Chapter 21 Vivi
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
VIVI
ISLE OF ISOLATION, STRIGOI KINGDOM
“Sorry, I’m not used to, uh, guests,” the former king says as he hands me a towel from the bathroom doorway. “I’ll also try to find you a shirt or something to wear for after your shower.”
“That won’t be needed,” a deep voice says, the sound of it sending a familiar wave of warmth down my spine. “Hello, Father.”
King Negru’s eyes widen a little as he turns. “Ciprian. I… I didn’t hear you…”
“Grandfather gave me a portal key,” he says as I try to look around the mass of wings in the doorway. “It’s quite useful. Want to borrow it for a bit?”
The bat-like wings in front of me seem to tense. “You would allow me to leave?”
“Under one condition, yes,” Ciprian replies. “You attend the inauguration in ten days.”
Silence falls between them, and I twist my lips to the side as I set the towel down on the counter.
Should I… leave? I wonder, tightening the blanket around me.
No, regina mea. You’re exactly where I need you to be, Ciprian responds into my mind, his mental presence nearly making me sigh with relief.
I missed you, I admit. Which is crazy. You’ve been in my head for, like, a day.
Years, he corrects. You’ve been researching me for years.
True. I smile a little. I guess you have been in my head for a while…
“I would be honored,” King Negru says, his wings relaxing. “Thank you for inviting me… son.”
Another tense moment passes.
“Viviana?” Ciprian murmurs.
King Negru moves, allowing me to finally see my Strigoi. I don’t hesitate, just run for him and jump into his arms. He catches me with a growl, then tugs the blanket back around me before it can fall. “Not yet, mate,” he tells me. “Father?”
I don’t understand what’s happening until I’m surrounded by wings, and then we’re moving through space in a way my mind struggles to translate. A portal, I realize. We’re… we’re in a portal.
Almost there, Viviana, Ciprian replies, his arm strong around my lower back.
I close my eyes and just let him take me.
All of this has been a whirlwind of fate. An experience unlike any I could ever have anticipated. But I would be lying to myself if I didn’t acknowledge that I’ve dreamt of this. Of him. Of the potential that could exist between us.
I thought those fantasies were born of long research hours obsessing over a figment.
But now I wonder if my soul simply knew where I would end up.
Here, in the arms of a Strigoi King, I think, sighing into his embrace.
“We’ll see you in ten days,” Ciprian announces.
When more than one male chuckle responds to his comment, I peek over his shoulder and see King Negru joining two other men. One of whom looks a lot like Ciprian, too.
My grandfather, Ciprian says into my mind. The other male is Barnes. Two ancients. They… organized the trials.
Hmm, I hum. And I assume you carrying me off like this means… I passed?
“We passed,” he says out loud. “Apparently, the rules have changed.”
He proceeds to explain everything via a few thoughts, telling me what Barnes and his grandfather shared about testing the royal bloodline along with the human candidate.
It seems like they approved of Ciprian finding his own mate, too.
I’m only vaguely aware of him sweeping me up a staircase, not with his feet but with his wings.
We’re flying.
However, all I can see is him. His black eyes bleeding with crimson. His square jaw. His thick, dark hair. His… tail.
Only, I don’t see that part of him.
I feel it.
“We didn’t get to finish our game outside,” he says, his lips brushing mine. “I would suggest we play again, but I’m not letting you go, Viviana. You’re not just in my nest now. You’re in my kingdom. And you’re never returning to your home world.”
My heart races in my chest, my mind whirring with comments.
I wasn’t given a chance to say goodbye. To finish my thesis. To… to do much of anything at all.
Yet I don’t feel any regret. Nor is there even a hint of sorrow in my thoughts.
I’ll miss Gaby. I… I may need to see if I can somehow get her a message.
She’ll understand this choice. Understand that I fell for a monster eons ago.
She knows more than anyone else about my studies.
Teased me relentlessly for my research but often commented on how fantastic it would be if I actually found him.
And I did.
I found my Strigoi.
My fixation.
My obsession.
Electricity hums across my skin as Ciprian’s tail slides up my inner thigh. He doesn’t ask. He doesn’t wait. He merely… slips into my waiting heat and claims me from within.
