Freed (Vampire King Book 3) (4 page)

What’s happening to her? Is this a
bad reaction to the elf magic?

My
mother had stabbed Brie in the back with a knife and dug it so deep that the
sharp tip emerged from the middle of Brie’s breasts. My mother told me the
knife had been dipped in elf blood and that if I followed her orders, they
would remove the knife and give Brie a potion that healed all wounds by elfkin
weapons. I’d captured the potion and poured it down Brie’s throat myself. Her
wounds healed. Her injured heart beat faster, as if it had also been repaired. But
I no longer heard her thoughts and glowing symbols marred her skin. She barely
talked, and when she did, she begged for blood.

I
turned the handles and put some of the bath soap into the tub. Water poured out
of the faucet and spilled into the marble tub. Steam rose from the stream as it
filled the space. I lowered Brie into it. In the middle of her breasts lay
smooth flesh with a triangle as bright as white light.

What do these marks mean? Who could
tell me what’s happening to her? Ian maybe?

According
to Leeta, Ian had been locked in a room making love to dominas. I had possessed
no time to check. After killing so many guards in the Quiet King’s room,
exhaustion drained my body. I rushed off with the few guards who swore service
to me, raced down to the dungeons to free the Phinova Dominas, and fled the
castle with them all.

An
exasperated breath fled my lips as I climbed into the water and sat next to my
love. The whole time, she gazed at me, her view starting at my huge horns and
traveling down to my blasted hooves. The water enveloped those monstrous things
that replaced my feet. They’d been sore from the journey, maybe because they
were new. The liquid’s warmth soothed the bottoms and the throbbing area near
my ankles where skin met the solid hardness of the hooves.

“Blood.”
Brie leaned her head back on the edge and closed her eyes. My arm smoothed
against hers. Those flaming red strands splayed across the tub’s edge and
draped down to the floor.

Within
an instance, I cut one of my wrists with a fang and held it over her parted
lips. Dark red blood dripped out and leaked into her mouth. She shuddered and
groaned. Her tongue licked her lips. Her chest rose and fell. After several
minutes of drinking my blood, she held her hand up as if to say
stop.
I moved my wrist away. Blood still
spilled out and mixed with the soapy water, but in less than an hour, the wound
would heal and the blood within me would replenish inside my body.

I
centered all of my attention on her. “Brie?”

A
soft giggle escaped her mouth. “Am I no longer your queen?”

She can talk better now.

I
rushed to her. Water waved up and spurt out of the edges of the tub. I captured
her, dragging her little frame onto my lap and pressing her soft body against
mine. “Queen.”

Her
heart beat louder and stronger in my ears. I rubbed my face against her cheeks.
“How do you feel?”

“Better.”

“Do
you think it was my blood?”

“Yes.”
She turned and pressed her breasts into me, her nipples hard points against my
chest. “Your blood hummed this long, soft tune that never ended. I don’t know
why or how I knew it was your blood. It just—”

“Sung
to you.” I kissed her skin, nipping at the succulent flesh. “I know the song of
blood. I hear yours when I’m near and hungry for you.”

“Something
said I should drink it, or maybe it was a gut feeling, but I knew your blood
would make me feel better.”

“And
do you, or are you still feeling weak?”

“No.
I’m starting to feel more like me.” She sat up and leaned away from me, at a
distance I didn’t want between us.
No
more space between us. No more.
I pulled her back to me.

She
giggled. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“No.
You’re not.” I moved my hands down the sides of her body. The water swirled
around me. “How do you truly feel?”

“I
already told you I feel fine.”

“I
can’t hear your thoughts.”

“Good.”

I
guided the tips of my fangs against her skin. “I think our bond may have been
broken when you…were hurt.”

“Killed.”

“Do
you think you truly died?”

“Yes.
I saw Ressi and Ambi before me. I floated in the sky above the planet covered
in a gown of glittering stars. Ambi said, ‘Join with your kings and unite them
all.’ I turned to Ambi. Her hair flowed out in hot flames of fire, just like
the sun. She pointed her finger back to our world and said, ‘Tell them.’”

“Tell
who? And tell them what?” I tensed and pulled back to look into her eyes. Those
pools of green shined back at me with honesty.

“I’m
not sure. I opened my mouth to ask them questions, but my body floated away
from them at their command. I traveled back to you. They wanted me to do
something for them. That’s why they let me return to you.”

“No,
Brie, you came back because of the potion.”

“No.”
Symbols lit up all over her body. Every inch of skin boasted a glimmering mark
as if her flesh were a canvas for a mad artist obsessed with stars or maybe
even a map to find some treasure within the universe. “I saw them. It happened.”

“But—”

“I’m
not crazy, Samuel. The gods stood before me, together, and pushed me back to
you.”

If she believes this, then I’ll
have faith in it, too. Does it really matter as long as she’s back to me? And
what about these symbols? Did the gods do this?

“Okay.”
I touched one of the symbols. Warmth radiated from her.

She
gazed down at her body for the first time and gasped. “My skin looks like
hers.”

“Ressi?”
The very thought triggered fear to rise in my chest.

“Yes.”
She clasped her fingers into her hair and pulled it in front of her, staring at
the fiery red strands. “My hair is brighter now, too.”

“I
noticed.”

Yet this could be the potion or a
bad reaction to elfkin magic.
Doubt swam in my head.
I’d never witnessed a bad reaction to magic that seared bright symbols into
skin.

She
studied her body some more and then shifted her gaze back to me. “I love you.”

