Page 16 of Cruel Vampire King (Honeyblood Vampires #1)

I planned to yank that knife out and drive it back into him again and again, until the hot springs was stained with his blood and there was nothing left of him but a rancid sack of flesh. Then I’d spit on his corpse and burn it in a bonfire, just to make sure he was dead and dead forever.

Things didn’t quite go according to plan.

Luken’s eyes widened, and I lingered there, my hand clenching around the knife. His body was so close to mine. I saw in his eyes the moment that he understood what I’d done. Slowly, he pulled away from me. The heat of the springs rose up in a thick mist that hid the forest around us. My heart hammered in my chest, a bitter taste on my tongue.

He reached around and plucked the knife from his back. The blade was covered in thin, watery blood. With a flick of his wrist, the knife soared through the air and disappeared into the mist. A soft splash told me it had hit the water. Luken stared at me for a long moment before he twisted to look at the injury to his back. It was too high and too close to his shoulder to be anywhere near vital arteries.

My breath exploded from me in a jagged exhale. Luken touched the spot, swiping a bit of his blood onto his fingers.

“You actually stabbed me,” he said, surprise coloring his words. “I didn’t think you had it in you. Not a good blow, though. You can’t have meant it, otherwise you would have had better aim.”

“I did mean it,” I answered at once, just to be contrary.

Gods. I’ve just made the biggest mistake of my life.

His amber eyes glowed when he looked up at me. A shiver ran down my spine, and I wanted to shrink into myself. Apologize. Explain. Something. Anything! But when his gaze locked on mine, I found I couldn’t speak. I could only stand there, startled by the expression on his face. He wasn’t angry or upset or anything as I expected.

He was amused . A slow smile spread over his face as he waded toward me.

“You don’t believe a word I told you, do you?” he asked, shaking his head slowly. “You’re good. I thought you believed me.”

“About your brother and all that? Of course, I don’t believe you,” I answered scornfully. “You’re manipulating me. Creating a shadow for me to hate but I know the truth. You’re the one who killed my family, no matter what you want me to believe. Oh, that’s right.” I rolled my eyes. “I bet you ‘don’t know’ what Marissa told me, either.”

I took half a step back, and he paused, studying me. The depth of his eyes seemed to pierce right through me as he moved forward more slowly. When he was in arm’s reach, he cupped my face with his hand.

“I’m pleased that you’re a warrior, Elara. But if you want to fight—really fight —you’re going to have to do better than that.” His hands shot out, grabbing my biceps.

I made to break his grasp, but before I could, he’d come in close. So close. His body was cool despite the heat of the pools. I was distracted by the droplets of water sitting on the smooth planes of his chest. Faint scars crisscrossed his torso, and my fingers tingled with the desire to feel the raised rigids, to trace the story of his life. Then his leg hooked around mine, sweeping my feet out from under me. I went down, catching a lungful of air before he pushed me under.

I squirmed, trying to free myself but his grip on me was tight. His leg was still under mine, pulling me down so it was as though I was sitting on his lap under the water. My lungs had plenty of air so I went still, hoping to frighten him into pulling me back up. Once I stopped struggling, the ripples of the water cleared. He smiled down at me—I could see him more clearly than he could see me—and started to laugh.

That bastard! He knew I was part selkie. He knew I was in no danger from a few minutes beneath the surface. That or he was trying to drown me into submission. I wasn’t going to stand for this! I couldn’t yank myself free so I had to make him release me.

I undulated my body, bringing myself even closer to him. I wiggled, scooting my ass backward. Luken’s grip on me tightened as soon as I brushed up against his cock. His expression changed, growing hungry. Just what I wanted. It was starting to be uncomfortable, not breathing. I swung around, pulling one of my legs out from behind him. His grip finally loosened as I arched my back, lifting my hips up out of the water.

I promptly hooked my knee behind his neck and twisted, grabbing his wrists now. I used my torso to flip him forward, cartwheeling beneath the water as I pulled him down. I slipped from his grasp and grasped a handful of the rocky spring bottom to shove both my feet into his chest. I kicked him hard, sending a flurry of air bubbles out of him. Then with a few kicks, I was back on my feet, several meters from him.

He emerged coughing and spluttering. It took him a moment to regain his balance but when he did, he looked up at me with that same hungry expression.

“Fuck, Elara,” he said, his voice low and gravelly. “You are a fighter.”

“I am,” I answered, thrusting my chest forward. His eyes dropped to my breasts. The difference of temperature from the air and the springs had made my nipples pebble. “And I’ve got more where that comes from.”

