The Queen's Protectors (A Throne of Blood Book 1)

by Scarlett Snow

  He shakes his head. “I’m not hungry.” His tone is uncharacteristically clipped, almost like he feels guilty about something. “How are you feeling?”

  I shrug my shoulders at him. “It’s not like I died or anything. Don’t worry.”

  “But you…” He stops himself, and with blatant effort, focuses on his coffee. “Everything has been arranged for our trip to Italy. Our flight leaves at six-thirty tomorrow morning.”

  I peck him on the cheek. “Thank you, Ronan.”

  There will be a time and place for us to talk about what happened at the beach. Right now, I want some coffee and waffles. Questions will have to come later.

  Sorcha places a stack of waffles in front of me, pats me on the head, and then leaves the kitchen. As I pour an unhealthy amount of syrup over my breakfast, Elliot settles at my side, his fluffy tail curled around my chair.

  “Do you want some waffles?” I ask, worried that he’s also forgotten to eat. “You must be hungry, and look, mmmm. They’re still warm.”

  The damn wolf just sits there and stares at me.

  Ronan places a hand on my back. I shudder at his touch and clench my legs as bolts of electricity pound my veins. “He’s refusing to shift back until we find out who the shark was,” he explains, rubbing circles on the small of my back. “He doesn’t think you’re safe here.”

  I tilt my head at Elliot. “My mother had this house built with ancient magic. This is probably the safest place for us right now. Please shift back, Elliot? For me?”

  Still, he refuses to shift. He stays staring at me with those beautiful wolf eyes.

  I hold out one of my waffles, drenched in syrup. “Look what I have,” I sing, hoping to entice him to shift into his human form.

  I love his wolf, but I miss his voice and personality. I think we could all do with his cheerfulness right now, particularly after what happened with the shark.

  When Elliot makes no effort to shift back, I harden my voice. “I’m commanding you to shift back for me, Elliot. Now.”

  Elliot bows his head, and with obvious reluctance, his human form emerges in front of my eyes. He keeps his head bent into his naked chest, unwilling to meet my gaze.

  I curl a finger at him. “Come up here.”

  He obeys me, although he’s slow to do so.

  I reach into my pocket and present the object from before. “I want you to wear this as a reminder of whom it is you protect.” I unbuckle the gold studded collar and motion for Elliot to turn around. He does. I slide the red leather over his neck and buckle the straps. “You’re my Protector, and I’m your Queen. So long as you wear this collar, we’re both entwined, and nothing will separate us. Do you understand me?”

  A sense of pride fills me when Elliot turns around, drops to one knee, and bows. When his eyes meet my own, they burn with a voracious intensity I’ve never seen in him before. He nods his head, closes his eyes, and offers me his wrists. I push off my stool and go down to his level.

  Taking his hands into mine, I run my fangs along his fluttering veins, and I pierce his delicate skin. I accept his blood offering and drink from him. His cock bounces in front of me. I lap at his blood and then press a hand firmly into his chest, knocking him onto his back. His blood spills from my lips and splashes onto his chest. I bend down to lick every droplet, then I make my way south and cover his cock with my mouth.

  “Unggg, Your Majesty, I’m—I’m sorry.”

  “Oh, you will be. Won’t he, Ronan?” I glance over my shoulder. Ronan’s hand is slowly rubbing his cock through his suit pants. He growls in agreement. “When I tell you to do something, Elliot, you do it the first time. Not the second or third. Understood?”

  I flick my tongue over his sensitive slit. He bucks his hips and smacks his hands against the tiled floor.

  “Y…yes, Your Majesty.”

  “Now keep your hands above your head until I say otherwise.” I watch him lift his arms and tuck his hands underneath his head. I return to the task at hand, or rather, my little wolf’s punishment. “You do look amazing in that collar, Elliot. Perhaps I won’t punish you too severely.”

  I blow over the tip of his cock.

  “Ahh!” Elliot lurches forward, but he quickly restrains himself. I take his cock into my mouth and suck down to the base. His trimmed patch of hair tickles my nose. “Thank you, Your Majesty. I… I was just—ngghh—afraid.”

