Chapter 14 Ciprian
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CIPRIAN
I find Marius waiting for me in my study several hours after Viviana finished her coffee. His smug expression makes me want to spar.
Or maybe that’s a result of the beast raging within me.
I’ve spent the last five hours of my life… talking.
I can’t remember a time I’ve ever spoken this much, and I don’t fancy speaking more now.
But it seems my best friend has other ideas.
“Shouldn’t you be in the Strigoi Kingdom with your harem?” I demand.
“Shouldn’t you be in a rut in your chambers with your delicious intended?” he counters.
My wings flare out from my back, my chest rumbling with a snarl. “If you’re looking for a fight, Marius, you’ve come to the right place.”
“If that’s what it takes, so be it.” He pushes off the chair, his own wings bursting to life and shredding his tailored shirt in the process. “On the ground or in the air?”
I stare at him. “If that’s what it takes?” I echo at him. “What the fuck does that even mean?”
“It means someone has to push you.” He utters the words clearly. Efficiently. Truthfully. “You’ve finally found a worthy candidate. The Strigoi are eager to meet her.”
His words are not ones I expected to hear. “You’ve told them about Viviana? Before I was ready to announce her?”
“I didn’t have to. Your energy traverses the realms, Ciprian.” He takes a step back and draws his fingers through his long blond hair. “You’re the Strigoi King. It doesn’t matter where you are—we all feel you. And the moment you learned of Viviana Dalca’s existence, we sensed your intrigue, too.”
I stare at him. “What?”
“I had hoped that the moment you met the human in person, you would recognize her as yours and immediately present her before the kingdom for testing. Instead, you decided to play. Given your eternity of celibacy, I understood. But the Strigoi are growing impatient.”
“And you’ve chosen to wait until now to share all of this information with me?” I demand.
“Yes.” His amusement is no longer prominent, the warrior I befriended ages ago now peering at me through narrowed blue eyes.
“Why?”
“Because it’s my duty as your second-in-command to be the first one to evaluate your chosen candidate,” he tells me, his words underlined with a dominance he rarely exudes in my presence. “That’s the initial trial, Ciprian, the one that starts the process. And she passed.”
I continue studying him. “You’re telling me her trials have already begun.”
“Yes.”
“But she hasn’t consented to be my mate yet.”
He arches a brow. “You suddenly care about her consent?”
My teeth grind together as I begin to pace. Twenty-four hours ago, I would have questioned my own sanity in this conversation.
However, that was before gaining access to her mind.
“She’s complicated,” I mutter. “She… she makes me consider things in a new light.”
A chuckle escapes Marius, some of his natural humor seeming to return. “That’s fascinating.”
“Fuck off.”
“No.” He steps into my path. “You need to take her home for the next trial, Ciprian.”
“She’s not ready.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“It does,” I argue. “If she’s meant to be my queen, then her wishes will be respected not just by me but also by our kind.”
His jaw flexes, his irritation palpable. “Give me a timeline.”
I arch a brow. “You’re making demands of me now?”
“On behalf of the Strigoi, yes, Ciprian, I am. Your intended must participate in the trials. You know what will happen if she doesn’t.”
“I haven’t even presented her yet.”
“Not to the kingdom, no. But you did to me. And as I already stated—”
“You were the first trial,” I interject, growling in irritation. “You could have fucking warned me, Marius.”
“You should have fucking expected it,” he counters. “Why do you think I so dutifully agreed to retrieve her for you?”
“Because you’re a good friend.”
“The best,” he tells me. “Which is why I would have killed her without hesitation if—”
I have him up against the wall in a blink, my beast furious at even the notion of what he would have or could have done to my intended. “I trusted you with her life.”
“Yes,” he chokes out, his hand on my wrist as I close my palm around his throat.
His wings beat against the wall, his expression hardening.
“It’s… my duty… to protect… you, Ci…” He’s out of oxygen and can’t finish his statement.
But I don’t need him to.
The words duty and protect grate on my nerves.
Because he’s right.
Fuck, he’s right about everything.
He’s right that I should have anticipated this. Known that he would be the first trial. Understood that the Strigoi would feel my intentions. Been aware of what would happen next. Expected that he would kill her if he found her unworthy, if only to spare me from the pain of failure.
And fuck. He’s right about me losing myself to my lust upon her arrival, too.
“She’s infuriatingly tempting,” I mutter, releasing him and taking a step back.
“You would have me present her as a potential queen before I’ve fully tasted her myself.
