Page 59 of Kingly Bitten

Then his blood was…life.

I wanted to taste more of him. His tongue had speared my mouth with a domination that couldn’t be fought, and I’d taken it because there was no alternative.

Hence, his possession.

His claim.

Hisownership.

I was his. And not in the way I’d belonged to Lilith, but in a sensual, exciting sort of way.

Unless he breaks my neck and leaves me here, I thought, shivering. He’d voiced that threat with such clarity that I didn’t doubt his intentions for a second.

I was a glorified blood bag to him—a researcher with a particular set of useful traits and specialized knowledge.

Knowledge that he was about to unearth inside this facility.

Knowledge that would prove obsolete in a matter of minutes.

What did that mean for my future? If these Vigils even hinted at the possibility that I’d called for them, Jace would very likely follow through on his promise to kill me and leave me here to fend for myself.

That meant I’d finally be free.

But for how long?

Because Jace was right about this world and what would likely happen to me if I were found by another vampire. I was a blood source that couldn’t die.

He at least treated me with some respect. Actually, all things considered, he’d been rather pleasant to me.

Lilith had always spoken to me with importance, but only about the research. Then she’d bleed me until I died, and I’d later wake up exhausted and alone. I’d ache for days. Only to repeat the experience a week later when she returned for another update.

Despite knowing I could survive being bled to death, Jace had given me his essence. He’d bolstered me with his strength.

I studied his strong back, the wide breadth of his shoulders, and the messy cut of his dark hair.

No. It’s not just your vampire prowess,I decided.It’syou.

Fortunately, he couldn’t hear my thoughts. He was also distracted by our current task of… ofentering the building.

My breath caught upon realizing I’d followed him all the way inside without any consideration of my own safety or the potential attack from the Vigils. I’d just been trailing along behind him like a pet on a leash, lost in my musings of him and his all-consuming kiss.

Meanwhile, he was entirely unfazed and focused on the situation at hand.

The way I should be.

I quickly took in our surroundings, noting the clean tile and hum of blue lighting illuminating all the servers ahead of us. There were no overhead lights or windows, and the ceilings were over ten feet tall.

Goose bumps pebbled down my arms, not from fright but from the cool interior. Electronic equipment like this required constant air-conditioning to protect the technology. We’d had our own tech room at Bunker 47, but it had been nothing like this.

This was a proper server farm with rows and rows of delicately arranged wires and drives meant to store information.

I glanced over my shoulder to find Darius and Juliet taking up the rear of our party, which meant Damien had entered first.

And there hadn’t been any humans standing guard at the door.

That confirmed they weren’t here as some sort of protective protocol. They were here on routine maintenance, or perhaps to gather the logs that I hadn’t properly sent from Bunker 47.

They had no idea we were here.