He dove for me. I sprinted back, filling my lungs as I slipped under the water. The knife would have hit around here somewhere… there! I reached for it but then his strong grip caught around my ankle. He yanked me back, my fingers slipping from the knife’s handle. I twisted and lodged my other foot into his stomach, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“You have an advantage in the water,” he growled, dragging me backward. “I suppose the only thing to do for you is to get you out.”

With a firm shove, he turned me around under the water, then lifted me out entirely. Water sloughed off our naked bodies as he sprinted up the low bank and deposited me several meters from the water’s edge. The chilly night whipped across my skin, making me shiver.

I balled my fists and crouched into a fighting stance. “I’m not done yet, your Majesty,” I snarled sarcastically.

He smiled in return. The bastard was genuinely enjoying this! “I would expect nothing less, Elara.”

With a howl, I threw myself forward. He punched at me, and I dodged it, but I didn’t see his second fist in time. It hit me in the stomach, making me double over. For half a second, panic swept through me. I couldn’t breathe! But then, as the pain blossomed through my torso, my body decided that since I was in pain, it must mean I was training—which meant I was meant to be sexually aroused.

Heat pooled between my legs. I was glad for the water of the springs. I could pretend that was why I was damp down there.

A gentle hand lowered to my back, rubbing in soft circles. “Ah, I thought you’d dodge that. I didn’t mean to hit you so hard.”

My heart skipped a beat.

No! It’s all lies. I won’t let him do this to me. I won’t let him keep making me crazy.

I attacked, putting all my training to use. Jabs, kicks. Parrying, dodging, choosing what blows to take so I could get in a blow of my own.

It was all for nothing. I held my own for a few minutes—or he was teasing me—but my strength faded too quickly. Days of constant stress and motion, combined with a lack of nourishing food, had taken their toll on me. I was a little too slow as he spun behind me. His arms wound around me and we were falling. He brought me down over his chest, lying splayed out. I gasped for breath as I shivered from exertion and exhilaration.

His arms locked me in place as he twisted, putting me in a headlock so I breathed onto his smooth chest.

“I have no intention of letting you go, Elara Tideborne,” he hissed in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. “No matter how many times you try to kill me.”

His words were like liquid fire running through my veins. One of my legs was askew, opening slightly, and the scent of my own arousal hit me. Luken lay next to me, his naked length pressed into my hip. He was aroused, too. I tried to wriggle myself free, but it did no good as he kept me locked in that headlock. My breathing was sharp and rapid.

One of his hands released me and drifted across my cheekbone. He might as well have left lava in his wake. My eyes widened as I lifted my head enough to stare into his eyes. His pupils were dilated, his breathing rapid.

“That was fun,” he said, his hand moving downward. His fingers caressed the line of my neck, lingering on the hollow of my throat, before moving again. Lower, over my breast. He traced the lines of scarring on the underside of my breast, then cupped it in his hand and circled my nipple with his thumb.

I groaned, lifting into his touch. My body was on fire. I needed his cool touch to ease the burning inside of me, or it would consume me again.

“Do you want this?” he asked.

His hand lowered, sweeping over my stomach. His knuckles brushed my inner thigh, nudging my leg open further. I let it fall open, still staring into his eyes. They were mesmerizing.

“Do you want this?” he asked again, his voice a low growl. “Do you want me to touch you?”

“Luken,” my voice was hoarse. “Don’t make me say it. I can’t say it.”

His eyes widen slightly. His hand pauses as he studies me. “If you can’t say it, then show me.”

That I could do. Fighting with him had awoken new urges, new passions. I couldn’t say yes, but it wasn’t because I didn’t want him to touch me. It was everything else. Once I started talking, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to stop. And then where would we be? I burned for him so deeply I could barely breathe.

So I took his hand in mine and moved it between my legs. My lungs ached, not for air but because the need inside of me was too strong. How did I ever think I’d be able to resist him? Even now, knowing what he did, with Thessa and Darcie both hanging in the balance, I couldn’t stop my need for him.

Luken adjusted his position, laying half over me. His eyes were locked on mine as he slid his fingers against my most intimate place. A place that had never been touched by anyone but myself before. He explored languidly, getting closer and closer to my clit without touching it. I bit my lip as I grabbed onto his shoulders. My eyes grew wider.

“Are you afraid of me?” he asked.

“Of course I am,” I answered. The words, as true as they are, tasted like a lie.

He leaned forward and pressed a whisper-soft kiss to my lips. As he pressed harder, his fingers finally found my clit. It was already hardened with desire, and at his first touch, an electric shock rushed through me. My hips jerked slightly as I bit back a cry, not wanting him to see how much a single touch affected me.

“You’re still fighting me,” he murmured into my lips. “I’ll admit that this battle will be much more pleasurable for both of us.”

