Page 291 of The Queen’s Shadow

She kissed me softly and leaned closer, running her hands up into my hair, sending shockwaves of pleasure erupting through me.

“You forget, Amon, that I am the darkness. When you’re hungry, it is me that feeds you.” She whispered against me, leaving feather light kisses down my jaw. “And if freedom is a place without you, I would sooner take the cage.”

My shadows curled around us. I used them to hike up her slip, as I pressed her back to sit on the edge of the bed.

I fell to my knees, lifting her feet and spreading her open before me. She gasped, as I ran my tongue up her center, reveling in the taste of her.

“I don’t deserve you.” I whispered, before kissing her again, right on the spot that always made her cry out for me.

“Of course you do,” she ran her fingers through my hair and pressed me more firmly against her.

I pulled her into my mouth and sucked until her breathy moans turned to ragged screams. Sliding a finger deep inside her, I looked up, taking in her perfect face. Her head was thrown back and she was lost in the throws of ecstasy. I stroked her until I felt her tighten around me.

“I don’t deserve you.” I murmured, knowing in my soul it was the truth. “But none of that matters. Whether I deserve you or not, I will be keeping you down here in the dark with me.”

I watched Raven sleep, finding myself unable to look away. Sleep had evaded me since my return, and I found it brought me comfort, to just watch her breathe.

She had kept true to her word, and stayed in the room with me for the rest of the day, but I knew my time alone with her would be ending soon.

She wanted to leave for The Origin’s palace tomorrow, and I was dreading every moment of it. I wanted to hoard her to myself and separate her from the rest of the world. I wanted to protect her from all the things that might hurt her, or threaten to take her away from me again.

Hearing her father warn her against me, coupled with the conscious decision I had made to keep her, made me feel worthless and evil.

I knew she deserved better, but I couldn’t let her go. I would never allow her to leave me. I was too weak. Now that we were back together, I couldn’t even let her out of my sight. I would rather kill us both, than be separated from her again.

I stroked her hair softly away from her face, and I wondered if the love I felt for her made up for the darkness that permeated my soul.

She had said she wanted to wake The Origin, and give up her title as Queen of The Dominion so that she could come back here and live a simpler life with me. She had asked me for a mating ceremony.

A fucking mating ceremony.

I hadn’t even taken her out for a meal yet. I vaguely remembered having plans to take her out for dinner before I had been captured, but instead, I had spent the first few weeks of our mating bond trapped in a cell being forced to fuck another female.

She wanted normal and mundane, and I wanted to lock her away with me so the world couldn’t hurt us anymore.

I ran a hand down my face in frustration, when I heard a gentle knock on the door.

My instincts told me to murder whoever it was. I forced myself to calm down, and instead of sending a blast of dark energy to kill whoever had dared to come close to us, I felt for who it was with my aura.

I frowned, when I realized it was Nytara. Getting up quietly so as not to disturb Raven, I opened the door to see what The Siren wanted.

We stared at each other for a beat, neither of us seeming to know what to say to the other. Finally, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver chain with a large green stone dangling from the end.

My eyes widened as the scent of summer rain hit my nose, and I realized that Nytara was holding my lost mating stone.

“Where did you get that?” I breathed, reaching for it, unable to believe what I was seeing.

“That first night, when she tore it off you, I found it in the torture chamber. It felt like a shame, to leave someone’s mating stone in that miserable place. Even if that someone was you.”

I stared at her, closing my fingers around the stone, and feeling a strange mix of resentment and agreement toward her comment.

“Thank you.” I said quietly. “Not just for this. For everything.”

Her eyes softened. “I am sorry it took me so long to see you for what you truly are, Prince Amon.”

“Lately, I feel as if you may have seen me clearly all along.” I murmured, glancing back over my shoulder at Raven’s sleeping form. “But it does not matter. I will always be in your debt, for saving Raven.”

Nytara frowned at me and touched my hand, causing me to jump. “I hope I didn’t just save Raven.” She whispered, giving me a knowing look. “I hope I saved you, too.”