Page 27

Chapter 26

My Silvana

Raiden

C old. So very fucking cold.

That was the first thing I noticed—which was odd because while vampires could feel the different temperatures, they didn’t typically affect us. However, I was most definitely feeling the cold. I also noticed that my shadows were not writhing beneath my skin as they normally did. Forcing my eyes open, I looked down at myself. I was still dressed in my loose black silk pants, the ties tied tightly around my waist. No shirt and no shoes. Exactly how I was dressed when I crawled into bed next to Silvana’s sleeping form after cleaning up.

I let my eyes wander the scene around me—quickly noting that my female wasn’t anywhere to be seen. What was to be seen, though, was… overwhelming.

I was standing in some sort of massive hall. It was wide enough for five of me to walk side by side. Grand was an understatement. Colossal gold and deep blue arches every ten steps or so decorated the walkway. The arch itself looked to be made of solid gold, while it had deep indigo stars carved into it. Between the stars looked like words, but I wasn’t familiar with the language. The floor was a gleaming gold metal, and ice cold beneath my feet. Its sheen was truly resplendent, making it clear that the owner was interested in shocking people. At least, that was my takeaway because that’s all I felt standing in the midst of it all. Shock and awe.

There were windows along one side, one between each decorated arch, covered in gold gossamer curtains. I slowly walked toward one, and pushed the fabric out of the way, trying to ascertain where exactly I was. My heart sank when my eyes adjusted to the brightness. There was only one place in all of Kostbare that looked like this.

Taking a deep breath, I let go of the curtain and started following the arches.

I walked for what felt like ages, listening to the silence that shouldn’t be in a place this vast before I finally came to the end of the walkway. The path opened into a huge round room with a domed ceiling, still all gold, of course. Only now with powder blue and cream accents across the room. Chaise lounge chairs with medium-sized cushions on the floor around them. In the center of the room was a statue of a male that was three times taller than me and just as wide. But what really stood out was the statue was made of ice and adorned with gold paint sporadically, as if the artist just wanted to draw even more attention to the piece than its gargantuan size already capably did.

A prickling sense of unease cascaded along the back of my neck the farther I went into the room. I felt like I should be anywhere but here. Shaking off the feeling, I approached the statue. I realized I knew who it was the closer I came to it.

Shaking my head, I walked past the depiction of him. I chose a random archway to exit through when I finally heard a noise. This hall had scattered doors branching off, so I decided to pick the door closest to me, hoping it would explain to me why I was there.

I was starting to believe this was a dream, but I didn’t typically dream of places I hadn’t been, nor did I feel so cognizant during them. And I definitely hadn’t been here before.

Walking into the room, I was startled for a moment to actually find others there. Although no one turned to look at me. There were more arched windows along the far wall, but the rest of the room was taken up by more gold and cream gossamer curtains, plush pillows strewn about, and one massive four-poster bed in the middle of the room. The floor was a dark stone now, not the same gold as outside of the room, and there were miscellaneous-sized fur rugs under the pillows. Across the room, there were four females kneeling on some of the pillows that I could make out from here, but all of them were turned facing the opposite direction of the door.

“Excuse me? I don’t mean to interrupt but—” I started, but still no one turned.

I started toward them when one of them abruptly turned in my direction. I stopped where I was, shocked for a moment at what I was seeing.

“Silvana?” I questioned quietly. But she didn’t seem to be looking at me, so much as looking back toward the door where I’d come from.

She also wasn’t my Silvana—at least not how I knew her. Her hair was shorter, just above her shoulders, and pin-straight. Her signature red lips were a pale pink, and she wore a light blue floor-length dress that hugged her entire torso until her hips where it was slit up the sides. The sleeves billowed long around her wrists and gold jewelry adorned her ears and neck.

But none of that was what truly stopped me in my tracks. No, it was her eyes. Where there was normally fire behind that ice-blue gaze, there was a distance now. Her gaze was blank as if her body was here, but her mind was a million miles away.

I took another step toward her but stopped when someone passed by me—again, not seeming to see me at all. I looked over and realized it was the same male depicted in the statue. I growled as he walked to Silvana and gently cupped her jaw. A modest smile curved against her lips, while her eyes held that same dead gaze. She didn’t look up at him, though, she kept her gaze toward the floor.

What the fuck was going on?

“Now, my pets, what has Silvie taught us today?” he asked.

Silvie? The nickname made me want to puke.

“Cora?” he continued.

One of the females next to Silvana glanced up at him and back toward the floor. She was kneeling on a pillow, her back perfectly straight, hands in her lap, gaze toward the floor. Her long black hair was curled and almost to her butt, it was so long. I knew this must’ve been Silvana’s sister.

“To only speak when spoken to, Master,” she answered quietly, her voice so low it might’ve been more of a whisper.

“Good. What else? Cassia?”

The next female to speak was a small little thing, even smaller than Allie. She had short brown hair, the same length as Silvana’s. Her gaze never left the floor, but her hands were wringing together in her lap, the anxiety clear.

“Gazes to the floor unless told otherwise,” Cassia whispered.

He walked over and stood in front of her, then squatted in front of her. Grabbing her chin, he jerked her face up toward him—her gaze never left the floor.

“Look at me, Cassia,” he growled, and her eyes slowly rose to look at him. “Have you learned your lesson?” She started to nod her head, and he roughly released the lock he had on her jaw. She caught herself before falling, and none of the other females moved a muscle.

“I’m glad Silvie has taught you all a valuable lesson.” He smirked and then walked toward the bed. He started unbuttoning the shirt he was wearing, before throwing it on the floor. “Now, who’s first? Little dove? Would you like to show the others how to please Master?”

