A Vow of Thorns (Blackest Gold Book 3)

by R. Scarlett

  She wasn’t usually very hungry in the morning, but she forced herself to eat a soft boiled egg, some fruit, a piece of toast, and yogurt. All the books she had been reading about pregnancies stressed the importance of eating well, and so she wouldn’t dare miss a meal. She wanted their baby to be as healthy as possible.

  She sat down, blowing a stray strand from her face and cracking open a textbook. She dipped her toast into her egg yolk and took a bite.

  At the sound of Tensley’s heavy footsteps, she glanced up, eyeing his freshly showered hair combed back sleekly, his cheekbones defined sharply, harsh, but that swollen, kissable mouth softened the blow. A lethal creature, and she owned his iron heart.

  It was all hers.

  She smiled between bites.

  Tensley sat down beside her, a brow cocked as he watched her. “You look guilty.”

  She shrugged and stuffed her mouth with some fruit. “Can’t I smile?”

  He studied her closely, then leaned in. “Your smile makes me want to sin.” He pecked her dimple, the corner of his mouth grazing hers. Then he returned to his food as if he hadn’t just teased her.

  She chewed hesitantly, sneaking glances at him. “I haven’t found anything in those books we didn’t already know.”

  Tensley glanced up. “The ones about daemons?”

  Molly nodded. “I just want to understand what I am—and most importantly, so the baby knows, too. I’m tired of living in the dark.”

  Tensley’s hand caught hers, and he stroked it. “Don’t stress, Molly. Maybe Fallen’s daemon will know something.”

  “I hope so,” she whispered. She fidgeted with the edge of her book and glanced at him. “I’ve been looking up baby names…”

  His lips twisted into a smile. “Have you found any you like?” He took a sip of his water, and Molly couldn’t help but watch his throat bob, his tongue licking the residue, and the way his eyes took the breath out of her lungs with one final look. A storm, a battle warred in his dark eyes.

  “Not really,” she said, stretching back and throwing her hair up into a messy bun. Tensley watched her the entire time, a hungry glint in his eyes.

  He bit into his toast. “It’s tradition in my family for the first son to be named after their grandfather.”

  “So,” she said, letting the information sink in. “If it’s a boy, he’ll be called Salvatore?”

  He chewed his toast, shaking his head. “It’s tradition, but we don’t have to follow it. We’ll keep searching for names.”

  She smiled at him, but it soon vanished when she saw him check his watch and stand.

  “I’ll see you tonight.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead, and then her mouth. She didn’t want to let him go, and by the way his fingers lingered on her jaw, tracing her face as if to remember every detail, he didn’t either. He could be vicious, even cruel when provoked, but with her so soft and gentle. He had shown her how to cherish another, and she wanted to show him how much she cherished him.

  “Okay,” she called out after him, but he had already shut the door.

  She slumped in her chair and went back to studying and tried not to think of the beast taking her in every possible position.

  “Fuck my life,” she muttered under her breath. She was too horny for this.

  She was going jogging—she needed to get outside in the early October sun before class.

  TENSLEY GRITTED his teeth, his fingers biting into his jaw as he listened to the council riddle off their expenses and their earnings.

  Meetings after meetings, along with heated debates of getting rid of the last of the hunters in New York City. He wanted to leave and return to his bride. They only saw each other in bed. With Scorpios pulling him in one direction, and Molly busying herself with her studies, they lived in different worlds. When he took on the High Court position, how much would they ever have time to be together? He scowled. He’d find a way to see her as much as possible.

  “Any last words, Dux?” Connor, who Tensley liked to call Pudgy, asked.

  Tensley glanced up, straightening in his chair at the front of the boardroom. “Ares has declared war, but with the damage done to their men from the hunters, I believe they won’t attack us right away. We have time to gather forces and strategize a battle plan. Redrick, I leave that with your team.” He eyed the bulky man, Redrick Daniels, who curtly nodded back. “That is all.”

  None of them moved.