” The notion exasperates me. Mostly because I don’t want to share her with anyone, let alone all of my kind. “She’s mine. I want her first.”
It’s… it’s not about sex.
I won’t have to share her in that way.
But I will have to let the Strigoi know her. See her. Talk to her. Consume her time. Befriend her. Test her…
“Viviana doesn’t trust me, Marius. I want to fix that before I allow her to continue in the trials. She needs to feel safe. Otherwise…”
“You’re worried she won’t survive,” he says, his voice already normal again, like I didn’t nearly crush his windpipe moments ago.
“Yes.” I face him. “I need more time.”
“How much more?” he asks.
“A month?” I suggest.
He huffs a laugh. “No. You know that’s impossible.”
I do, but it felt appropriate to try. “A week, then.”
“Seven days,” he murmurs, his gaze turning thoughtful. “I can take that request back to the Strigoi.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” he says, sounding serious again.
“The longer you keep her from our kind, the harsher her trials will become, Ciprian. The Strigoi are impatient to meet their potential queen, and while it may not be Viviana’s fault that it’s taken this long for her to appear, they blame her nonetheless. ”
I drag my fingers through my hair, hating what he’s pointing out. “It’s my failure, not hers.”
“It’s not a failure at all. You’ve been testing her in your own way since learning of her existence, seeing how far she would push to find you. I would argue that without those years of preparation, she may not have been ready for you. But she is now. You just have to… push her a little more.”
“If I push more, she’ll retreat.” I could hear it in her mind.
I’ve discovered a limit.
“She needs to feel safe.” Which means I have to find a balance between prodding her boundaries and ensuring I don’t go too far.
“Where is she now? Back in her cage?”
I give him a flat look. “No. I left her napping in my bed.”
The absolute delight that crosses his features has me nearly rolling my eyes again.
“You should go wake her up in a creative way,” he suggests. “Afterward, you can inform her that the trials have begun.”
Now I do roll my eyes. “Fairly certain me touching her is the opposite of safe. In her mind, anyway.” A fact that grates on my nerves because I haven’t truly harmed her. I’ve made sure of it. But she doesn’t trust me not to hurt her, which is precisely the problem.
“Prove otherwise.” He gives me a smile. “Focus on her pleasure, not your own. You’ll be amazed by what she begs for next.”
“I don’t need a tutorial on females, Marius.”
“Says the ancient virgin,” he drawls. “Use your mouth, but not your teeth. And make sure you play with her clit. Women like that.”
I take a step toward him, and he jumps back with his hands in the air. “I’m leaving.”
“Good,” I growl. “And don’t ever talk about my mate’s pussy again. Don’t even think about her that way. She’s mine, Marius.”
“Your intended, not your mate,” he corrects me. Then he runs for the portal mirror because he knows I’m seconds from punching him in the face. “Seven days, Ciprian.”
He practically leaps through the glass before I can comment.
“Coward,” I mutter, my wings rustling at my back as my tail whips around behind me.
I don’t need an anatomy lesson or a reminder that Viviana isn’t my mate yet.
I know what a fucking clit is, too. I had one in my mouth last night. Though, I did use my teeth.
“Focus on her pleasure,” I echo. “I have. Several times.”
But I also enjoyed myself, too. That’s why I made her come initially—because I wanted to watch her fall apart.
How am I supposed to solely concentrate on her when I like observing her climax? I wonder. I’ll always get something out of it. She’s fucking stunning when she’s lost to the throes of passion. I can’t indulge in the experience without some personal satisfaction.
Which makes his advice ridiculous.
Growling, I start to pace my office. I came in here to do some reading. Now all I want to do is return to my female.
She’s asleep in my bed.
I should guard her. Keep her safe by being nearby. Perhaps that will make her feel better?
“Fuck.” This was much easier when I didn’t have access to her mind. I didn’t consider the consequences of giving her blood, just fed her my essence to help heal her throat.
A throat I used too roughly, thereby requiring my aid in her recovery. Yet another consequence I didn’t consider while lost to my beast’s needs.
All of this is my fault.
And I despise that fact.
I’m renowned for my control. However, Viviana is challenging my basic principles. She’s confusing my instincts, making me yearn for her even more than I already did.
It’s maddening.
And confounding.
I’m the superior. The Strigoi King. Yet this female has brought me to my knees both figuratively and literally.
Another growl escapes me as I leave my office, my intention to read no longer viable. I can’t be away from her. I just… I just want to watch her. Hold her. Fuck her.
My teeth grind together, my dick hardening with the thought.