8. Aurelia
She was watching. The little mouse was always watching.
She thought her little stunt would keep her safe. That I wouldn’t take it like the shot it was.
The air was cold outside. Cold enough to chill my face but not enough to penetrate the fur coat. Underneath was nothing but a satin dress that would do nothing against the world outside.
I had a role to play, and with that role came the outfit. It wasn’t my normal attire and maybe something I would have worn when I was younger, but the place I was going required a certain type of…attitude,so I was forced to look the part.
And act it. Something I was looking forward to even less.
It was late at night, the sun had long since fallen, and thousands of stars lit the sky above my head. I let myself linger in the fresh air and silence, trying to clear my head and the anger that had been boiling underneath my skin since the prince had sunk his fangs into me.
I wasn’t sneaking out, per se. Father liked to look away when it came to these outings, but he and I both knew just how beneficial they were to his ruling. Relationships formed behind closed doors were the strongest in the world we lived in and sometimes were the only thing stopping an all-out war with some of the families involved.
But there was no getting without first giving. I had been in attendance at these events time and time again, but this was the first time I would go as a newly engaged woman.
They would want to see me. Would want to make sure that I wasn’t going to leave them and take all their secrets with me.
That deserved something big.
I paused at the limo door, motioning for my guard to stop. The weight of someone’s eyes on me was still present.
Looking up at the darkened palace, I felt the weight of her gaze. Most of the windows were dark, but the moonlight shone into the palace just enough that I was able to catch where the eyes were. And whose eyes they were.
Fifth floor, west wing. I could barely make her out in the distance, even with vampire sight, but damn could I feel her.
It was a surprise that the little mouse had made it so far up before realizing that I wasn’t even there.
Looking for me, huh?
But would she be so bold as to try to find me in the middle of the night when every other human was sleeping? Her actions excited me so much it felt like my insides were buzzing.
“Bring the silver-haired one to me,” I ordered. “She will be accompanying me tonight.”
I got in the car first and shut the door, enjoying the way the warmth felt against my skin.
She had the perfect timing. If she wanted to be around me so badly, I might as well just take her with me.
Because of her, the plan had ended in disaster. Instead of being able to use the poisoning attempt as a way to force Father’s hand for my freedom, I had to watch as my newest guard killed a boy, an innocent human boy, in front of me.
Why did she have to save me? Why couldn’t she have waited until Father showed up?
If she had just waited, there would have been no reason that boy had to die. Prince Icas would have been the one to blame, and I would have been out of this stupid engagement faster than he could run away with his tail between his legs.
Father would let a lot slide, but murdering his only blood daughter? Not likely.
It was no more than fifteen minutes later that the silver-haired guard was pushed into the back with me. She gave me and my guard a hesitant stare, as if waiting for instructions.
The back was spacious, but I motioned for her to sit next to me. She took one look at the empty seat beside me before moving.
The bastard decided to sit a whole five feet away from me instead. Annoying. It took everything in me to keep the smirk on my face instead of twisting it into a scowl.
Her eyes stayed planted on the floor, and her arms were crossed. Annoyed? Pouting? A picturesque image of a child not getting their way.
My guard gave me a lingering look before shutting the door and joining the driver up front. The loud slam didn’t even have her flinching, but she did give the guard a side-eye.
Just how long is she planning to sit there in silence? But as the seconds passed, it seemed that she had no intention of speaking.
The car rolled forward, causing her to look out the window as we pulled away from the looming palace. My home.
It looked so beautiful under the darkening sky. The palace stood tall over everything in the area. The images of the hundreds of roses reflected on the lower floor’s windows.
There was no mistaking its presence…or Father’s importance.
“Kidnapping now? They better give me my weapons back.”
I couldn’t stop the light chuckle that spilled from my lips. So she had a little bit of a bite.
Someone must not have liked it when I almost sucked them dry. Or maybe she liked it more than she was letting on.
I wouldn’t easily forget the noises that came out of her mouth. The snarled look she gave me as the venom lit her body on fire.