  I pull my mouth from his cock and raise a skeptical brow at him. “Afraid? And why would you be afraid when I’m no longer in danger? It’s not like we’re anywhere near the sea.” I lick the side of his shaft, my eyes on him. “I already told you I’ll find out who that shark was, and I’ll kill them. Until then, you’ve got to trust me. Do you trust me, Elliot?”

  I take his cock back into my mouth and purse my lips against his sensitive head. Elliot moans, and his eager hips thrust in time with my movements. I suck and lick and flick my tongue all over his cock, deliberately bringing him to the edge of orgasm only to deny him the pleasure.

  I harden my voice at him. “I asked you a question. Do you trust me?”

  “I do trust you, Your Majesty. I do!”

  Gods, his flushed cheeks, that desperate voice, and his shallow breaths are to die for.

  I grin wickedly at him. “Good boy. Ronan, get down here.”

  Ronan pushes his chair back and hops off. He pulls my sweater up, yanks my tights down, and exposes my pussy all in one swift movement. He knows exactly what I want without me even having to ask.

  Thank goodness Sorcha knew to let us ‘eat’ in private. I guess she grew accustomed to my ways once I started bringing lovers back home. I’ll never forget the day she found me cleaning out my playroom. She’d choked on about six different syllables before rushing back to the kitchen to check on her shepherd’s pie. She never did ask me what my playroom was for, but she gave a respectable wide berth whenever I had a lover visiting.

  Ronan’s hands find purchase on my ass. He gently kneads my flesh to begin with, then I feel the tip of his cock slide over my center. I flick my tongue over Elliot’s dick and push my ass toward Ronan. After biting into his wrist and pouring blood over my entrance, he plunges into me, hard, fast, searing, and I moan around Elliot’s shaft.

  “Mmmm, that’s it, Ronan. Don’t you fucking stop, you hear me?”

  He growls and grips onto my waist. I love it when he fucks me hard. While others would shy away from the pain, the masochist in me takes pleasure in it. I also take pleasure in delivering it.

  Ronan grabs hold of my hair and tugs my head back, forcing me to curve my spine.

  My eyes still on Elliot, I chuckle at the almost shocked expression on his face. “What’s wrong, omega? Cat got your tongue?” I curl my hand around his cock and give a firm squeeze. “Or cougar got your dick?”

  I’ve always had a soft spot for younger men.

  Elliot’s blush deepens, and he smiles at me. “You’re just so beautiful, Your Majesty.”

  My heart swells at the compliment, but I keep my expression cool. I’m not letting him get off that easy. “If you think flattery will convince me to let you cum, think again.” I tighten my grip on his cock, and he lets out a stifled moan. Ronan thrusts into me, and I let Elliot go, overcome by pleasure. “Now keep your hands behind your head, omega, and spread your legs nice and wide for me.”

  As Elliot obeys my commands, I position my elbows between his thighs, allowing me the perfect angle to torture his beautifully circumcised cock. His girth is wider than the others, and I love to suck on his sensitive slit. I run my tongue over the tender flesh, and Elliot’s body shudders underneath me. Cold hands snake up my back, minty breaths ghost my ears, and I swallow Elliot’s cock, taking his member into the back of my throat and refusing to let go.

  His cock is mine as well as his heart.

  The collar just serves as a small reminder.

  A fiendish hunger consumes me as I devour him. Ronan’s cock breaches my pussy again, his movements a kiss o
f ice plunging into me, consuming my mind. I work hard on Elliot’s cock, still making sure not to let him cum. With my eyes never moving from his, I take in his movements, every intake of air, each breathless whisper begging for release, and bring him to the precipice of ecstasy only to peel my lips off his cock.

  “P-please, Your Majesty,” he begs, his delicious body covered in a sheen of sweat. “Please, Mistress?”

  Ronan’s cock pounds into me, pushing me off balance. I place my hands on either side of Elliot’s head. “Please what, omega?”

  “Ooh, fuck.” Ronan’s moans sound by my ear, heightening my own pleasure. He holds his cock in my pussy, waiting for me to continue Elliot’s punishment. “So fucking good,” he whispers, clawing his cold fingers down my back.

