
She sighed inwardly.
What monologue about the great old days is in store for tonight?
“Palaces, castles and the like. I grew up very poor and always swore I would claim one for myself one day.” He turned to view the garden with her. “I was not so fortunate in my mortal years, born a freak and discarded by my own mother. The village thought I carried a plague and cast me out, even the people in the larger cities, those supposed to be so learned and wise, still treated me as something subhuman. I made my friends among the other social pariahs, the deformed, the lepers.”
“I’m sure people didn’t understand albinism back then. A lot of harmless things used to scare them,” she offered.
If people hadn’t been so stupid, there would be no monster to deal with. Lerexus could’ve had real love in his heart, true kindness, and lived a normal, happy life, and I’d never know this dumb castle ever existed.
“Indeed. I lived a hapless existence before my sire found me.” He turned back to her with stars in his eyes and a smile tugging at his lips. “He was one of the greatest vampire lords to ever exist. He found me, saw past my white hair and skin and saw the potential in me, offered me the same greatness. He gave me a real home among his small family.” He shook his head thoughtfully as he stared at the bare tree hanging over where she listened on the bench. “Vampirism is a gift, little mouse. It elevates man into something better, something wider than the scope of mortality. A man can see things he just can’t see in such a short lifespan. Vampires are the future of the human race.”
“What happens when everyone is a vampire? You’ll have no one to feed from.”
“Not everyone is worthy of ascension, sugar. There will always be prey, but they will not always run the world.”
She was silent a long moment, horrified by the bleak picture he painted of a world run by vampires. “What happened to your master?” she asked softly. Was he someone she had to worry about as well?
“Those damn Venatores forced him into the sun, but his power courses through me still as well as my own children. They fear us because they do not understand us, and people always seek to kill what they do not understand.”
Her blue eyes flicked up from the ground where they had stared in contemplation. “I’m not afraid of you,” she declared boldly.
He chuckled low and took three steps closer. “An admirable sentiment, sugar, but you should be. You’ve no idea the power I possess.”
She rolled her eyes dismissively. “So quit bragging and show me.”
“This was to be a pleasant evening. There’s no need to frighten you tonight.” He took a seat beside her and stared forward as he spoke. “Think of a bloodline as a river flowing through each descendant, each person it passes through filtering and diluting it a little more as it is passed forward. The closer you get to the source, the more potent the river is. My sire was very powerful, as am I for being closer to that source than my children. I can do things they cannot despite their own powerful blood.”
“Like what?” she asked intrigued.
“Shapeshift.”
“Into what?”
“My master could shift into any beastly form he desired, but I am constrained to the noble wolf. I also possess the ability to charm prey into submission, to lure them into a quiet, willing state. It is useful in a pinch, though rarely necessary with my station. I can also summon a mist that can teleport me wherever I wish within so far of a distance, among other talents. No need to spoil it all. One never knows when the element of surprise may come in handy.”
“And what about John?”
“And Doris?” he narrowed his eyes
with poorly veiled jealousy.
“Yes. What can they do?”
“I’m surprised your lover did not discuss this with you.”
Wrists raised while he claims me.
Pressed against the cold whiteboard while he thrusts into me.
Bruising my knees to show him I’d wait forever to please him.
His mouth latched to my neck, drinking my lifeblood while he grinds inside of me, unhinged and beautiful.
She shook the sordid thoughts from her head, chasing away the keen memories of the heat they had shared. “It didn’t come up.” She looked away to hide her inflamed cheeks.
“Wright is watered down but holds a certain power of his own. Doris has shown no great talent.”
“So he can shapeshift too?” she inquired again.
“I did not bring you here to talk about your old paramour,” he replied curtly, taking her jaw in his hand and forcing her to look at him. He grimaced when he saw her flushed face. “When I make you my queen, he’ll be tending to my brood’s business very far away from this place. I suggest you forget all about Johnathan Wright.”
Now it’s when?
“I was just curious,” she recovered clumsily. “Even I can tell there’s nothing exceptional about Doris. Getting fangs doesn’t give you a personality.”
Lerexus laughed openly in a way she had never heard from him as of yet. “Quite, but she’ll do well tending to ceremonial matters. I told her I’d make her a priestess.”
“Yes, she already bragged about that. I guess she didn’t know the position of queen was open.”
His pink eyes bored into her. “It never was.” His gaze dropped to her mouth and then moved in to kiss her.
“Just some silly little girl falling for stories about how special she was...”
Lucy heard Doris’ hateful words echoing in her mind as if the bitter woman were speaking it in her ear now. Lerexus’ lips moved roughly over hers, then forced them open to plunder the depths of her mouth with his tongue. Though she did not kiss him back, she surrendered to it and let him do as he pleased.