Page 31 of A Dance of Water (Moon Song #2)

WHEN I AM INSIDE YOU… YOU WILL KNOW

LUELLA

L uella entered her second night of the Winter Solstice with clammy palms and a demon stuck to her side.

"I won’t leave you, Lu," Az vowed.

She looked over at the demon, his nearness soothing her, even as sin beckoned from every corner of the wintry room.

The revelers were more free this night compared to last. As if that had been a mere trial and the real thing was just beginning.

The same could be said for her, too.

After Graves had whisked her away to Vale’s rooms, she had not been able to look him in the eye as she bid him goodnight, the door closing softly and trapping her alone in the King’s quarters, needy and desperate—but not desperate enough to follow the raven shifter’s instructions.

That information she tucked far in the recesses of her mind.

Luella had curled up on an armchair in Vale’s sitting room, where she had fallen into a fitful sleep, oversensitized.

Whatever she had dreamed haunted her.

Shattered glass. Yelled words filled with so much pain, her head ached with the memory. Hands against bare flesh, flushed and yearning, before those sounds of passion turned to hurled insults coated in rage.

But as she had awoken to the sight of her demon looming over her, the memories of her dream had grown fuzzy, and she found herself wondering how much of it was true and how much she had conjured up in a bid to make some sense of it on her own.

Luella blinked, coming back to herself.

The throne room was icy, and her dress was blessedly thinner tonight but no less gorgeous.

Soft white silk adorned with blue lace. A thin, fluttering cape was clipped around her neck, falling over her bare shoulders and trailing against the ground with every step she took.

Her white hair tumbled freely around her shoulders, and Ina and Osa had applied scant beauty products to her face, save for a deep rouge on her lips.

Leached entirely of color save for the splash of scarlet on her lips, she felt like a sculpture made of ice.

Az held her gaze. "Always."

"Always," she breathily replied.

He was without chains or manacles. She wondered how he felt about it, to be here amid court without iron shackling him, caging him.

King Vale sat upon his icy-decorated throne and beckoned with the mere crook of his finger. Az honed in on the action.

"It seems you are wanted," the demon rumbled.

"It appears so," Luella said. She looked up at him, fingers gripping his so tightly her knuckles turned white. "Come with me?"

He looked down at their joined hands and wordlessly led her to the dais upon which the King’s throne loomed.

"Happy Solstice, Princess Luella." The King notched his chin on a hand, and the few steps that separated them forced him to stare down at her.

The imbalance was a physical manifestation of their power difference.

He owned her. The mark on her chest was just another reminder.

His stamp was all over her, weaving into her like a sickness. "No well wishes for the King?"

"H-happy Solstice." Luella bit her lip, tacking on a soft, "Vale," when a golden brow arched in taunting waiting.

Vale waved a jeweled hand, ignoring the demon at her side completely.

"Go. Celebrate," he ordered. "Drink, dance. But don’t find anyone to fuck.

You will save your pleasure for me and me alone.

I think a certain vampire wishes to collect on a deal you two have made?

" The King gave a prideful half-smirk, and all the blood pooled to her feet at the reminder of her deal with Bastian.

Vale’s green eyes fell to her chest, taking in the trio of interconnected circles. Could he see Bastian’s mark on her chest, too? The small red circle was barely the size of her fingernail, but suddenly it seemed larger than the Binding mark.

She tried to swallow, but her mouth was dry. Az’s hand gripped hers, grounding her.

"That will be all. For now." Vale steepled his hands and peered down at her. "I will call for you later, so don’t run off, Chosen ."

She was saved from responding by Az tugging her away. He threw a glare over his shoulder toward the King as he pulled her to the edges of the room.

"I know his moods. Better to leave in good graces than take a chance of risking his anger," the demon shared as they came to a stop in the ice-tipped shadows.

The nearby window was cracked open, letting in swirls of thick snow and wintry air. She could hear the crashing waves from outside, and she allowed her eyes to drift closed momentarily. She wished she could drown herself in the ocean waves. Flee and never return.

But how else would I get my kiss? Cold fingers danced over her exposed shoulders.

Az let out a warning growl.

The vampire was regal. His state of dress was not the usual Solstice fashion but a sultry, silken look with a dark blouse with undone laces, baring the pale inked skin of his chest, and dark high-waisted pants.

