Chapter 6

“You should feed.”

“I’m not letting her out of my sight.”

“She’s asleep, Elias.”

“It’s my fault we’re in this mess. It’s my fault they hurt her.”

“She’s healed now-”

“I’m not talking about her shoulder. He did something to her.”

“Who? She looked exhausted but uninjured.”

“Both of them. I know what it looks like when a person is tortured, Kian.”

Sylvie’s hearing returned before her ability to move did, the strained voices of her mates penetrating her mind. She could almost see their tense frames hovering about her.

“What is that supposed to mean?” A hint of fear came from Kian through her bond, the violet swirl on her chest itching.

“I know you, K. I won’t pry, and I don’t expect an explanation, but I know the face of a survivor.”

Tears prickled Sylvie’s eyes and ran down her cheeks past the lids she couldn’t open. Someone cleared their throat as Sylvie’s body finally caught up with her consciousness.

“Princess?”

She reached blindly for the voice and had both hands grasped. One cold set of hands, the other warm.

“Sorry,” she whispered, sniffling the emotion down.

“You did nothing wrong, love,” Elias’s breathy voice tickled her cheek as he pressed his lips to hers. Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled as Kian took Elias’ place, kissing her lips softly as if he might break her.

She lay atop a soft surface, and as her mind grew clearer, she took in the room around her. Silvery drop lights shone from the high ceilings gleaming over her cold body and beneath her— towels caught the blood from her shoulder, now completely healed.

“Did you heal me?” she asked Elias, sitting up, using Kian as support.

He nodded, his skin a little paler than she remembered. A jolt of fear sank into her stomach. “Did you get bit? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine-”

“He needs to feed,” Kian interrupted, throwing him a shady look.

“Go feed then.”

“I’ll have to hunt in the forest,” he grunted, standing up to pace. “I didn’t have time to stock this place.”

“Be careful,” Sylvie whispered as he stared at her incredulously.

“Me?”

“Rowan and Jace might still be hiding in there. Their bite can kill you, right?”

Elias gnawed on his inner cheek, rubbing his hand through his messy curls. “All turned vampires die from a shifter bite, most born vampires too, after a long infection. The royal lines are unaffected, though.”

He paused as she processed his words. Was he a royal Vampire? What did that even mean?

“I’ll be fine,” he muttered, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles. “If anything, I hope I see them. Then I can put them down.”

Sylvie’s heart ached, and she shook her head with a scowl. She didn’t know if she was scowling at herself for her unnatural feelings or the implication of his words.

“Don’t,” she said. Then, as if trying to rectify her traitorous heart and convince herself of her hatred, she stared up at her mate. “If anyone is going to kill them, it will be me.”

A dark look flashed across his eye before he nodded and left the room, leaving Kian watching over her.

After a few moments, a door creaked open and slammed, and Kian sighed. “We should get you cleaned up.”

Taking his hands, Kian guided her from the room into a giant ensuite bathroom, the tiled space filled with luxury and pristine accessories.

A spa-sized tub stole her attention, resting against the back wall with a waterfall showerhead fitting above it. The vanity lit up as Kian flipped a switch by the door, and the tiles beneath her feet warmed. “This is insane!”

In the mirror, she couldn’t recognise herself. As it turned out, blood was the only thing that stained her skin, making her look like a red hot mess. Opposite the vanity was an open shower space, which she immediately beelined to, pulling the lever hot.

Kian drew a bath at the same as she undressed and climbed in, letting the scalding water wash away her sins. Despite her marriage to Kian, a blush crept up her cheeks as he watched her cleanse her naked body. The playful quirk on his lips revealed some of his thoughts.

The shelving hanging from the wall offered shampoo and body wash, which she used ample pumps of until the water ran clear. Only then did she turn to see what Kian was doing with the half-filled tub.

It was full of bubbles.

She turned off the shower and wrung her hair. “What’s that for?” she asked as Kian approached, fully dressed. “I thought you’d like a full spa treatment,” he said, letting a smile settle on his lips.

She looked him up and down. “Only if you come in with me.”

His gaze dropped to the floor, and she slinked over, gripping the bottom of his shirt lightly. “You’re perfect to me, Kian. Never forget it.”

With no resistance, she helped pull his dark shirt overhead and loosened his belt, smiling as the trousers dropped to the floor. Starting to feel cold, she climbed beneath the bubbling waters and leaned over the edge, watching Kian’s perfect body shiver from the crisp air in the room.

She usually only saw his muscles highlighted by the dim glow of the moon or candles, but in the bright halogens of the bathroom, she could see everything.

His puckered scars glittered in the light, and she smiled as he climbed in behind her pressing her body into his chest. Her scarlet and emerald mate mark over his heart appeared strong but lacked a certain shine she was used to.

“You don’t have to hide,” she whispered, snuggling deeper into the water, the warm liquid covering her breasts.

“I know.”

His hand reached past her to a small panel with five silver buttons, and he pressed the two closest, starting four jets that tickled her feet.

“This is amazing.”

His strong hands laced with hers, offering a tiny squeeze before he trailed them up her arms and down again.

