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If it failed . . . we’d just have to run fast. Real fucking fast.

Maybe I should check them again . . .

My hand flew to my chest at the same moment I inhaled sharply. Then I was sprinting towards the temple entrance and flinging myself into the arms of the approaching man.

“Vail,” I breathed out as I clung to him before inhaling that scent I had missed so much.

“Miss me, Sam?” Vail held me tightly against him.

“Only a little,” I lied.

He laughed, burying his face into the crook of my neck. We stayed like that for a long moment, just holding each other. Safe. He was safe . . . and he’d come back to me. The bond thrummed happily between us.

“What’s that smell?” I wrinkled my nose after taking another deep breath, then stepped back enough to look him over.

“Well, I have been traveling basically nonstop for the past few days,” he said dryly.

“Not that.” My gaze fell to the bag he must have dropped when I’d thrown myself at him. The brown canvas was stained dark red in places. Blood. Decay. “Are you carrying body parts?” I looked at him, wide-eyed. “Tell me you didn’t kill Tamsen!? That was not the plan, Vail!”

“I didn’t kill Tamsen.” His silver eyes were alight with amusement. “She is safe in the loving and not at all crazy embrace of House Devereux. I brought you a present.”

“A present?” I gave the bag and then him a skeptical look. “You know how Draven tried to explain how apologies work? Maybe you should talk to him about how gifts work. See, rotting body parts aren’t really?—”

“Grigor’s dead.”

I blinked. “The sleazy guard from the Sovereign House? The handsy one?”

Vail grinned widely. “He’s a little less handsy now.”

“You didn’t,” I said with a choked laugh before glancing back down at the bag. It was basically the perfect size for two hands . . .

“I saw the way he kept coming up with reasons to touch you,” Vail said in a low, dangerous tone. “He volunteered to be on one of the teams to track Tamsen down. Apparently, he is—was—a good tracker. After I got her to safety, I doubled back and took him out.”

“How?” I prodded the bag with my toe.

“Lured a pack of howlers to where he was, cut off his hands, and let the pack tear him apart.”

“Let’s leave them out here—they smell, and it’s the thought that counts.” I grabbed Vail’s hand and started pulling him into the temple.

“So you like my gift then?”

I glanced over my shoulder. “Oh, yes, but we need to get you cleaned up so I can show you just how much.”

Vail’s hand slipped from mine, and the next thing I knew, I was being thrown over his shoulder. I laughed as Vail jogged down to the secret levels. He paused at the first level, but when I tried to turn to see why, he just slapped my ass.

“Vail!” I shouted and wiggled to get free. Another slap.

“I take it things went well then?” Draven drawled. I couldn’t see him, but I could practically hear the smile in his voice.

“Tamsen is safe. At least two of the rangers picked up my trail. They’re keeping their distance, but I doubled back a few times to check on them—they’re definitely following me.” A hand gripped my ass and squeezed. “Also, I killed that prick of a guard I told you about.”

“The handsy one?” Draven asked.

“Less handsy now,” I laughed while repeating Vail’s words.

Draven chuckled. “Do us a favor and keep her busy for a few hours? Everyone is feeling a little stir-crazy, and our devious little Blood Queen has been rather antsy.”

First, Vail and Draven had been chatting about the guard, and now Roth was sharing their nickname for me. I kind of liked that all my mates were getting along. Although I wasn’t going to let Draven’s comment about my antsiness slide.

“It’s rude to talk about me like I’m not here,” I said in a mockingly stern tone. “And it’s not for you both to decide where I go. As you said, I am your queen, so—” I yelped when Vail raised the hand that had been kneading my ass and slapped it again—hard.

There was no way I wasn’t going to have a bruise.

“At least two people should be on lookout from now on.” Vail started down the stairs again.

“I’ll see to it.” Draven blew me a kiss when we passed him. I blew one back because apparently I was sappy as shit now that I had five mates.

Plus, I was about to get railed for several hours. That was an instant good-mood maker right there.

Vail went straight to the room he’d claimed on the second level and put me down.

The layout of this one was different from mine.

A large bed took up the back left corner, its sheets still askew from when Vail had last been in it, and the opposite corner on the back wall had a little alcove built into it.

The Fae had taken the time to create a waterfall mural in it using different types of stones and gems.

They really had put a lot of effort into making these hidden layers feel like a home. Once again, I was curious about who had built it and why they weren’t here enjoying the fruits of their labor.

All those thoughts fled the second Vail pulled his shirt over his head before tugging off his pants and boots a second later.

“Strip,” he ordered before activating the glyph that had been cleverly worked into the waterfall mural. Water started to fall in a controlled spray of fine droplets from the alcove’s ceiling.

I briefly thought about saying no just to be contrary, but then I made the mistake of looking at Vail’s thick, hard cock, and my mouth watered.

I could always be bratty later.

Vail smirked, as if he’d seen my momentary inner struggle and was amused by it. Then a groan slipped from his lips when I shucked my dress off, revealing I wasn’t wearing any undergarments—Alaric had torn my last pair yesterday. It was my turn to smirk at him.