“Already wet for me, hmm?” he hums. “And I haven’t heard your safe word, so I assume I have your consent.”
He flares that wicked tip, drawing a gasp from my throat.
“I’ll take that as confirmation of your approval,” he murmurs, then pushes me against a cold wall as water ignites all around us.
A shower, I recognize dizzily.
And instantly I think of our last shower.
How he kept me on my knees.
How he choked me with his cock.
How he just kept coming.
Warmth floods my veins, followed by a chill. I’m conflicted. I want this. I want him. But I… I don’t know if I want that right now.
His lips taste mine, his hands peeling away the blanket that’s now sticking to me. When he tosses it behind him, I arch a brow. “Are you ever going to let me see you without clothes?”
Even now, he’s dressed in an all-black suit, complete with shoes.
Which is ridiculous, given the water raining down on us.
“Do you want to undress me, pet?”
I don’t hesitate. “Yes.”
“Hmm. And what will you give me as an enticement?”
“Anything you want.” It’s a bold claim. But this male makes me want to take risks. To forget reality. To simply… exist.
His tail drives so deep into me that I see stars. Just for a moment. Then he twirls the tip, and my insides clench.
“I want you aware when I fuck you for the first few times,” he says. “Then I’ll heal you with my blood, thus finalizing our claim. And I’ll rut you until we’re both satisfied.”
My legs go weak. “I… Will I survive?”
His lips curl into a wicked grin, one that ignites butterflies in my stomach. “With my blood inside you, yes.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“Because I’m not human, Viviana. You know this.” He punctuates his point with… with his point. “I intend to claim you in every way imaginable. Pussy. Ass. Your mouth again. I’ll fuck you from behind while my tail takes the front. Make you choke on my cock while riding my tip.”
His arm is all that keeps me standing as he demonstrates with another twirling motion inside me.
“I’m going to destroy you, regina mea.” His lips go to my ear. “And then I’m going to heal you. Again… and again… and again.”
He sinks his fangs into my neck, drawing a scream from my mouth.
I can feel his intentions electrifying the air between us, his need a dark beacon that has me quivering against him as I slide down his body.
My feet touch the ground, only then reminding me that he’s been holding me this whole time.
Carrying me like I weigh nothing. Embracing me like I mean everything.
“Do you want me to kneel?” I ask.
“No.” He palms my cheek, his lips still against my neck as he gently kisses the mark he’s left there from his fangs. “I want you to undo my pants, pet. Slowly. Carefully.” That part is issued as a growl against my throat, one I take to heart as I grab hold of his athletically lean hips.
I’ve had him in my mouth, his thick length a pulse against my tongue.
Yet something about this makes me nervous. Intimidated. Excited.
Because he’s giving me permission to… touch him. At least, in my own way. Not as a demand, necessarily. More of an invitation.
And it’s one I eagerly accept as I unfasten his belt, pop open the button, and pull down the zipper.
Warmth floods through me as I grasp him with my hand, his cock hot and heavy against my palm. It’s not what he told me to do. But his growl of approval goes right to my clit.
“Kiss me,” I say, begging him with my words. “Please kiss me, Ciprian.”
He draws his lips up to my mouth and claims me in a heartbeat, his tongue mastering mine in a single sweep as he grasps my nape. I moan against him, already lost to the sensations he’s unleashing between my legs.
When he grabs one of my breasts, I nearly come apart at the seams.
He has me so pent up, so ready, and this shower just started.
Taking hold of his pants, I push them down, then sigh with contentment as he kicks them off along with his shoes.
But he’s still partly dressed.
I don’t ask for permission, simply release his dick and start working on his jacket.
It falls to the floor with a wet plop.
Then I go for the buttons on his shirt—a shirt that’s clinging to him like a second skin.
Solid muscle exists beneath the clothes. Muscle and hot, hard man.
I tear my mouth from his to see the torso I’ve revealed, my gaze roaming over him in open appreciation. Because wow. “Why do you wear clothes?” I demand. “Ciprian, you’re… you’re…”
“Very aroused and ready to fuck,” he tells me, his tail flaring so wide inside me that I lose my balance.
