“She’s mine,” Maddox challenged him, and the dragon’s eyes were incensed. Cradling Fiona to him, Alfred met his stare and waited. The dragon was powerful. Had always been among one of the strongest creatures he’d ever encountered.
But he would fight his brother and his brother’s fire if he demanded it. “I am not taking her from you forever,” he told him. “You know this. Control yourself.”
The dragon shuddered as he dropped his gaze to the woman in Alfred’s arms and then up again. The mark on his throat drew Alfred like a laser.
“You bit her throat,” Maddox snarled. “She doesn’t want anyone at her throat.”
He understood. “It was necessary.”
“You scared her.”
“I do not have time for this argument.” Her heart grew more sluggish with each passing second. The brink of death drew closer. “I will speak to you all later.” He nodded to Rogue, then continued.
Whatever debate occurred between the others, he tuned out. His focus was solely on the way her heart beat.
His rooms were open, a fire burning in the hearth and the bed made. The windows had been unshuttered, and everything aired out. Fresh furniture filled in the open spaces.
It was not the black coffin of Dimitri.
Satisfied with Rogue’s choices, Alfred set her on the bed and then stripped away the robe that smelled of Fin and his brothers. Bite marks littered her chest. Two more on her thighs. They had been thorough in their choices.
Divesting his own clothes, he ignored the dust on them and then examined his skin. He needed a bath, but it would have to wait. He bit down on his wrist to get the blood flowing before he slid onto the bed and pulled her limp form into his lap. Her mouth opened as he drew his wrist closer, the scent of his blood rousing her.
When her heart beat stuttered and finally faded, only then did he press his wrist to her mouth. Maddox’s roar punched through the near silence in the keep. Fin’s mind reached out to him, but Alfred batted it away. Of the three, only Rogue didn’t question him, yet his concern was there, a palpable force.
For all that he had held himself in reserve, the frost elf had already succumbed to the attraction. Hardly surprising, and Alfred wouldn’t fight the need to be there. At first, nothing happened, but he waited as his blood trickled between her lips.
The silence. The absolute lack of a heartbeat.
Death hung like a curtain.
Then it shredded as she gripped his arm, and her mouth closed over the wound. The scrape of her teeth forced at his skin, trying to widen the slash. Stroking her hair away from her face, Alfred smiled down at her. “Feed, little hellion,” he murmured. His whole body stirred to the contact with hers, but he focused on the gulps she took and the way color flushed across her breasts.
Life suffused her, and her scent curled around him until he wanted to sink his teeth into her again. But he had patience, he had to let her drain him, then he would drain her again.
More and more, she sucked, pulling harder, and his cock grew stiffer with every healthy pull. It defied logic, but then the idea that a mate existed for all four of them had always defied it.
When she fluttered open her lashes and looked up at him with near green eyes, Alfred smiled.
A queen.
Finally.
Chapter 15
“You have escaped the cage. Your wings are stretched out. Now fly.” - Rumi
In its purest form, the act of retribution offered symmetry. It offered payment for a crime. The danger, however, was that retaliation often only furthered the cycle of violence. Yet, what else could I do when the greater offense would be to let a crime go unpunished?
Those thoughts filtered through my foggy brain as I roused to the taste of aged blood. The flavor was beyond anything I’d ever experienced. The effervescence of Fin, the spice of Maddox, and the cool fire of Rogue had become somewhat familiar to me. I wouldn’t say I craved their blood, so much as I craved them.
This? The flavor sent spots of gold flickering like a flipbook of images played on fast forward. Intense aromas of brown sugar, toffee, and lime teased my palate as I rode horses, raced armies, faced the sun, and conquered my enemies. Battle and I were old friends, but I was always alone.
Others wanted to follow me, and I allowed it, but I never encouraged