My fingers dug into his shoulders as he circled my clit with his fingers, stroking languidly around it. When he swiped his thumb over the hardened little nub, I jerked again. This time, he lingered, stroking harder then lighter. Tension built in my core, as though my skin was too tight. My breasts pebbled in the air, and Luken dropped his head to my scarred one, kissing lightly against the sensitive skin.

I let my head fall back. I closed my eyes, then opened them again. I couldn’t bear not looking at him, my vampire king.

His wet hair fell across his cheek as he swirled his tongue around my nipple and his fingers around my clit. The sensations that swept through me left my mind racing. Was I really letting him do this? Not just letting, but encouraging? I wanted it more than anything else in that moment. The reasons to shove him away from my mind fell away as easily as my legs fell open.

I wanted this. I wanted him. I wanted him to touch me, to set my nerves on fire. I wanted him to make me feel desirable, as though I still held some of the beauty I’d once had. I wanted him to bring me to tears with the want in his eyes. I wanted him to hold me, to make me feel like that fairytale princess. I wanted to feel safe. I wanted to feel as though there was an ending for my life that wasn’t blood and tears.

“Luken,” I gasped as he moved to my other breast. He nicked my skin with his wicked fangs. Enough to sting but not enough to draw blood.

“Tighter, Elara,” he whispered as he kissed his way up my neck. His breath was hot on my ear as he eased a finger inside of me. “Hold me tighter. Like you’re trying to crush me between your hands.”

My moans turned into laughter. “I’ll hurt you.”

His eyes sparkled as he kissed my jaw, easing a second finger in with the first. “That’s the whole point, Elara.”

One of my fingers traced the injury where I’d stabbed him. So now I was worried about hurting him? Regret spiked through me, followed by a wave of pleasure that wiped it from my mind. I did as he said, pulling him tighter, crushing him to me. He curled his fingers inward and upward, igniting something inside of me that I hadn’t known. My whole body trembled as I arched myself, rocking my hips in time with his hand as he pumped it in and out of me. It was too much and not enough all at once.

His thumb swept over my clit again and again. A shock went through me, shuddering to my core. All my muscles tensed up, and I held my breath as the tightness inside became too strong to bear.

“That’s it,” Luken urged, his dark voice warm against my skin. “Sing for me, Elara. Scream my praises to the sky.”

He made it sound like I was worshiping him. And then, suddenly, I was. I did as he said, screamed as everything inside of me exploded. The orgasm was almost a violent thing. I clawed at Luken, needing him closer, needing him inside of me even as the shockwaves rocked me. His fingers slid out with a pop, and for a wild moment, I wondered if that was it.

Could he tell? Could he feel that nothing had ever been inside of me like that before?

His eyes were dark as my vision finally refocused.

“I want to taste you,” he breathed.

My blood.

If he could do this to me with just his presence and his fingers, how much better would it be when he was drinking from me? It was an orgasmic experience, something that evolved in vampires to keep their prey coming back again and again, willingly. In some of the less reputable areas of the kingdom, vampires who had been exiled for court or who had never been high enough status to be in it in the first place would sell their fangs just for that.

My father used to say, “Anyone who would pay a vampire just for the vampire to get what he wants is a fool.”

Luken’s lips touched my neck, and I reacted with pure instinct.

“No.”

The king paused. Our bodies were so close. His cock was hard against my thigh. I could feel his pulse beat inside of it. It would be so easily for me to sling my leg over his hip and let him have everything he wanted… But then I was paying him for the privilege of giving him everything. My blood, my body, was the only bargaining chip I had. I couldn’t waste it.

He pulled back, leaning on his elbow as he stared down at me. His hand, slick not with the hot springs but with me, rested lightly on my hip. Disappointment clouded his eyes as he panted heavily. My heart thundered, my grip still tight on him. Despite my words, I wanted him to convince me. To touch me again and bring me back to that safe place.

The fire hadn’t cooled inside of me at all. If anything, it was stronger.

With his clean hand, Luken twisted one strand of my hair in his fingers. “No,” he repeated.

I shivered and reminded myself why I had to say no. I closed my eyes, breathing in his heady scent, and then remembered the smoke the day the inn burned down. The fire of desire was replaced in my mind by the fire the elves had tossed my body on. My lips parted and it took all of my strength to tear myself from what I wanted, what my body needed.

“No,” I repeated.

Luken pulled away from me.

Another shiver ran through my body as I lay there, exposed, ready for the taking. I listened hard to the sound of his breathing, wondering if he was considering his options. My eyelids parted on their own to find him with one knee drawn up, his elbow resting in it. The dissatisfaction that glowered from his amber eyes as he stared at me kept me pinned to the spot.

