Then the faerie pointed at her. “In all the faerie realms, Drake! Did you catch yourself a vampiress?”
All noise in the room ceased. They all stared at her with some form of shock in their expression. And then all the faeries erupted into shouts as one.
“A vampire?”
“I haven’t seen one of those in ages!”
“Oh, do make her talk. What does she sound like?”
“Is she feral? I heard they bite!”
“Why don’t you have a muzzle on her?”
If Drake didn’t stop them, she’d show them just how feral a vampiress could be. How dare they question her species as if vampires were animals? She drank blood. Not souls.
Their laughter made her chest ache. They didn’t care at all that she was standing before them, listening to all their spiteful jests. They wanted to see the new toy their king had at his disposal. Maybe he would force her onto the table to dance for them.
Lilith had only thought of him bidding her to perform as a joke, but could she do it? Now that they were staring at her like an animal at the zoo, she wasn’t so sure she could.
He didn’t even look at her. “Let’s get back to the matter at hand, shall we? Why are we focusing on my new servant?”
The rotund faerie’s belly grew even brighter. He leaned close to the table and licked his lips. “Does she speak? It doesn’t seem like she has a voice. I thought they could talk, but maybe they are more beast-like than I thought.”
That was it. She couldn’t stand them talking about her like this, as though she couldn’t hear a single thing they were saying. “I can speak just fine. You’ve yet to say anything worth responding to.”
The faerie laughed. “Oh she’s got a bite to her. I see why you’ve been keeping her around Drake.”
That muscle in his jaw jumped again. “The matter at hand, Fergus.”
“No, no. This is far more interesting than talking about a few earth faeries. Why don’t you talk a little more, vampiress? We’d love some entertainment for the night.”
She was sure he would. But if the king didn’t want her to talk, then that was as good an excuse as she needed. Lilith kept her mouth shut, lifted the torch a little higher, and stared at the ceiling.
“Are you not going to talk to me?” The man pounded the table with his fist. “Drake, make her talk!”
Her temper snapped and damn the faerie king if he punished her for it. She’d gladly burn just to knock this faerie down a few pegs.
Lilith let her gaze drop and her fangs slide out of their casings. A low hiss flowed between her lips, echoing throughout the room and silencing the faeries. “I’ve tasted faerie blood before, little man. Keep talking and I’ll drink you dry.”
The faerie’s eyes widened with every word. He glanced at Drake, then back at her. “Are you going to allow her to speak to me like that?”
This was when she found out how she died. Lilith had always known her big mouth would be what killed her. Even the other faerie servants were holding their breath, staring wide eyed from her to the king and back again.
Heartbeats passed where he didn’t say a word. Drake sipped from his cup, not looking at any of them. He took his time, and she realized he was letting the room settle. All the emotions drained as they all waited for him to do something.
He lifted a hand, flicked his fingers, and gestured for her to take a step back. “The earth faeries have always stolen from the Fire Court. If they want to take a bucket of lava, I won’t retaliate. When you provide me with more information, or worse accusations, then I’ll contact the King of the Mountains. That’s my final answer.”
A choked sound was his only response from the fat faerie who still stared at Lilith with hatred. “My king-”
Drake interrupted him. “Your time has ended, old friend. I look forward to your report next month on the movement of the Summer Court and what next steps we should take. Who’s next?”
Lilith was surprised. She’d thought the king would snap. Threatening the nobility had to be a transgression worth punishing her over.
And yet... Nothing happened.
Drake pointed to the next faerie noble who continued speaking of whatever political happenstance was occurring. Lilith stepped back further into the shadows with her torch and lit what she could above the king.
Was this it? Really?
The servant who had nodded to the mead watched her with a stunned expression. When she met his gaze, all she could do was shrug. She had no idea what had happened either, but she hoped like hell she wasn’t about to regret this.
Lilith stayed silent until all the nobles filtered out of the room. The servants left as well, so she took a step to head out with them.
“Lilith,” the king rumbled.
Ah shit, she should have known this wasn’t over. Holding her breath, she turned on her heel and asked, “Yes?”
“Did you think you could slink away? No servant may speak to a noble like that.”
Lilith took a deep breath and faced him. He lounged in his chair like it was a throne, elbows on the arm rests, back slouched.
She wanted to shout how no one may call her an animal, but remembered just in time she was playing the good little vampire pet. “Would you have preferred I allowed them to continue the jest at my expense?”
“No matter what I think, you still need to be punished.” He lifted a dark brow. “Come to my private quarters tonight.”
“That doesn’t sound like a punishment.” The words erupted from her mouth before she could catch them.
His laughter only made her cheeks burn all the more. “I think you’ll find I’m very good at punishing. When your work is done, come to me. Don’t be late.”
Lilith didn’t think she could slow her feet if she tried.
13
“Drake, you’re a fool. I can tell what your plan is, and it’s a horrible plan. She doesn’t deserve this. She’s just a pawn!”
