Page 122 of A Monarch's Fall

I came hard, my mouth falling open in ecstasy.

Before I had time to ride the waves of pleasure, I was flipped to my back, and Selene’s teeth were at my neck, her fangs piercing my skin, as she continued to pump in and out of me, her thumb circling my delicate and sensitive clit.

The intensity began to build again, as she drank from me and I was thrown over the edge into a second longer wave of pleasure that wracked my whole body in spasms.

When Selene stopped drinking and pulled herself from me, my entire body felt heavy, used, yet satiated, and I looked to her at my side, where she had fallen beside me.

The circles under her eyes were brighter.

The hollowness within my chest had gone.

Chapter thirty

Morning After Regrets.

Percy Flores

Iawoke to the feeling of Selene pressing a kiss against my shoulder, her arm over my waist, pulling me into her.

“Good morning, how did you sleep?” she asked.

The previous day’s events flooded my mind; images of Edward broken and dead, the sound of the King slapping Selene, and the way I couldn’t control my need for her after being separated for so long.

Selene pulled me closer.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

What had I done? How could I have allowed the previous night to happen? The way she drew me into her warmth and pressed gentle, caring kisses to my shoulder was painful. Painful becauseI knew it couldn’t last, because I knew it had to be the last time she ever held or cared for me in such a way.

Arvid had warned me that the King had been vicious and ruthless, but his assessment that he was somehow less so now had been wrong. He had Edward killed just to prove that he could and would do as he threatened. He slapped his own daughter. He said he had people watching my family and village, and he knew of the birth of my brother, which told me he wasn’t lying, and he didn’t strike me as the kind to bluff.

I couldn’t risk anyone else. I loved Selene more than I knew it was possible to love someone, but I also loved my family and friends. I couldn’t live with myself if they died because of me.

Father was right. I should have listened to him. I should have allowed him to send me away. It would have been painful, but not as painful as this. Not as painful as watching Edward’s death. Not as painful as having to break Selene’s heart the way I knew I had to.

Selene was intelligent and strong, but she couldn’t protect me from everything. She couldn’t protect me and everyone I cared for from her father.

I took her hand that lay against my stomach and removed myself from her embrace.

“Percy?” she asked as I sat up, and kept my back towards her.

“It was a mistake,” I said.

I felt the bed shift as she sat up, and I shook off her hand when she tried to turn me to face her.

“What was a mistake?” she asked.

“Last night. Coming back here to you. I meant what I said when I told you I wanted to go home,” I got out of bed and began picking up my discarded clothes.

When I pulled my shirt over my head, Selene was waiting for me, her brow drew in confusion.

“Why are you saying such things?” she asked me.

I looked away as I continued to put my top on. She gripped my shoulders, stopping me from continuing to get dressed.

“Answer me, Percy,” she commanded.

“I don’t want to be with you anymore, Selene,” I told her and pulled myself out of her grip to continue getting dressed.