  Ever since the High Court announced Molly as a daemon—they had feared him. And now as the Dux, they did not want to cross him.

  “You’re dismissed.”

  He turned, anxious to return home, but just as he exited the room, he heard her high heels clacking on the hardwood.

  She better not scratch the wood.

  “What, Evelyn?”

  She tsked. “Don’t Evelyn me, jackass.”

  He spun, face heating up. “Say that again. To your Dux.”

  She pressed her lips into a hard line. “We need to talk.”

  “I’m done speaking to you, Evelyn,” he said lowly.

  “When you’re away, I’ll be covering your position,” she said fast, lifting her head high.

  “No.”

  She laughed bitterly. “No? You don’t have a choice. I’m your right hand. When you’re not here, I’m in charge.” She let her eyes wander away from his contorted features down to his chest and to his crotch, lingering. Then her eyes snapped up with a heated glance. “Dux.”

  He fisted his hands. She was correct. She was his right hand. Fuck.

  He didn’t say a word to her. Everything he said came back to haunt him.

  “Speaking of leaving for some time, it reminds me. Seto is here to see you. I told him to wait in your office,” she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “I just hope he’s not bringing any bad news,” she said smugly. “That would be so unfortunate.”

  His stomach dropped. Seto wouldn’t have come if it weren’t something serious. If Fallen hadn’t sent him…

  He gave her one final glare and marched to his office, pulling open the door to find Seto cloaked in a dark robe in front of him. He didn’t sit. He simply stood in the middle of the room, unmoving.

  “Seto,” Tensley said, shaking his head. “How can I help you?”

  Seto’s face was scarred by burns, but he covered it with his thick facial hair. Each time he flexed his jaw, the burns rippled. “Our king has requested your presence in the High Court.”

  Tensley fixed his stance, spreading his legs wider. “When?”

  “Tomorrow, just after dawn. For an indefinite time. Will you be joining us, as per requested?” he asked coolly, handing over an envelope from inside of his cloak. Tensley took it and grimaced at the cursive writing of his name.

  Fucking tomorrow?

  “Of course.” He managed to stay calm, but his voice was too tight.

  A rare, terrifying smile formed on Seto’s mouth. “He said the daemon might also come. He said something about wolves and leaving one’s prey alone in a big city full of them.”

  Tensley’s beast raged, warring against his body to launch himself at Seto. He wouldn’t be taking Molly with him. Not with her pregnant. He’d get Illya to stay with her. He fisted his hands, stuffing them into his pockets, and nodded. “I’ll come.”

  Seto watched him closely and far too long as if waiting for the beast to attack.

  After a moment, he nodded. “I’ll come to retrieve you tomorrow here at six.”

  Then he left.

  Tensley’s hands shook, and he stared at his bookcases and the piles of paperwork on his desk.

  The two roles of a Dux and a member of the High Court built on his shoulders, weighing him down.

  And then Molly.

  So much work he wasn’t close to finishing, but he wanted to see her. He needed to hold her.

  If she came along, it was a deathtrap waiting to happen. If anyone found out or even sensed something different, they’d kill her.

&nbs
p; He turned, left his office, and focused on the front door. He needed fresh air. He needed time to think before he let his anger control him.

  “Tensley,” his mother’s voice said from behind him. He halted, closing his eyes.

  “Yes?”

  He heard her heels, but unlike Evelyn’s, they were gentle on the wood. She stood in front of him, her soft dark hair braided on one side. She smiled at him. How his mother was so sweet, he didn’t know or understand, but no one questioned her, not the Dux’s wife—unless they wanted to deal with him.

  “You’re working too hard,” she said and rubbed his shoulder. “You always pushed yourself too far as a boy.”

  He grimaced. “Father pushed me.”

  His mother’s soft smile fell, and she focused on his arms, rubbing them up and down as if he were cold. “Your father would be so proud of you now, of the man you’ve become. I think you surpassed what he had hoped for you.” She sniffled, bowing her head. After a long pause, she lifted her head, eyes wet and gleaming, but she smiled at him. “I’m proud you let someone in.”