“See something you like, Marshal?” I sauntered past him to duck under the warm water, letting it plaster my long, black hair to my breasts and over my soft belly.

Vail’s gaze darkened. “I see something I want to devour.”

Fuck. Me.

“Clean first.” I curled a finger, and he joined me under the water. “You’re covered in dirt, blood, and only the moon knows what else.”

Vail stood there quietly while I took my time getting him clean, running my fingers across his broad chest before tangling them in his hair.

The more I touched him, the more his dark grey eyes shifted to silver until that was all I could see.

His patience finally snapped when I reached down and dragged my fingers up the bottom of his hard length.

One second, I was debating dropping to my knees and teasing him a little more, and the next, I was six feet off the ground with my back against the cool wall and my legs over Vail’s shoulders.

“Oh, fuck!” I screamed. There was no teasing. No light little licks. Vail just gripped my ass with his hands and buried his entire face in my pussy. Instantly, my thighs clamped around his head, but he didn’t seem to mind. If anything, it only spurred him on.

Arching my back as much as I could and trusting him not to let me fall, I let myself slip into bliss while Vail devoured my cunt.

His tongue speared my core, and I ground against his mouth.

I didn’t even attempt to be quiet as I moaned with every lick and thrust of his tongue, and when he switched to sucking on my clit, I came so hard, I was surprised I didn’t pass out.

Hot breath tickled my inner thigh as Vail pulled back. “You still with me, Sam?”

“Mm-hmm,” I breathed out as tremors ran through my body.

“I promised Draven I’d keep you distracted for hours. Don’t tell me I’ve already worn you out?”

“Not even close.” I leaned my head forward from where it had been resting against the wall and almost groaned when I saw Vail grinning, the evidence of my arousal glistening in his short beard. “That was just a bit of stress relief.”

“Oh?” Vail’s hands slid up to my lower back, holding me in place as he stepped out of the alcove, taking me with him. I squeaked at my precarious position, which just made him laugh as he carried us towards the bed. “And what were you so worried about?”

I scowled down at him. “You were gone for five days, Vail! Any number of things could have gone wrong, and it’s all I could think about.”

“Funny. You said you only missed me a little bit.” He carefully lowered me to the bed as if I weighed nothing. I should have probably cared about the fact that we were both still wet and soaking the bed, but my eyes were glued to Vail’s impressive chest and abs.

Which I would argue were more important from a priority standpoint.

“Okay, maybe I missed you a moderate amount.”

Vail’s silver gaze bored down on me, the back of my legs still resting loosely against his body.

“A moderate amount?” He grinned and jerked my legs so that my butt was closer to the edge of the bed.

I inhaled sharply when I felt his cock notch against my entrance.

Vail chuckled and leaned down, pushing my legs so that the tops of my thighs were almost touching my breasts. “Is that your final answer?”

I bit my lip and acted like I was thinking about it before nodding. “Yep. Definitely a middling amou—” A scream tore from my throat as Vail buried his cock balls-deep inside me.

“I felt you,” he growled. “Every fucking day. You missed me. Desperately. Like your soul had been fractured.” Vail pulled his hips away, only to thrust roughly back inside me again, drawing out another moan as my pussy stretched around his hard length.

“I felt it too. It was fucking torture to be away from you that long.”

“Show me,” I breathed out. “Show me how much you missed me, Vail.”

“Fuck,” Vail ground out, then slammed into me one more time before pulling out. I hissed my disapproval at his cock no longer being inside me, and the bastard just chuckled as he flipped me over until I was on my hands and knees. With one smooth motion, he gripped my hips and thrust back into me.

I screamed and clenched the silky fabric of the bedspread as I did my best to push back against Vail’s brutal pace. “Fuck me harder! I want to feel every inch of you.”

I felt the second his nails shifted to claws and tore through my flesh.

My pussy clenched at the mixture of pain and pleasure, and Vail groaned in response.

“You are so fucking perfect.” He pounded harder against me until all I could hear was the sound of flesh slapping flesh.

“You like me stretching out your tight little pussy, don’t you? ”

“I do,” I panted. “Fill me up, Vail. I want to feel you dripping between my thighs . . . and then I want you to fuck me again.”

“Gods, I love that filthy mouth of yours.” One hand ripped away from my thigh to push down on my back until my forehead was against the bed.

Then both hands were on me again as Vail rutted roughly into me.

“You’re going to take every inch of me in this perfect fucking pussy until you can’t take anymore, and then I’m going to come down your throat before fucking this glorious ass.

You’re going to be feeling me for days. Is that what you want, Sam? ”

“Yes!” I let out a half-strangled scream.

After that, all I could do was moan as Vail pounded into me until he let out a low groan.

He gave me a couple of minutes to recover before flipping me over and spearing me with his fingers.

Then I whimpered when he pulled them free and admired how soaked they were before he swirled them around my clit.

“Tell me again how much you missed me, mate .”

“Make me,” I said a little breathlessly before giving him a wicked grin, “mate.”