by Zara Zenia
Slowly, so slowly, he starts to enter me, his finger still tracing around my clit the whole time, his kisses still sending tremors of heat down from my neck and shoulders to settle firmly between my legs.
“Oh god,” I groan, sure that his glacial pace is actually going to break my mind. And then he pushes his hips forward and he’s fully inside me, filling me in the best way while my muscles ripple around him, desperate for more. I’m already so close that I think he could just rock forward on his toes and make me come, but he doesn’t. He stands there, perfectly still, his hands skimming my breasts and stomach so softly I almost can’t see the movement in the mirror.
“Look at yourself, Eva. You are a goddess. You are everything I’ve ever wanted and so much more than I ever thought I deserved. Look at how beautiful you are with my cock buried inside of you.”
I whimper. An honest-to-goodness whimper as my body tries so hard to make me come, but he’s just not giving me that little extra nudge. And he knows it.
“Lucas,” I say, breathless, knowing it could ruin everything, but too desperate not to try. “I want you to bite me. Please.”
“Eva—”
“I know what you said. But everything I’m feeling right now is amazing and I want you to feel it too. I want you to know how you make me feel.” I turn to look at him, because I can’t just say all that to myself in the mirror, and his icy blue eyes flash with something warm and hungry.
“Are you sure?”
I nod without hesitation. “Please.”
He growls and presses his lips to my neck and I wait for the sharp prick, but it doesn’t come. Instead, he holds my hips and pulls back, thrusting back into me. He kisses the other side of my neck and does the same thing again, each thrust bringing me so close to that precipice, but he’s keeping me there on purpose. He’s waiting, I realize. Waiting until I’m practically a puddle beneath him.
“I’m so close,” I whine, pushing my hips back into him, my eyes sliding closed as I throw my head back.
Then I feel his lips on my neck again, he licks the spot on my throat above my pulse, and I open my eyes just in time to feel the brief pinprick of pain and then absolute euphoria takes over and I shatter into a million pieces.
It’s complete and total bliss from my head to my toes and every thought, every other feeling is gone. There’s nothing in my mind but how good this feels, how good he feels as I collapse against him, feeling him swell and come inside of me. But even that feels far away, my head swimming in an ocean of pleasure.
Eventually, the ocean tide goes out and I fade back into my body, Lucas’s hands still around me, his lips pressing soft kisses to that tender spot on my neck.
I turn away from the mirror, kissing him with all the emotions and wonder I feel right now, and he presses his forehead to mine, his eyes closed his body trembling as he holds me tight.
“Thank you, Eva,” he says, his voice strained. Full of emotions that I know must be difficult to deal with.
I just hold him just as tight, kissing him again. “Thank you,” I say. “For letting me show you how much I don’t think you’re a monster.”
He grins and shakes his head, burying his face in my shoulder. “You’re amazing.”
I don’t want to argue with him right now, but I know I don’t need to. Lucas already knows how I feel about him. He might have trouble coming to grips with it, but there’s no denying how much I care for him.
I’m practically falling asleep standing up and he scoops me up into his arms. “Side effect of being bitten. You’re going to be very sleepy now.”
“I think that just happens after really good sex,” I say with a grin as he deposits me in my bed.
“That too,” he chuckles, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
He’s not wrong though. I’m exhausted all of a sudden and I don’t even get a chance to ask him to stay before my eyelids are too heavy to keep open and my mouth refuses to respond.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Trylor
“It is time to stop ignoring what is obvious,” Vaunt says, his paper-thin voice shaking.
I keep my expression calm, but I feel his unease rippling through me as well. It’s been weeks since the massacre and things have only gotten worse. Direr. I’ve had precious little time with Eva, but every minute I do have with her, I’m distracted by the plight of my people. By the crisis that is threatening every aspect of our lives.
“And what is obvious, Lord Vaunt?” Brandt says, a sneer in his voice. We’re all gathered here together today — me, my brother, the advisers, and the vampires — because a decision needs to be made. And it’s a decision that affects us all.
Since the massacre of Danae, there have been countless other attacks. So many towns destroyed. So many lives left in ruin. I’ve been beside myself with guilt, unable to sleep, unable to eat, unable to do much of anything except for the times when Eva comes to me and offers me solace in her embrace.
But even that I feel guilty about. Why should I be able to find pleasure in the arms of this wonderful woman while my people are suffering and dying on my watch?
At this point, we’ve closed all sections except for those nearest the palace. Food is running scarce, our resources have been destroyed, our planet scorched and scarred beyond recognition. I know what’s obvious, even if Brandt doesn’t.
“We have to leave Desergan,” I say, the weight of the words heavier than a thousand suns.
“What?” Brandt roars, jumping to his feet. “You can’t be serious. This is our home.”
“And Earth was our home before we were driven here. We can make a new home. But this won’t be anyone’s home if there are none of us left,” I say, an angry snarl breaking through in my exhaustion.