  Shudders rake through my body. My heartbeat thrums in my ears, mixed with Elliot’s, and ecstasy tingles all the way to my toes as Ronan pumps his cock inside me, his tip hitting against my G-spot. Mmmm.

  “Please let me cum,” Elliot begs me, his eyes clenched together, and the veins protruding from his neck. Delicious. “I won’t defy you again. I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

  “I know you are,” I whisper, leaning down to run my fangs over his throat. “But I’m not letting you cum until I—” My body rocks forward as Ronan continues his thrusting, slow but hard, into my wet pussy, intensifying the pleasure building inside me. “I’m not letting you cum today, so you’ll just have to accept your punishment.”

  Elliot moves his head to the side, giving me his neck. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  “Good boy,” I whisper, licking up his fluttering throat.

  I pierce my fangs just below his new collar, and I don’t let a single droplet of blood escape my eager tongue. Ronan’s fingers dig into my hips as he fucks my pussy raw with his huge cock. He breaches and fills me until our ecstasy collides and bursts into a crescendo of shuddering moans and toe-curling pleasure. My entire body gives up on me, and I drop against Elliot, breathless and spent. My little omega drags his fingers through my hair and holds me to his pounding chest.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t wake me up,” I grumble for the one hundredth time. “You know I love eating pussy.”

  “Put your seatbelt on,” Ronan grinds out, jutting his chin toward the back window of his precious car. “Are you sure everything’s been secured? I don’t want anything damaged or falling out of the bags.”

  With a grunt, I pull my seatbelt over my chest and cross my arms. “Sure as fuck I secured them. And the guns. Now, care to tell me why I was left drooling into a damn pillow while you and puppy got to have some fun with our queen?”

  Violet steps into the car and slides over the back seat. “Aww, my wittle Kaleo feels weft out? Poor wittle baby!”

  I laugh despite myself. “I’m just always down for some fun, Your Majesty.” I wink and flick my long, wide tongue at her.

  Violet leans over and whispers, “I’ve got a little surprise for you later, baby.”

  I raise my eyebrows at her words, a grin creeping onto my lips. “I do love surprises.”

  Violet pats me on the shoulder. “Just you wait until we board the jet, Big Guy.”

  My cock hardens in my leather pants, itching to be inside Violet’s sweet pussy.

  But me and my boner will just have to wait until we leave for Italy.

  Violet kisses me on the cheek and then settles back in her seat. Elliot, ushered into the car by Sorcha, slips in beside her with a paper bag in his hands.

  “Coconut buns,” he says, using the back of his hand to wipe the crumbs from his mouth. “They’re delicious.”

  Sorcha closes the door and knocks on his window, her eyes glazed with tears. “Call me when you land, lass, and you’ll be careful, won’t you?”

  “I always am, Sorcha,” Violet reassures her.

  You’d think Violet was leaving the country for the rest of her life. We only plan to spend a week in Vatican City. But it’s nice to see how protective the old woman is of Violet, in a mother hen sort of way. It’s something I’ve never had.

  “And let Adele know that I’m asking after her,” Violet adds, securing her seatbelt. “I hope she feels better soon. I haven’t seen her in weeks.”

  “Oh, that daft lass has always got a bloody migraine.” She flaps her dish cloth from side to side, then wipes her eyes with it. “Now away you lot go. Have some fun.” Her expression hardening, she wags a stern finger at me and Ronan in particular. “And you keep Violet safe, you hear me? Or else you’ll get a fist so far up yer arse yer heads will spin.”

  With that fond farewell, Ronan starts the engine, and we set off.

  Royal Shadow Ball, here we fucking come.

  As a Protector, I have to put up with a lot of shit now. I can’t have things my way anymore since everything I do is for my queen. It’s her desires I must put first, and I’ll gladly do just that, regardless of the situation; my duty is to serve and protect her.

  Having said that, I still feel pretty fucking pissed at missing out on breakfast with her and the others. Violet’s pussy is the kind of English muffin I want to be eating every fucking day of my life.

  I guide Violet up the steps and into her private jet. Scowling to myself, I drop Violet’s handbag onto a nearby seat, and I claim one of the other seats. Ronan disappears into the cockpit to speak with Caius, the pilot, while Elliot munches on his seventh coconut bun.