The elemental was probably right. She was nothing in the grand scheme of things, but that didn’t mean he could get his mind off her. The vampiress had shown no fear at all walking into a room of faerie nobility while reeking like she’d dunked herself in a sewer.
She’d kept her head held high, her expression stoic, and for all his people’s attempts at making her angry, she’d only snapped once they insulted her honor.
What kind of woman was this?
Vampires were terrifying creatures and faeries knew them as little more than slathering beasts. They were addicted to human blood and faeries considered that a weakness.
Clearly, it wasn’t. She was still running around the Black Fortress doing whatever Flint could think of, and she hadn’t folded. Flint reported to him every day with another new story.
How she could fold laundry faster than any of the other faeries.
How she didn’t need to sleep like the others, a couple hours every few days and she was already knocking on his door, ready for the next task.
Flint couldn’t keep up with her. He was just as exhausted, if not more exhausted, than Lilith. His head of staff had begged him to take control. To order Lilith to do something other than work.
Drake didn’t know if that was such a good idea either. He shouldn’t be anywhere near this woman who had captured his utmost attention. He was so attracted to her, he feared she might singe the flesh from his bones.
Now he was here. In his private quarters, waiting for her to arrive because he had the most foolish plan in existence.
“Do you think she’ll be impressed?” he asked the elemental.
“I don’t think she’s ever seen the private quarters of any faerie. Besides, you shouldn’t want her to be impressed.”
No, he shouldn’t. That didn’t change the fact that he was sweating because he worried she would think it was too simple. He was a simple man. He preferred the modern rather than the aged.
A black bed overpowered much of the room with its black velvet coverlet. The walls and floors were pol
ished into shiny obsidian. A few dressers, black as well and styled in the modern way of humans, were against each wall. Above them were three circular mirrors. And at the far end of the room, a silver clawfoot tub sat waiting for her.
He’d opened a portal and had one of his people bring it through. She’d said she wanted a bath, and he was personally offended by her smell. That’s the only reason he’d ordered such a thing.
“Then why did you also order bubbles and rose petals?” the elemental grumbled.
Well, he didn’t have a quick witted answer for that. Only the way her words had made him feel.
Guilt. The emotion made his skin crawl and he couldn’t have it. His realm wasn’t built for people like her. All the faeries cleaned themselves with fire and if they had a dirty job, they just walked through the lava fields and let that heat cleanse them.
Drake hadn’t had to think of anyone but fire faeries in so long, he’d forgotten she might need to bathe.
“She was offensively smelly,” he grumbled. “That’s the only reason I’m shoving her into a bath and holding her head underneath the water.”
“Sure, that’s the only reason.” The elemental flashed visions of Drake’s own imagination. Water running down her strong arms and dripping from her chin. The scent of roses filling the air as heat boiled her skin. His hands sliding down the slick smoothness of her back as he helped her wash.
“Stop that.” His eyes crossed. Damned elemental.
“Just be honest with yourself, that’s all I’m saying,” the creature replied. It was amused how caught up he was in this vampiress.
Any other time, Drake would have shared in its laughter. But he was all tied up in knots. What if she didn’t want a bath? What if she thought he was trying too hard, or that he was trying to get her into bed?
He was. Trying to get her into bed, that is. But not just because he wanted to fuck her.
He wanted to do that, too. Of course he did. There was something more about Lilith that made him want to ask her questions, hear the sound of her voice, understand the way that mind ticked.
The elemental groaned. “You’re starting to sound like a sad sap mooning about a woman. Take a breath, would you?”
Drake inhaled, then exhaled. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
He’d almost gotten his emotions under control when a knock resounded at the door. Drake snapped to attention and every muscle in his body locked up. He couldn’t open that door when she was out there.
A bathtub stood behind him like he was some lovesick little boy asking a girl to like him. For all the faerie realms, what in the world had he been thinking?
Drake straightened his back and opened his mouth to order her away. He’d punish her later. This wasn’t punishment at all, this was courting, and he was the King of the Flame. He only knew how to torture. In fact, he enjoyed torturing people.
He’d think of something much more devious than this and order her to return when he’d figured out what that was.
He opened his mouth but the words that came out were, “Come in.”
Shit. That’s not what he wanted to say at all. He wanted her to turn around and walk away!
Drake tried to breathe in through his mouth and out through his nose so maybe the redness in his cheeks would calm down. The doorknob turned, and he knew he’d have to channel whatever asshole vibes he usually got away with and see what happened.
Lilith walked into the room with narrowed eyes and clenched fists. She glanced at him before surveying the room. He felt every moment her eyes landed on something she didn’t like, or something she did.
“So this is where the faerie king spends his nights,” she said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her.
“Did you expect something different?”
She waved a hand at the walls. “I thought there would be more heads hanging on the walls. Your decoration skills are lacking in this room.”
Heads? It took a bit for him to understand what she meant. She thought he would decorate the entire Black Fortress like his trophy room?
He wasn’t an animal.