I ached between my legs. He’d only had two fingers inside of me and I still ached. Was I still a virgin after that? He’d been inside of me. It wasn’t his cock, but he’d put himself inside of me. He’d brought me to orgasm. Touched me places nobody else had. Was I still innocent?

Clearing my throat, I carefully pushed myself into a sitting position. “I’ll let you drink from me if you take Thessa out of the Trials and forgive her crimes.”

“Is that why you let me touch you?” His voice was flat. “So you could try this again?”

“No. I let you touch me because I wanted you to touch me,” I said, shaking my head. Maybe I could have lied, but I thought the truth would serve me better. “I want you to save me. But I can’t let that stop me from remembering everything else I want. So you can’t have my blood until I know Thessa is safe.”

Luken snorted. “The Gods have declared the laws for the Trials. I can’t go against them. Not…”

He trailed off.

My head fell back to the ground. Though desire still lingered like fireworks, ready to be set off with just a touch from him, I shoved it aside. “Then let me go. Take me back to my team.”

He surged to his feet, so suddenly I flinched. His cock was still hard as he glared down at me. “Nobody has ever resisted me before. But if you wish to be so stubborn, then fine. I won’t touch you again until you’re begging me to do it.”

I wasn’t sure if it was a threat or a promise.

As my jaw tightened, ready to give him a fight, it suddenly occurred to me it was neither. Just a statement of fact.

I pulled myself to a sitting position. His hand flexed, as though he offered to help me, but he didn’t. I was grateful. If he offered, I might accept. As I gazed down at myself, I saw a pattern of splotches starting to rise up on my skin. One of the bruises was on my ribs, and I poked it lightly. The throb went straight to my core, making my clit throb in time with it.

Well, that seemed to have backfired. I put myself in training to stop my body from wanting sex, and here I was, all the more turned on because of the violence between Luken and myself. An unsettled feeling sank into my stomach. I wasn’t sure what to name it, but it was something akin to shame. I looked around for my clothes as I absently spoke.

“You seemed to enjoy bruising me up.”

“You seemed to enjoy it, too,” Luken answered swiftly. He turned slightly to show a large black mass forming on his hip. “And you gave back as good as you got.”

The mark was in the shape of my foot. A pleased smile ghosted across my face. I did like it, at that. I liked that I’d left a mark on him that was all me. My smile disappeared as the unsettled feeling welled deeper.

Moving slowly, taking stock of every ache in my body, I went to my clothes and pulled them on. Donning the smelly, torn items was like putting on armor. Every item bolstered my wavering resolve. I didn’t want to go into the colosseum. If I asked him, he’d find a way to pull me out of it. Regardless of what he said about the Gods and not being able to subvert their will, he would pull me out. I knew it in the marrow of my bones.

“I want to go back to my team now,” I told him once I was dressed.

I turned to find that he was still hard, standing upright and pointed at me. Like the needle of a compass. The thought was so ridiculous that I snorted despite myself.

“You better make sure you stay alive until the end,” he told me, his voice low and warning.

I narrowed my eyes at him. If he was really that concerned… I shoved that thought away as I breathed in through my nose to steady myself. How many times did I have to tell myself not to romanticize him and his words?

“And what if I win?” I asked, my voice low. “What if it gets to the point when you’re supposed to drink from me as part of the Trials? And I still say no?”

Luken’s face went blank. “Will you still say no?”

“Yes,” I answered, though I wasn’t entirely certain I would.

He shrugged once. “Then you’ll have failed the Trials and won’t get your one wish.”

“That’s not—” I started, but bit back on my protests.

A small smile crossed his face. I wasn’t sure if it was bitter or smug. “I always ask, Elara. I’m used to getting what I want. And what I want is your yes .”

As if I needed anything else to be confused about. He’s not what I expected, the monster I built in my head to fight against. That’s exactly what I thought that the prince of my fantasies would tell me. But I braced myself. Part of me wanted to ask about what he’d just done to me, pinning me as he moved his hand between my legs—but he had asked. And I had given him my yes.

“Marissa will be waiting for you at the end of the path,” he said, nodding to the cobbled road that led away from the springs. “She’ll take you back to your team.”

“And what are you going to do?” I asked him.

He took himself in his hand and stroked himself from root to tip in a slow, firm motion. “Think about you.”

Heat spread through my body. My skin felt too tight, and for a moment, I thought, Would it be so bad to touch him the way he touched me?

I shut down that thought quickly and turned away. My legs were wobbly as I walked away, listening to him as he grunted softly. And to my irritation, the desire in me didn’t fade, even after he was no longer in sight.