Queen Takes Knights (Their Vampire Queen Book 1)

“Oh fuck,” he panted. “I don’t think I can stand that.”

His hair tumbled down over his forehead but couldn’t conceal the dark, hungry look in his eyes. Sweat glistened on his cheeks and ran in rivulets down his chest. I wrapped my legs around his hips and worked myself onto his dick. Alrik helped, moving him lower, closer, so I could take his whole length, and stopped that ferocious pounding.

Daire’s chest heaved against me, every muscle trembling.

Alrik bent low over his back, pinning him against me. “Don’t come until our queen has her fill

“This is a prison cell.” Daire growled, his voice so feral I could barely understand his words. “Not a bedroom. Especially for a child. Let alone a queen.”

“When I was little and Dad was still alive, I slept with them,” I whispered. “Mom said I never slept well alone. I would cry and fuss until she held me. She had no idea why, until she saw a monster trying to break through the window, tapping on the glass. After Dad died, I slept with her awhile, but as I got older, I really wanted my own space. I actually liked it up here. I called it my tower. The hatch in the roof made me feel like I could escape if I needed to, though I don’t know how I would have gotten off the roof without breaking a leg.”

They were just patiently waiting for me to decide when and how.

“Or for you to signal to one of us that we should take over.” Alrik’s voice had gone smoky and low, making my nipples harden.

I picked up my wine glass and stood, slowly, enjoying the way they watched me. “Can someone grab the bottle? I’ve never had wine before and I like it.”

Alrik grabbed the bottle before Daire could, so he grabbed the men’s glasses and stepped back into the kitchen to get another bottle. “Anything else, my queen? Chocolates? Strawberries? I think I saw some fresh ones in the fridge.”

“Maybe later.”

They both watched me, eyes growing heavy with desire. It made me put a little sway in my steps as I headed for the stairs. I glanced back over my shoulder, waiting for Alrik to look up from my ass and catch my gaze. It took him several long moments. “My queen?”

“Is it safe here?”

Awareness came back in pieces. My head was on Alrik’s chest. I smelled his scent of smoke and iron. A heavy weight lay across my legs. I thought it was his thigh, or maybe Daire’s. But then I realized it wasn’t skin against me, but fur.

Blinking my eyes open, I lifted my head. A massive striped black cat lay across my lower legs and against my side, tail lashing back and forth playfully. Large golden eyes met mine and his mouth opened to reveal vicious fangs. He was larger than any cat I’d ever seen. Like a saber tooth tiger on steroids

“They will not be pleased that Isador still walks this earth. They will try to silence you. They will try to kill you, before you can come to full power, and certainly before you can continue my line. I send the finest warriors to you, full of powerful, burning blood. Drink them for protection and power, always keeping them near. Their blood will be a shield until you hone your own weapons and need no shield to protect you.”

“Why are you angry?”

Even on his knees, he looked up at me and somehow managed to glare and look intimidating. “My queen does not suffer in silence with no one to ease her need. My queen is not alone. My queen is not hungry, sad, hurting, or scared. My queen will have as much pleasure as you can stand. And for that reason, I suggest you allow Daire to entertain you with his mouth. None’s as good as he, and that will ensure the rest is just as enjoyable for you.”

My eyes met Daire’s and he leaned forward slightly, but didn’t touch me.

Power. I was starting to understand what they meant, but this power had nothing to do with blood or magical vampire shit. I could stand here, topless, and Daire wouldn’t touch me until I gave him permission. Even if he desperately wanted to do so.

Both men had let me take their blood and touch them as I wanted, intimately, in Alrik’s case. Yet they had barely touched me at all.

I felt a surge of confidence, not just in myself, but in them, too. I might not know them well yet, but I could trust them implicitly. They proved that every moment that they waited for my permission.

It was like throwing back heavy drapes in a room that had been closed off from the sunlight for decades. I hadn’t even realized how dark and gloomy my life had been. I’d gotten used to being alone, unable to trust anyone.

She made a low, desperate sound of frustration and I couldn’t help but cup her face. “I can’t do it. I don’t know how. And I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You could never hurt me, my queen. Since you’re half human, it’s possible that you don’t have fangs. I don’t think we’ve ever had a half-human queen before.”

She looked at him, her eyebrows rising. Drawing herself up, she looked every inch a queen. My heart swelled with pride, hope, desperate longing to formalize my service. What a queen we’d found. “You have something to say, say it.”