And suddenly I’m in the air and against the wall again, his appendage leaving my heat.
“Open for me, pet,” he says.
I part my lips, thinking he means my mouth.
However, he reaches between us and presses his cock to my entrance. “Open,” he says, and I realize he wants my legs to spread impossibly wider.
I’m not sure I’m flexible enough for what he’s saying, but I try, my thighs tensing as I do my best to spread myself as wide as I can for him.
It’s only achievable because his lower half is literally holding me against the wall, imprisoning me with his massive form and strong build.
“Good little mate,” he praises, his large head running through my damp center. “This is going to hurt, Viviana.”
I swallow. “I know.”
He nods.
Then he thrusts into me without warning, causing me to shriek in surprise and… and pain.
Agony rips through me, as I’m pretty sure he just damaged me irrevocably.
I expected a few temporary thrusts. Slow movements. Some time to adjust.
But that’s just not Ciprian.
He… he’s already moving.
Forcing my body to accept him. To embrace him. To pleasure him.
Tears escape my eyes, whimpers leaving my mouth.
He hushes me, his tongue chasing the dampness away, his growling purr vibrating against my chest. “You can take it, sweet pet,” he says, his mouth brushing mine. “You were made for this. For me. For my cock.”
He thrusts so deeply into me that I forget how to breathe. All I can do is cling to him, my hands going to his shoulders as my nails dig into his flesh.
“Ciprian.” It’s a curse. A whisper of torment. A… a demand for more.
“Mmm, you feel it now, don’t you?” He begins to slow. “The way we fit together?”
I don’t know about that, but his gradual pace is… it’s… it’s infuriating. “Move.”
“No.” He slides all the way in to the hilt and stops, spearing me on his giant cock and holding me captive against the wall.
“Tell me you love this, and I’ll consider resuming.
” He brushes a tender kiss against my mouth that feels at odds with his other actions.
“Clench that sweet pussy around me and tell me you love this.”
I want to spew hatred instead.
How dare he slam into me with such ferocity just to fucking stop!
“Keep. Going.”
“Not until you tell me what I want to hear, pet,” he coos. “How do I feel inside you? Is it the best cock you’ve ever experienced? The only cock you desire?”
“Ciprian…”
“Tell me, Viviana,” he demands. “Tell me—”
“I love this!” I shout at him. “Now fucking move.” I clamp down so hard on him that he actually hisses, and I consider that a sweet victory…
Until he pulls out of me entirely.
“Ciprian!”
He readjusts my lower half, then captures my mouth in a bruising kiss before slamming into me once more.
I scream.
I bite.
And blood fills my mouth from his tongue.
For a moment, he freezes.
But then he simply growls out one word: “Drink.”
I do. I… I suck. I swallow. I accept him. I claim him.
I only belatedly realize that I just finalized the bond. But I’m too drunk on him to care. Too needy for more. Too lost to our blossoming connection to consider the fact that I expedited our union.
It doesn’t matter.
This was inevitable.
He’s my Ciprian.
My Strigoi King.
My. Mate.
Those two words are in my mind, my voice combining with his, and I’m instantaneously lost to the bliss of an orgasm that never ends.
Swirling. Mounting. Flying.
Our worlds join.
Our souls marrying in a way I never knew possible.
And suddenly he’s growling my name while filling me with his seed.
It’s a blur. It’s magnetic. It’s mind-shattering.
Because I can feel his pleasure. He’s never experienced anything like this, not even in my mouth. And I hear him making proclamations to never let this end.
He’s going to fuck me to oblivion.
For hours. Days. Weeks.
The inauguration will have to wait.
My king has a thousand years’ worth of pent-up arousal that he needs to expend.
And I am more than ready to take it.
“Use me,” I whisper. “Use me… until you’re satisfied.”
Another bold request. A dangerous desire.
But nothing about this relationship could be considered innocuous.
I came to Romania to hunt a Strigoi King.
Little did I realize that he was stalking me, too.
Now we’re mated.
Seems like a fairy tale… come true.