  Tensley tensed but didn’t say a word.

  His mother’s hand cupped his cheek, forcing him to look her straight in her warm brown eyes. “I see the way you look at her. You adore her.” He furrowed his brow. “It’s not a bad thing. It’s all I hoped for the two of you. To be happy together.” Her hands left his face and took both of his hands, so tiny in his, and she squeezed tightly. “Don’t waste a day with her. Cherish her.”

  Tensley’s throat was too full, so he simply nodded. His mother kissed his cheek and then disappeared upstairs.

  He left, his chest heavy, his head carrying the burden of too many problems, too many mistakes.

  He needed to see his dolcezza—all he wanted to do was hold her tonight. Tomorrow, he would be at High Court.

  MOLLY now sat alone in the darkness of their apartment. Consumed by studying, she missed how late it was. Almost midnight and Tensley still hadn’t returned home. Since she moved in two weeks ago, he wasn’t around very much. Scorpios wielded him. Meetings, deals, events.

  And she was busy reading about Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

  “Never tell a girl to take herself to a nunnery,” Molly muttered to herself and shook her head at the text. “Definitely a bad thing to say, Hamlet.”

  She needed to earn this English credit to graduate, and she’d work day and night to finish her undergrad before the baby came.

  She wished he’d be home before ten some nights. Usually, she was already curled in his bed. He would walk in and wrap his body around hers. Sometimes they just kissed—other times she tasted him, and he entered her slowly, making her feel every rigid edge of his manhood. Her favorite moments when he climbed in beside her was when they spoke in hushed tones, almost as if he feared anyone else hearing the precious words meant only for her.

  She sighed, throwing down her book and picking up her phone.

  September answered on the third ring. “Please tell me there’s a demon on the loose, and we need to hunt him down. Or she. No gender stereotypical roles in my life.”

  Molly laughed. “Unfortunately, no. I’ve been locked inside studying.”

  “Boo.” The sound of a bag of chips ruffled through the phone, and September chewed. “You’re really serious about finishing undergrad early, aren’t you?”

  Molly hummed her response.

  “I saw my parents yesterday,” Molly said, staring down at her piles of notes—dotted with red and blue ink. “My mom’s in denial about me having feelings for Tensley while my dad is a bit more understanding.”

  “I mean, it’s a lot for them to wrap their heads around. The fact you guys actually do like each other,” September added. “Once you give her grandchildren, she’ll shut up. Hopefully.”

  Molly tensed at the mention of children. “September…”

  September continued chewing loudly, but managed a “Hmm?”

  Molly licked her lips, resettling herself on the sofa. She so badly wanted to tell her about the pregnancy. To tell her best friend everything, but she couldn’t risk it.

  “I’m happy with Tensley, but I miss living with you.”

  “Oh, don’t get all sappy on me,” September said, the plastic bag crinkling. “You know I hate sappiness.”

  “Well, I’m a sap. Live with it,” Molly said, laughing. She blinked back the warmth in her eyes and smiled.

  “You’re my best friend, Mol. Nothing’s changing that.” At the sound of a door slamming, September groaned. “Gotta go. Stella’s home. She wants us to make a cleaning schedule together. Shoot me.”

  Molly laughed and said goodbye, sitting back against the couch, surrounded in the silence. She felt torn. She couldn’t tell her parents or September anything, as neither of them completely understood the world she lived in now.

  At the sound of the door unlocking, she shot up.

  She smiled at the sight of her beast—his hair unkempt and the familiar downturn of his mouth, not a frown, not a scowl, just his resting sex face.

  “Hi,” she said, sitting on her knees on the couch to see him better.

  His eyes darted to hers, and he frowned, concern flashing across his features. “I thought you’d be asleep.”

  “I wanted to wait up for you,” she told him.

  She stood up, moving towards him as he shrugged out of his jacket, tossing it onto the kitchen counter. He leaned on the black granite counter and sighed, his back muscles straining against his dress shirt.