Brandt sits back down, looking like he’s just been scolded, but Vaunt is looking more pleased with himself than ever. I don’t know why. I don’t know what he stands to gain from us losing our planet and having to search for another. I suppose it’s just his need to be right. And his need to discredit my rule. If I evacuate the planet, the moment we touch down on the next, I know he’ll be angling for new leadership. Maybe a new form of government altogether.
But I don’t even care about that. I’m not going to risk my people for my own stupid pride. I’ve already waited too long and too many of them have paid the price for my hesitation. No longer.
“So, we need to find a new suitable home,” I say, my heart heavy with the admission. I don’t want to leave our home any more than Brandt does, but I’m much more accustomed to making the hard choices. I know when I’m backed up against a wall and my only option is to flee.
“But what about the prophecy? What about Eva?” my brother says, his voice tight and quiet. Gone is the fire, and all that’s left is pain and confusion.
“The prophecy never promised to save our lands,” I say gently. “Only our people.”
Brandt hangs his head and shakes it, burying his face in his hands for a long moment.
“The mad king no longer rules over Earth,” Lucas says, his hands folded on the table in front of him as a tizzy of murmurs ripple through my advisers.
But I put a stop to that before it can go any further. “No. We can’t go to Earth, the evil is already there. We need to find a place that hasn’t been touched yet. One far enough away to let the prophecy come to fruition.”
“Where are we going to find a place like that?” Brandt says with a hopeless groan.
“That’s why we’re here,” I say firmly. “We have survey data from over a hundred thousand planets. Surely, one of them will have the conditions necessary to support our way of life.”
“And Eva’s,” Morgan interjects.
“Of course. And yours as well,” I say. I wait for Vaunt to argue, to say that we’re not bringing the bloodsuckers to our new home, but he doesn’t say anything. He’s just grinning to himself, still too pleased with his scheme to dethrone me, probably. It’s just as well. I can’t be sure that I wouldn’t thro
w him past the walls myself if he raised yet another objection. My patience is already frayed thin from the last few weeks and it won’t take much to push me over the edge from benevolent sovereign to ruthless tyrant. Not now. Not when I’ve already lost so much.
But I haven’t lost everything. And that fact alone keeps me in check. I haven’t lost Eva, and I haven’t lost hope.
Lucas gives me a nod of thanks at acknowledging that they’ll be joining us. Of course they will. They’re still a part of this no matter who doesn’t like it. I’m not giving up on the war, just ceding a hard-fought battle.
“I’d like everyone to split into groups to cover as much ground as possible. If you find a promising candidate, add it to the list and we will debate all the suitable choices later tonight. I know it’s not much time, but it’s as much as I’m willing to allow.”
“And if we don’t find anything?” Brandt asks.
“We will.”
“You said it yourself, there are a hundred thousand planets here and we have one day?”
“If we must, we’ll move every last dragon into the damn palace until we find our new home. I don’t care what argument you have and I don’t care if you think it can’t be done. We’re wasting time this very moment arguing about it, so if you’re not going to assist in the effort, I suggest you get the hell out and leave me to it.”
The whole room is silent, everyone staring at me with this mixture of awe, respect, and fear. Yeah. I’m a nice guy, but I can bring the hammer down if I need to. I am my father’s son and he taught me well.
Even Vaunt has a new shimmer of respect in his eyes, but I don’t let it distract me. I meant what I said. We’re wasting time and I’m over it.
“Brandt, want to join us?” Lucas says, breaking the tense silence. Brandt nods mutely, gathering his things and moving to the other end of the table. No one has any more arguments. No one has any more questions. Everyone quietly divides themselves into groups and starts working on the task at hand.
I wind up with Charles, one of the few people in this room that always has my back, and I’m grateful for that small bit of luck.
After a few hours, servants bring in trays of food and drink and the room gets a bit merrier, but I don’t join them. I don’t want to be merry. I want to crush the throat of every last wolf I come across. I want to stamp out the shadows until they’re nothing but dust, just for threatening my people and the woman I love.
But I’m not doing that. I’m running away. I want to stay and fight, it seems the right thing to do, it seems like what my ancestors would have done, but I know it’s foolish. I know what I told Brandt was right. There’s no point in Desergan pride if there are no Desergans left.
The energy in the room wanes with every hour that ticks by, and I can see everyone growing tired, weary of studying the complicated scientific briefs so closely. Maybe it was foolish to try and force them to do this all in one day. Maybe, for once, Brandt had a point.
I’m getting ready to tell everyone to take a break for rest when the doors burst open and I brace myself for the avalanche. The last time someone burst through these doors without knocking, that messenger boy came with the news about Danae. But I’m not sure how things can get any worse at this point.
But it’s not a messenger barreling in, practically running into the room. It’s Eva. She’s out of breath, her hair a little wild, her face flushed from the exertion — in short, she’s as gorgeous as ever. And as happy as I am to see her, I’m puzzled by the intrusion.
“Oh good,” she pants, looking around the room. “You’re all still here.”
“What is it?” I ask, jumping to my feet, crossing the room to be at her side in a handful of long strides. By the time I get to her, Morgan, Lucas, and Brandt are all there too, all of us crowding around her, concern etched into our faces.
“Are you okay?” Morgan asks.