The shimmering blue dust of the enchanted chandelier coated his skin in a sheen of iridescence. He glimmered.

"I’ve come to collect, pet. I don’t like to be kept waiting.

It is time to give me what I’m owed." Bastian wrapped his long fingers around her fluttering cape and used it to tug her into his side.

Az tightened his hand on hers, causing her to wince from his unrelenting hold.

"Say goodbye to the beast," Bastian directed, lifting her other hand and using it to give a limp wave to Az.

Az’s amber eyes grew dark with a promise of violence. "Hurt her, and I will find a way around this godsdamned curse keeping us from shedding blood." He lifted his fingers from hers, one by one, and stared down at her. "Call for me, Lu, and I will be there."

She barely had the chance to nod before she was pulled away.

Bastian’s sensual threat rang out between them: "I will not harm her, but she will be calling out—just not for you."

Az’s angered face haunted her as she was stolen away into the shadows—the very same alcove Graves had hidden her in last night. Her steps faltered. Did he know? Not for the first time, she wondered how much they shared with each other…

A flush overtook her. Again.

She found it difficult to look at the vampire in his knowing eyes, so she focused on the alcove.

At least this time, the small table held a decanter of liquor to go along with the empty glasses. A tiny, weak laugh left her, and Bastian watched her with amusement.

Yes, she felt he did know. If not for Graves telling him, then simply because she felt the softest brush of his magic.

He pulled the silken curtains shut, trapping them in darkness. It was a mirror of the night prior, only this time, she had a deal to uphold.

Her lips tingled, hand fluttering to skim over her mouth. She had only kissed one male before, and it had been…

A shiver wracked her.

"No, don’t stop. Tell me of your first kiss.

" Bastian held her shoulders and pulled her into his body.

She fell with the slightest of protests, her hands coming up to rest against his cold, marble-like chest to stop herself from falling further.

"That won’t do, pet. I want you to fall.

" He gathered her hands up and placed them on his shoulders.

She was forced to rise onto her tiptoes to relieve the strain on her arms, to reach him. He towered over her.

Luella swallowed thickly, wide eyes searching his red-tinted ones. "What do you intend to do to m-me?"

Bastian breathed in deeply, eyes falling closed. A groan escaped from his chest. It was an utterly masculine sound, making her knees weak.

As his lids opened and he stared down at where she was trapped against his chest, the red in his eyes grew to be a deep scarlet—the same shade as the rouge on her lips.

Fear gripped her, startlingly strong. For not the first time, she found herself alone with a vampire gripped by bloodlust. Az had promised to come for her if she called, but would he be fast enough?

"I will not have your blood this night, Luella." He said her name like a promise. "Soon, but not tonight. When my fangs slide inside you and I take your blood, you will be begging me for it."

A soft breath escaped her. "I don’t know how… I will never beg you for that ."

His mind brushed against hers; the picture he painted was vivid—lips against her neck, his tongue tracing her pulse, white fangs piercing her delicate skin, the hot and wet slide of blood trickling down her pale flesh, over her breasts. She knew… it would feel good.

The idea tempted her.

But then Bastian pulled away from her mind, leaving her curious, bothered.

And bereft.

"Stop that," Luella protested. He raised a brow in question, so she added, "Stop going inside me."

It was as she said it that she realized how sinfully tantalizing the words sounded.

A boisterous laugh shook his shoulders. "When I am inside you, you will know."

"I didn’t mean—" she started.

Bastian shushed her with a finger pressed against her lips, making them puff out. She went cross-eyed as she stared down at the offending appendage. She had half a mind to bite it.

"Your mind is so entertaining," teased Bastian.

Swift as rainfall, all the playfulness left him, swept away like the tide. The room filled with heaviness, and she desperately wished for the teasing vampire back. This half-lidded, sultry male before her made her feel wholly out of her depth.

She had only kissed one male before. A stolen act in a library of secrets.

Would she even enjoy kissing Bastian ?

The side of his lip quirked up—he definitely had heard that thought.

"Our deal," Bastian prodded. "I wish to collect." He rubbed his finger absently over her top lip, regarding her with intense interest—and desire.

Her head spun as she tried to find a way out of this.

Another trick? It worked the first time…

He was shaking his head before the plan could fully formulate. "I won’t fall for your trickery again, pet. Fool me once…"