  She placed her hand on his lower back, so dangerously close to his upper ass cheeks, and rubbed soothing circles into his skin. “Bad day?”

  He grunted, his head lowered, his eyes closed, dark lashes fanning across his tanned cheeks.

  She pecked his jaw and laid her head against his arm. “What can I do to make it better?”

  Those lashes fluttered open, and he turned his stormy gaze to hers, but the storm was silent. Calmed. He reached for her cheek and gave her one kiss, one gentle press of his softness on her open mouth, and sighed. “This. This makes it better.”

  She smiled, daring to steal another kiss.

  But then his calmness vanished as soon as his eyes landed on a pile of unopened letters.

  One deep breath, one flash of anger and panic, and he shakily ran his hand through his hair. “Fuck.”

  “What?” Molly tried to capture his attention, but he wouldn’t stop staring at the letters like a deathtrap. “What’s wrong?”

  Tensley’s jaw squared under his tight clench.

  “Tensley,” Molly breathed out and gripped his wrist. She brushed her thumb along his pulse, feeling the fast thump.

  “Fallen,” he bit out, and his chest heaved. “Fallen has requested my presence in the High Court.” He paused, his heated glare turning to her. “Tomorrow.”

  “TOMORROW?” Her eyes widened. “But I thought he said you had until the end of October.”

  “The bastard seems to have changed his mind,” he seethed, gripping the counter as his knuckles went white. “I can’t refuse him.”

  “Can’t you postpone? Surely, if you explained about the war with Ares, and the threat it represents to Scorpios, he would let you have a bit more time here. You’re the Dux, after all.” Her voice was hopeful. She touched his arm and felt the muscle flex under her fingers.

  “No, I can’t.” His voice held an edge, an edge that could slice someone in half if they stirred the beast. “The king calls, you go, no questions asked. You drop everything.”

  Molly shook her head, rubbing a finger along her forehead. She eyed him as he grumbled under his breath and angrily undid his cuffs. She sucked at her teeth.

  He had been strong for her, and now her king needed her to be his strength.

  “Then we’ll go together,” she told him.

  Tensley’s head whipped around to gawk at her. “Definitely not.”

  She glared back at him. “And why not?”

  He growled, yanking at his tie a
nd popping open the top button. “Because it’s too risky. You’d be right under Fallen’s thumb, and if he sensed you were pregnant, if he even took a wild guess, I wouldn’t be able to protect you.”

  She sucked in a deep breath, understanding his worry, but she wasn’t going to wait around. “Tensley, I’m going with you.”

  He half-turned, a warning in his tone. “Molly—”

  “No,” she bit back, her nostrils flaring, the icy burn behind her eyes a telling sign her powers were aching to release. “Tensley, don’t you see it? We’re stronger together. All the time we wasted fighting this, fighting each other, we could have been so strong, so unstoppable. This time—we can fight together. I’m done fighting what we could be. What we should be.”

  She saw his jaw unlock, his fisted hand flex out one finger at a time, and the way his muscles melted.

  “Molly,” he said, softly, his eyes weak, but still a hard glint to them. A concern.

  “You know I’m right.” She blinked back the wetness and turned, not wanting him to see how damned emotional she was. Ugh, raging hormones. “I need a shower.”

  She padded back to their bedroom, pulling her t-shirt over her head and wiggling out of her skirt, entering the sleek bathroom.

  She stretched her arms above her head before she entered the hot spray. It burned, but she needed the warmth, the heat to relax. She needed to be calm. For him, for her, for the baby.

  She let the hot water run down her front, eyes closed as she tried to regain control over her chaotic emotions.

  Deep breaths.

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  Fo—

  Two large hands spread across her lower belly, pulling her flat against his front.

  She breathed out shakily.

  His own breath blew against the nape of her neck, and he pressed a kiss there, then to her mark, making her moan.

  “My instinct is to protect you,” he whispered against her earlobe. “I’m sorry I sometimes forget my dolcezza has claws and venom of her own.”