  What pisses me off the most is that I even feel annoyed about being left out. I know I’m Violet’s Protector, and unless she decrees me otherwise, I’ll always be that to her. But hell if I didn’t feel like a sulking brat when I found them finishing up on the kitchen floor without me. Being away from my queen’s touch, and not serving her alongside the others, has become a fear of mine. It’s like I can’t get enough of her, and I want to be at her side every minute of the day.

  You sound like a fucking kid again, Kaleo.

  I guess this is one of the joys of being a Protector. Without someone to protect, life becomes meaningless and empty.

  Even if protecting means giving her the best orgasm of her life.

  I wonder what surprise my queen has in store for me. My cock hardens at the ideas that cross my mind. If it’s anything like Elliot’s collar, I’ll die a happy fucking man.

  I watch Violet walk over to me with her nose buried in her mother’s journal. Flipping through the pages, she turns around and sits on my lap. I lean back in my chair and wrap my arms around her thin waist. Her scent fills my nose like an exotic perfume.

  “Have you found anything else?” I ask, positioning her ass over my cock.

  Elliot burps across from us, ruining the mood I was hoping to set. His cheeks turn pink as he gives a sheepish grin. “Sorry. These coconut buns make me super gassy.”

  “You did eat seven of them on the way here,” Violet says, her tone light. “I wish I had your metabolism.” She runs her fingers along the leather binding. “I did notice there’s something written on the spine. I can’t make it out.”

  “Have you tried using blood?” I suggest, casting my eyes over the journal.

  She nods. “Yes, and still nothing. The light just makes it even harder to read.”

  If Eloise didn’t want any vampires to lay their hands on the journal, I wonder if she went to greater efforts with hiding the message written into the spine? The only way vampires would be unable to read that was if…

  I lift my head and look around. “Anyone got a UV light?”

  It’s the last thing a vampire would have on them, since the light burns their eyes.

  “I have one.” Elliot fumbles inside his jeans. He tosses me a bunch of keys. “That little torch should be UV. I kept it for when I was at Dunk ‘N Go, but I never had to use it. Vampires never liked my donuts.”

  “Those monsters,” Violet says, laughing. She holds the book to the side, allowing me to press the button on the torch and shine the light over the spine. The words start to emerge as clear as day. Violet reads them aloud. �
��Cimitero del Sanctus. I don’t know what that is.”

  Elliot takes out his phone, and a few seconds later, he explains, “It’s a graveyard in Vatican City. It’s actually not that far from where we’re headed.” He jumps off his chair, brushes the crumbs from his shirt, and looks at Violet. “I’ll tell Alpha our change in plans?”

  She gives a smile. “Yes. I think my mother wanted me to go there.”

  I feel her body tense in my arms. I tighten my grip on her and plant a kiss on her shoulder. “Everything’s going to be alright.”

  Violet squirms on my lap, her pussy rubbing on my cock. “I’m sure it will. I just can’t help but feel like my mother left me a gigantic puzzle.” Turning around, she grins. “Would you like to see your present?”

  I squeeze and pull her ass harder against my lap, making sure she can feel my hardened cock. She untangles my arms and hops off my lap, leaving me bereft of her warmth. Rummaging through her handbag, she holds my gift up to me, and sweet fucking Jesus, my cock throbs even more.

  “Take your top off and put this on for me,” she demands, her voice raspy with lust. “I want to see how this looks on my Protector.”

  I’m quick to push off my chair and tug my shirt over my head. I stare intently at my queen, waiting for my next order. She holds the harness out to me. I slip my arms through the thick, crimson straps. The gold buckles are cold against my skin, and the red leather is the same as Elliot’s collar. Pride swells through me as if I’ve just been knighted by her. It feels fucking amazing to be owned by my queen.

  “Perfect,” Violet whispers, trailing a finger lazily over my broad chest, my tattooed arms and then down my back. “So beautiful.”

  She secures the buckles, gives the harness a light shake, and then steps around me. She presses her lips softly against my mouth. I snake my hands around her, twirl her around, and push her onto the seat. Her legs wrap around my waist, tugging me closer to her.