“I
love you, too.” But, still, I could not hear her thoughts. The annoyance tugged
at the back of my head. I shouldn’t need to hear them, but I craved it. I
relished being inside her body as well as her mind. I couldn’t get enough. “I
think your death severed our bond.”

“Good.
And we won’t be re-linking the bond, either.”

A
dark growl erupted from my chest.

Chapter Three

~Brie

“We
won’t?” he snarled.

“Yes.
We won’t.” I tried to climb off his thighs, but he yanked me back. “I didn’t
like you inside my head.”

“I
did.”

“Too
bad.”

“We
will do the bond again.”
His thighs stiffened under my behind.

“No.
In fact, you can keep your fangs away from me if you continue to insist on it.”

Our
eyes met. His eyes held rage tinged with madness, but if he expected me to
cower away in fear then he’d be disappointed. I stared at him back with
confidence and determination. I loved him more than any man, but my brain was
mine alone, along with my privacy. He’d have to understand. My thoughts
belonged to only me.

“Let’s
not fight.” I kissed the tip of his nose. “We have so many things to plan and
decide. And even more, I need you inside me, not my head, but my body. I need
to feel you moving within me tonight.”

“And
my fangs?”

I
slipped my hands along the top of his horns where they curved backward. He
shuddered. Drops of water trickled from my fingers, ran down the black paths,
and dribbled off at the sharp tips.

“You
want your fangs inside me?” I grinned.

“You
shouldn’t have to ask.” His angry look remained.

I
moved toward his fangs and kissed them, tasting his own blood at the tips. Sweet
like sugar, yet bitter like cinnamon. My stomach grumbled with hunger. His eyes
widened in curiosity. His cock hardened under me. I repositioned myself,
lifting my leg over to the other side of him so I could straddle him the way I
wanted to. His cock pressed against my stomach and grew right before me. His
length expanded a few inches longer than I remembered. The width around his
hardness thickened even more.

His cock is so much bigger than
before.

A
tiny bit of excitement and fear shivered through my spine. “You’ve changed a
lot.”

“I
think this is my king’s form.”

None
of the dominas ever saw the Quiet King’s other form, although it never stopped
people from imagining it and creating stories of horns and hooves, spiked flesh
and metal skin. It was said that battle was the only time the Quiet King rose
from his wheelchair and shifted into his other form. I never talked to the
soldiers that fought with him, so I had no idea how close Samuel resembled him.

I
wondered if the Quiet King could see, speak, or hear in his battle form. He was
mute, blind, and deaf. When he spoke, he did through our minds. When he saw, it
was through his fingers scraping over our skin.

“When
did the hooves come?” I slid my hand up his cock all the way to the mushroomed
tip. It vibrated against me. My body swelled with heat and need.

“In
the Quiet King’s bedroom, right before I killed Ty and Victoria. I filled with
rage. My feet broke apart. My skin ripped away. Hooves pushed out and raised me
high into the air.”

“You
killed Ty and Victoria?” My bottom lip quivered.

“Yes,
and my mother.”

“Leeta?”

“No.
Queen Regina. Leeta gave you the potion, so I kept her alive.”

My
mouth dropped open in shock. “You…killed Queen Regina?”

“She
tried to kill you. If anyone ever tries to hurt you, I’ll kill them.”

Samuel has more changes than
physical form.

Ty,
Victoria, and even his mother Queen Regina had been his family, but in the end
they pushed him into murder. They took a good vampire, one that only wanted to
help others that couldn’t help themselves, and they forced him to be a king by
killing me.

“No.”
I landed a kiss on his cheek. “Don’t kill for me anymore. I’m here now.”

“It
can’t be helped. This feeling is in my veins now. I can’t get it out. I have to
protect you. I’m insane with it.”

“I’m
here. You don’t need to protect me.”

“I’m
not the man that walked into the Quiet King’s bedroom earlier tonight. I’m not
him anymore. This form changes me.” Samuel closed his eyes. “I walked out of
there as a monster.”

“Stop
saying that.”

“Do
the hooves disgust you?”

“No.”
I leaned my head to the side. “Why would you say that?”

“No
man should walk on hooves.”

I
tightened my fingers around the head of his cock and squeezed. He grunted. My
clit throbbed at the sound and the possibility of his newly-sized hardness
inside me. “You’re not a man. You’re a vampire king. You walk on whatever you
want.”

“And
what about my queen?”

I
quirked my eyebrows. “What about me?”

“Does
she do whatever she desires?”

“Of
course.” I laughed.

He
growled. I froze. The candles’ lights flickered and wavered.

“What’s
wrong?” I released him and edged away.

Again,
he caught me. “You can’t do anything you want, not if it’s something I don’t
like.”

“Who
says you won’t like what I do?”

“You
can’t be away from me, either.”

“Will
we be going to the bathroom together, too?”

“Maybe.”

Why is he acting this way? Before,
he was possessive, but battled with keeping his demands back. Now…now he’s
scaring me.

“I
need the bond back.” He pressed me against his massive chest as though I were
no more than a little doll.

“Let
me go.” I shoved at him, but couldn’t break free.

The
tips of his fangs slid against the hollow of my neck. Even though I didn’t want
to, I shuddered from their touch. Memories of his bite danced in my head—the
sting of them slicing into my skin, the burst of pleasure as they sank deeper,
and the all-consuming bliss as he drank. My blood hummed. The marks on my skin
gleamed, illuminating the space around us. My body yearned for his bite, but my
mind wanted its privacy. “Put your fangs away.”