He massaged the bubbles across her decolletage, breasts and belly before letting his hands trail beneath the waters. Reaching for the other buttons, Kian stopped her with his free hand.

“Not yet,” he murmured in her hair while continuing his path to her inner thighs. The second his fingers found her folds, she shuddered, leaning her head back into the space between his shoulder and neck.

“I missed you,” she sighed, letting his peace wash over her. Every second of their contact, she melded deeper into him, only the undulating pressure on her clit keeping her tethered to the current moment.

“We missed you too, princess.” Kian kissed her temple and brought one hand to her chest, thumbing the nipple in a tender massage.

“I need to tell you about-”

“You can tell me what happened after? First, we need to focus on your healing.”

She blushed as his circling finger increased pressure and speed. “This is healing?” she asked breathily.

His soft chuckle reverberated through her back, and she joined him with a light giggle.

“Reconnecting like this is the easiest way to strengthen our mate marks,” he responded, kissing her again. “Sex, intimacy and blood sharing all act as a binding.”

She bucked against him as a finger slipped inside her and curled against her walls.

“You see,” he continued, “a mark is not just something you gain and you no longer have to work for. Like any relationship, mates, bonded, and kindreds all need regular upkeep.”

A second finger filled her. “If you don’t maintain it,” he sighed, nipping her lobe lightly. “You can lose it.”

“Really?” she whispered, getting lost in the sensations. Maybe that was why Kian’s mark looked more faded. And why hers did when he was being held captive by Lazuli.

Could their bond completely fade away if they spent enough time apart? Perhaps that was how she and Rowan could stay. That is if he didn’t find a way to end their mate connection with the Fae artefact like he suggested.

Before her thoughts could quell her desires, Kian pressed his lips to her neck, sucking lightly.

“Stay with me.” His soft voice in her ear contrasted with his hard cock pressing along her spine.

Her returning voice was breathless. “I’m right here.”

“I know you, Princess. And I know when you disappear inside your mind.”

His fingers continued surging in her soaked cunt, and she rolled in his embrace, her breasts pressing keenly to his chest. The smile on his lips drew one of her own as she kissed his lips, across his jaw and down his neck.

She wished to taste every inch of him. His length against her belly proved he shared her sentiment. Sliding down his body, she swiped away the dwindling soapy bubbles as she descended.

The ache in her core ignited as her distance forced him to pull out of her, but she was sure what she was after would quickly satisfy her.

Finding the plughole, she drained some water until her sunken treasure surfaced. She grinned, returning the plug before wrapping her hands around Kian’s bobbing base, still slightly submerged and thumbed the veins trailing down its length.

Shivering from the sudden brisk air on her back, she squealed when a deluge of hot water pelted her back.

She looked up at Kian’s sparkling eyes, hands still on a lever at his side. “Didn’t want you to get hypothermia.”

His thoughtfulness never faded, and her cheeks ached from the smile she gave him before pressing her lips to his tip. Then, sending out a tentative tongue, she licked around his frenulum and down to the water’s surface.

His heavy breathing and fingers stroking her shoulders spurred her bravery, and she opened her mouth to taste him fully. Deeply.

She’d seen it done many times but only done it a few times due to an unappreciative and rough partner.

This time though, peace settled in her bones. Kian scooped her hair from her face and lifted his hips as the water rose around him.

Then, breathing steadily through her nose, she dared to move faster, letting his tip kiss the back of her throat before lifting high enough to circle her tongue around his slit.

His breaths turned into delicious groans of pleasure, and she moaned against him, enjoying the sudden jerk of his hips from her ministrations.

The hand in her hair tightened a fraction, and Sylvie’s eyes rolled back from the perfect sting of it. An act she expected from Elias but welcomed from Kian nonetheless.

Kian hissed, his body tensing before warning her with a gentle push he was going to climax, but she took him deeper. She wanted to taste him.

As he came, she swallowed, only lifting off him once his body finally stopped tensing. The second her gaze met him, she frowned at his expression.

“Are you okay? Why do you look upset?”

“I’m not upset, Princess. I’m- It’s just.” He cleared his throat and pulled her up his chest, pressing his lips to hers. “I’ve never let anyone else do that for me.”

A shocked expression settled on her face.

“Never? Not even with-”

“No. I always focused the pleasure on her.”

Sylvie sat up a bit, hoping he would continue. She thought she’d feel jealous of his time with Lazuli, but she didn’t. Not at all.

“It was my way of keeping what control I had over my body. If that makes sense.”

His head drooped, but she quickly cupped his chin, offering another soft kiss. “It makes perfect sense.”

“You’re not disgusted by me.”

It wasn’t so much a question but a realisation based on the look on his face. Incredulity.

“Never. It wasn’t your fault, Kian.”

His eyes shone, and she kissed his face as the tears fell. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I adore you, Sylvie. I am yours.”

Their wet lips met in a tender embrace; each kiss was softer than the last until Sylvie pulled back to breathe.

“I’m so glad I’m home.” Her forehead pressed against his, and her eyes fluttered closed as she basked in his love.