Without lifting her gaze from the floor, Silvana slowly rose from the pillow where she was seated. “Of course, Master. It would be my honor,” she replied. Her voice was now just as dead and unfeeling as her gaze when she saw him enter the room.

I started walking toward her, every fiber of my being determined to get her the fuck out of there. I couldn’t leave her there. I wasn’t fully sure what was going on, but I didn’t care. I had to wipe away that look in her eye.

I reached for her?—

I was blinking, staring up at my ceiling. I could feel the warmth of Silvana next to me. It was all a dream. I clenched and released my fist a few times. Trying to shake off the unease without waking her. I glanced down at her long silver hair spread out on my chest where she was sleeping.

My shadows writhed under my skin again, begging to be let out and to protect what was mine. I’d only slept a short time after we completed the bond. I released a few shadows from my palm, and they wrapped around the back of her body, pulling her closer to me. She shifted slightly and let out a pleased sigh, leading my mind to vastly different places than it had just been.

I slowly pulled my arm from under her and pushed her onto her back. Happy she was still naked, I began kissing down her stomach and along her hips. Glancing up at her, I was pleased to see she was still sleeping soundly. I quickly shed my pants before I gently pushed her thighs apart and nestled myself between them. I began slowly licking her cunt, starting from the bottom and ending by pulling her clit into my mouth. I smiled as she started to thrust her hips against my mouth.

“That’s it, My Queen,” I growled against her soft skin as I kissed along her inner thigh. My cock was already leaking from the taste of her alone, I ground my hips into the bed. I kissed back up her thigh and started fucking her with my tongue. Wrapping my arms around her thighs and gripping them tightly to hold her still, I released my shadows to tie her arms above her head, and a few more to caress and pinch her nipples.

“Fuck, Raiden,” she groaned, as she slowly started to open her eyes. She tried to move, but quickly realized she wasn’t going anywhere. I licked back up to her clit again and slid a finger inside of her as she continued cursing my name and begging to come.

“I do love it when you beg, darling.” I could feel her cunt tightening around my finger with her impending orgasm. I pulled my finger out, only to rise over her and replace it with my cock, thrusting roughly and filling her to the hilt.

“You don’t come unless it’s on my cock, Silvana,” I growled, as she gasped at the intrusion. “You know the rules.”

I pulled her legs up to my shoulders, her hands still stuck above her head, my shadows writhing against her breasts, and set a brutal pace. Part of me was still raging against the visions my mind had conjured while I slept, and I needed to know—to hear it.

“Who do you belong to?” I growled.

“You, Raiden. Always you,” she whimpered, and her head tilted back.

“That’s right, My Queen. You—” T hrust. “—are—” Thrust. “—mine.” Thrust. I growled, my voice deepening and demanding.

I could feel her pulsing around me as her orgasm hit and it sent me tumbling over with her. I dropped her legs, kissed her neck, and sank my fangs into her skin. I kept slowly thrusting as our breathing came down, swallowing the sweet nectar that was her blood. I pulled my fangs back and licked the bite marks on her neck, so they’d close quickly. Then I kissed along her neck and collarbone again.

I felt her relax beneath me and it took every ounce of willpower to pull my cock from inside of her. Rolling off of her, I pulled her back to my chest and kissed the top of her head.

“Well, hello to you too,” she muttered, her voice clouded with post-sex haze and sleep. “Is that what I have to look forward to every day?”

“Absolutely, My Queen. If that is what you wish for, I’ll make it happen.” She looked up at me and I lowered my mouth to hers in a soft kiss.

“I think I could be talked into it,” she replied with a smile. Her eyes lit up with a look of contentment they lacked in my dream. Remembering the look in her eyes then had my shadows fighting against my skin again. “What’s wrong?” she asked, sitting up to look at me fully.

“What do you mean?”

“You went somewhere else, in your mind. I could… feel your magic humming against your skin as if it was angry,” she stated. I could see the concern growing in her eyes by the second, and I didn’t have a desire to keep anything from her.

“It wasn’t anything. Not really. I had a… shitty, albeit strange and unsettling dream. That was all,” I said calmly.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, pushing herself up to a fully seated position, ready to be my listening ear as if we’d been doing this for ages. I smiled at the thought of this being our lives together now. Always having her next to me, ready to listen to me bare my soul. It felt good—scarily good.

“I was in another court, and you were there. Only it wasn’t you now, it was… I don’t know. You were soft and meek. Your sister was also there, I think, Cora, and two more females. It wasn’t anything I wish to see again, if I’m being honest.” I let out a sigh. “But it wasn’t real. You aren’t that female, thankfully. I love you exactly the way you are, strong-willed, feisty, and good with a knife.” I winked and leaned up to kiss her forehead.

I silently second-guessed myself on if I should be more detailed about where we were and who was there, but it was just a bad dream. So why worry her over nothing?

She sat back for a moment and smiled. “You love me?”

I arched a brow at her, in confusion. “Of course I love you. You’re my entire soul, Silvana. I don’t know how I’ve managed to survive over six hundred years without you.”

She kissed me gently. “It’s a mystery to me too.” She jumped out of bed then and did a quick spin. “So, see any new marks on me?”

I looked over her stunning body from top to bottom, my cock suddenly ready to take her all over again—as if he wasn’t just satisfied beyond recognition mere moments ago.

“I’m not sure. You may need to come closer,” I replied, holding my hand out to her. “Come back to bed, and I’ll start a thorough search.”