Drake cleared his throat. “Not as many heads in this room, no. I don’t like looking at my foes while I’m trying to rest.”
“Scared of a few ghosts?” The wicked grin on her face twisted his insides into knots. “You should be more scared of me. I never agreed to punishment if I acted out.”
There it was. The fire in his chest that always surged the moment she challenged him. Drake knew how to do this. He could banter back and forth with her all night, arguing over their deal. This was easier than trying to convince her to get into the bath. Like he was some kind of white knight.
He wasn’t. He was the Bringer of Death and a nightmare to almost all the faeries in this realm. They knew him for what he had done, all the people he had killed, and all the horrors he could bring even now.
Drake arched a brow. “I never agreed I wouldn’t punish you.”
“It wasn’t in the contract.”
“There is no contract.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I am the end all be all of our little deal, and I say punishment is involved.”
She took a step closer and his brain singed at the edges. “And just what punishment have you decided for me, King of the Flame?”
He followed her gaze to the bed where she clearly expected them to end up. No, that wasn’t where they were going. He wouldn’t be that person for her just yet. Besides, he didn’t know if he could even touch her without setting her on fire.
That would end things a little too quickly for his liking.
Instead of indulging her desire to explore his bed, Drake shook his head. “You smell like you’ve been lying in a sewer for two weeks.”
“Considering your head of staff has me cleaning the bathrooms every day, I’m not surprised.”
Flint had her doing what now? She was supposed to be Drake’s personal servant! Not a bathroom attendant.
He made a mental note to bring this up with Flint later on. He nodded toward the clawfoot tub. “Clean yourself.”
Her mouth dropped open, and she stared at the tub like it was a god. Or maybe like he was a god. Who’d have thought a bath would make a woman melt.
Lilith walked over to the tub with her arms crossed over her chest. She stared down into the porcelain, then back at him. “Needs water.”
“Yes, I realize that.”
“More sulphur water?”
His cheeks burned again. “I had something else in mind.”
Technically, he was breaking some serious rules even doing this for her. But the Summer Court was breaking a ton of rules as well, stealing lava from him. So... fair game.
He reached up and twisted his hand in the air, releasing the bit of magic above the tub that had been holding back the portal. A small hole appeared in the fabric of his realm, about the size of a cup. Water poured from the hole into the tub, filling it with crystal clear liquid smelling of fresh grass and flowers.
Leave it to the Mountain King for even his water to smell like his element. Now Drake’s room would smell like green things growing. He hated that smell.
But he didn’t hate her expression. Not at all. She stared at the stream of water with awe. “You know where to get fresh water?”
“It’s not from this realm.”
“Where is it from?” She looked away from the azure waters to meet his gaze. “And why?”
No, this was far too kind for his comfort. This wouldn’t do. He cleared his throat and replied, “Because you smell. You made me look bad in that meeting not because you threatened a noble, but because you made everyone’s stomach turn. It ruined my dinner.”
She still watched him with eyes that saw way too much. “Right. We’ll go with that.”
Then, without hesitation, she reached down for the hem of her robe and pulled it up and over her head.
He was going to have a heart attack. The organ would pound right out of his
chest, onto the floor, and then bounce toward her just so it could get a little closer to the long, lean body she revealed.
Drake wanted to trace the hollow of her collarbone with his tongue. He wanted to kiss the valley between her perfect breasts. He wanted to lick the curve between her hips, indented a little too much for his liking, but was probably because she hadn’t fed in a long time.
That was his doing. He’d been the one to hold her here where there wasn’t enough food to keep her as plump and plush as she had been when she arrived.
Even that guilt didn’t stop the blood rushing from his head and straight between his legs. His shaft pounded as hard as his heart, and he seriously wondered if he could die from blue balls.
Licking his lips, he stalked to the tub and crouched down so she couldn’t see just how affected he was. “I won’t have you at another meeting smelling like that.”
“Okay,” she said, her voice eerily chipper. “I’ll just need a bath every couple days.”
“Couple days?” He waved his hand underneath the clawfoot tub. The cooled volcanic rock split open to reveal churning lava beneath it. The tub and water would heat quickly, faster than she might expect. Straightening, he turned to look at her again. “That’s rather often, don’t you think?”
Lilith stood with her hip cocked out to the side, all that lily white skin laid bare for his gaze. She didn’t seem to care at all that he was staring at her with his mouth open. She was slightly shiny all over, reeked to the high heavens, but he couldn’t care less.
She was beautiful.
“Vampire bodies aren’t all that different from human bodies. Bathing is essential.” She lifted a hand and stared down at her nails. “Is it ready yet?”
He was very much ready. He was about to explode in his pants, and he hadn’t done that since he was a very young faerie who hadn’t known how to control his own desires.
Drake shook himself. “Yes, hop in.”
She lifted a leg and stepped into the clawfoot tub with all the grace of a queen. Lilith sank underneath the water until it brushed her collarbones, catching in them like tide pools. She let out a long moan that made every hair on his body stand on end.
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