“Are you hurt?” Logan presses.
“What’s wrong?” is Brandt’s offering.
Eva shakes her head, still gasping for breath, but there’s a smile breaking through. A big wide smile that warms me up inside like the first ray of sunshine after a long, dark winter.
“Nothing’s wrong,” she says, taking another big breath and blowing it out heavily. Then, with a grin, she says, “Nothing’s wrong at all. I’m pregnant!”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Eva
I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t really this. The Desergan doctor told me that I was pregnant and I was thrilled. I know I had my reservations at first, but this is what we wanted. The baby that could help us. So I was happy that it worked, and I was so happy with how excited my guys all were.
But then things started getting weird.
Like how in the matter of a week, my belly is already swollen and big like I’m ready to give birth any moment now. I thought I’d have time to come to grips with things, to adjust to my body changing and growing with the baby. But it practically grew over night and now I’m back to being terrified of the whole thing.
I’m still happy, don’t get me wrong. I’m still happy about the good that this baby will do, happy about the good it will do for mankind and the Desergans and even the vampires, but I’m also worried.
Everything about this pregnancy has baffled me and the doctors. No one really knows what’s going on, so no one has answers for me when I ask what’s going to happen. Every time I ask what giving birth will be like for me, the doctors get this grim look and I can’t help but worry that they think I’m going to die.
And, as terrifying as that thought is, I’m still not against the baby. I can’t be. If my death has to happen for it to come into the world and save everyone, that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. I just wish I knew for sure. I wish I knew when it was coming. I wish I knew if that would be the end for me.
And I wish that I’d gotten the chance to see Mom and Katie one more time if it is. I know we’ve never been all that close, but they’re my family, I can’t just forget or dismiss that.
Though, looking at me now, I’m sure they’d have some choice questions for me.
I run my hand over my swollen belly, feeling the baby inside kick and squirm. I don’t even know whose baby it is. I guess that was part of the point of having to sleep with all four of them. Maybe the mystery is the only way the two sides won’t fight for custody. I don’t know. I know that the guys have all been all over me, lavishing me with gifts and massages and orgasms galore, but no one wants to talk about what happens once the baby’s here, and that makes me realize they’re worried too.
And if they’re worried, that just makes me more worried. I can deal with anything if I have my guys to tell me it’s all right. But without them? I’m a nervous wreck.
“What are you doing out of bed?” Brandt says, bursting through the library doors to find me lounging under a tree. With everything so up in the air with the pregnancy, the doctors thought it best to put me on bed rest until the baby’s born. But even a week of that was enough to make me stir-crazy. Besides, I’m still resting…on a bed of grass, that counts, right?
I shrug, trying to sit up like a turtle stuck on its shell. “I just needed to be out of my room for a while. Away from my own thoughts.”
He frowns and holds out his hand, lifting me to my feet. “You know you shouldn’t be out of bed.”
“I know.”
“What’s bothering you?” he asks, his eyebrows furrowed with concern, his voice gentle and soft.
I run my swollen fingers over my even more swollen belly and sigh. “No one knows what’s going to happen when I have this baby. What if I die?”
“You won’t,” he says firmly.
“You don’t know that. The doctors don’t either. And it’s okay. If I die…it’s for a worthy cause,” I say, emotion breaking through my voice. Because for the first time, I’m thinking about my baby growing up without me, never knowing me, and I suddenly have a million things I want to say to it, I want it to know.
“Eva, don’t say that.”
I shake my head, swiping at a tear. These damn pregnancy hormones have been murder the last few days. “It’s okay, really. I just…”
“What?”
“I want to talk to my family. To know that they’re all right. To let them know that I am.”
Brandt stiffens, his arm still around me, and he turns that neon green gaze on me that makes my knees buckle. But his arm is strong around me and he doesn’t let me fall.
“That’s very risky at this stage of the pregnancy. I don’t know how the teleportation would affect you.”
“I understand,” I say, my voice sounding broken to my own ears. Brandt reaches up and brushes a lock of my hair behind my ear, kissing my temple.
“I can see that this is important to you, and Desergans strongly believe in eliminating worries before giving birth, so if it will put your mind at ease to visit your mother and sister on Earth, I can arrange that.”
“Really?” I ask, perking up. “You can do that.”
He still looks uncertain, but he nods. “But you cannot stay for more than a day. With the pregnancy progressing so rapidly, I don’t know how long we have.”
I nod vigorously, ready to agree to anything if it means I can go home — however briefly — and see my family again.
“Come with me,” he says, settling his hand on the small of my back as he steers me out of the library.
He leads me through the palace, down a familiar corridor to his room. And instantly, once we’re in that room again, I’m flooded with memories and I squeeze my thighs together.
Brandt doesn’t notice, off rummaging through a drawer until he finds what he’s looking for: a cell phone-looking thing like the one we jumped into in my cabin.
“We will set it to DNA homing, so it will take you directly to your mother wherever she is on the planet. And I’ll set the return location for right here. When you’re ready to leave, just tap this and put it on the ground. The portal will open and you step through like you did before.”
