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He sighed. “Fine, just be quick about it. And don’t get any fucking ideas, vamp!”

“Um, it might help everyone involved if one of you redirected her attention.”

“What does that mean?” Julian asked, tilting his head.

Archer rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed that he was the only one who’d understood Kian’s suggestion. He stomped towards me, taking my face in his hands and kissing me the second Kian’s mouth struck.

I flinched from the initial pain and then…

Holy hell.

It felt like someone had managed to liquefy an orgasm and then injected it straight into my veins. My core was on fire, and I wrapped my arm around Archer’s waist and pulled him flush against me, rubbing against him in desperate need of friction to relieve the building ache.

His tongue slid along the seam of my lips and I opened for him, moaning into the kiss. His sea salt and jasmine scent intensified, and I felt the slick begin to drip down my thighs.

Was this what my heat was like? I didn’t have any clear memories from my first one, but right now I couldn’t think of anything else other than Archer fucking me hard, right now.

Oh god, could his bite have actuallytriggeredmy heat?

Kian breathed in deeply and then withdrew his fangs with a gasp, wiping his mouth and taking several steps back.

“Shit,” he coughed.

The bulge in his pants was unmistakable, as were the raging hard-ons the rest of my pack was now sporting.

Ezra was immune at least, thank god. He crossed his arms and huffed. “Well,thatwas dumb.”

My arm was still wrapped tightly around Archer, and he looked at me through hooded eyes, his pupils blown. “I’m ashamed I didn’t see this coming.”

“Ba dum, tss,” Ezra added, laughing to himself.

I ignored my brother and bit my lip, running a finger down Archer’s sculpted chest. “All the more reason to get this wrapped up quickly, hm?”

The desperate need was receding, but the lingering heat I felt for my very hot alphas remained, as it always did. I really couldn’t wait until we were back home.

“Alright, boys, let’s do this.”

75

KIAN

Marlowe nodded towards me and I breathed deeply, ignoring my erection, summoning and contorting the magic inside me. I took what I’d learned from the shield the fae had tried to raise along the haven and the invisibility curtain the vampyrs had used around their village to create six bubbles, one for everyone except Wasabi and the twins.

Nolan, Elias, Archer, and Julian sprinted towards the haven, each heading towards one of the four outer walls, while the rest of us followed Marlowe and Ezra to the king.

With each step, the sheer amount of power emanating off the male became clearer and stronger, and my resolve began to falter.

I could hardly breathe, the oppressive weight of it was sitting directly on my chest. How had these two managed to spend any significant amount of time around him without devolving into muttering idiots in pools of their own piss?

No wonder the vampyrs had hidden themselves away so carefully.

His whole being was pure ice and cold, from his pale skin to his silver hair and his aqua eyes. I doubted the male could appear warm even if he’d tried.

Oh Moon, what if I blew this? It almost felt like if the king looked at me, my magic would disappear and Marlowe’s plan would immediately go to shit.

No, I couldn’t be the reason we failed. I had two women I loved back home who I needed to get back to, alive and well. I closed my eyes and imagined their faces instead, the way Jasmin would yell atme for taking so long before smothering me with kisses. How Aisha would tell me I’d lost weight, even though I hadn’t, and immediately begin cooking me some elaborate meal that would put me in a happy food coma until it was time for bed.

Okay, now that was a different distraction I certainly didn’t need at the moment.