“My father and the prince told me I could do whatever it is I wanted with you,” I said, crossing my legs and sinking into the heated leather seat. “I decided that, as a reward for your heroic actions, I’d like to take you out.”
“Too late to say no now,” she muttered under her breath. Her golden eyes shot toward the divider between us and the driver.
Still not looking at me?
“They can’t hear us,” I confirmed. She merely shrugged.
I enjoyed the attitude she put on, and it made me want to get back at her even more. She couldn’t possibly understand what she caused me to lose in there.
“You’re going as my plus one.” I inched closer to her, pulling her gaze toward me. “A small party. More than a few vampire family heads. Lots of blood. Dancing…and other things. Guards aren’t allowed in, but tonight you’re just there as my human companion. Which means you and I have a role to play.”
There it is. The anger. It flashed so quickly across her face that I almost missed it. She had been so good at concealing it, but all her efforts were thwarted by that single slipup.
“If it’s what I think it is, I will refuse.”
I clicked a button on the side of the door that connected us to the front.
“Stop. Pull over.”
The silver-haired guard steadied herself at the sudden jerk of the car. When we came to a full stop, I gave her a shit-eating grin.
“We aren’t that far,” I said and motioned to the door. “You can get out.”
Obviously, she hadn’t been expecting my offer. Suspicion was heavy in her gaze, and I could hear the grinding of her teeth.
“What do you think it is?” I asked her, tilting my head to the side. Her jaw clenched.
“Something I shouldn’t be going to. Why are you bringing me?” she asked.
Why was I bringing her? I lifted a brow at her. Why wouldn’t I be? I already told her that the prince and my father told me I could do whatever I wanted with her.
Not many guards would have the balls to ask. I was well within my rights. But I liked the little mouse’s fire more than her compliance.
“You ruined things for me. Interfered with something you had no part in,” I reminded her, leaning forward and running my eyes down her form.
She was lithe, but surprisingly muscular, underneath her uniform. If I were any crueler, I’d ask her to strip for me so I could see just what she was hiding underneath her clothing, but I would save it for another day.
“You mean when I saved your life?” she growled. “You were going to die if I didn’t save you. All while those other guards just stared at you, doing nothing. Is that what you wanted? For your last moments to be you begging for breath while those fuckers watch?—”
I pushed myself to the floor in front of her, placing my hands on her knees and leaning up so our faces were centimeters away.
Her skin was warm, even through the pants. It had been so long since I allowed myself to indulge with a human that I forgot just how much their blood warmed their skin.
“I had a plan,” I whispered, my eyes trailing down her face to her neck, where I could see the veins pulse with fresh blood. My mouth watered just remembering the taste. “Father was going to find me. The blame would be placed on the prince, but now that poor boy died because of you.”
Her hand shot out to my throat, much like it had when she forced me to drink her blood. Hot, unbridled fury twisted her face into a snarl.
“That was all you, princess,” she whispered. “You did this as some type of ploy to get what you wanted? It was immature. Stupid. And honestly embarrassing for someone of your stature.”
Krae. Her words felt like lava running down my skin, warming every possible inch. I never took myself for much of a masochist, but fuck did her words cause my cunt to flutter.
“That was at first…” I murmured, leaning into her hold on my neck.
I couldn’t breathe. The air in the limo was too charged. The hate in her eyes was too intoxicating. I wanted it all. Wanted to feel how much she hated me.
“…but now I realize that you’ll be the perfect cover.”
She raised a scarred brow, her grip on my neck loosening.
“Are you in?” I asked.
Her jaw twitched.
“I can’t agree to something blindly.” She took her hand off me and leaned back into the seat with her arms crossed over her chest. I let myself get distracted by the way her muscles jumped in her uniform. Even if she annoyed the shit out of me, it didn’t mean I was going to miss out on the eye candy.
“So you’re interested?” I teased and lifted myself up to the seat at her side. “It’s a sort of secret gathering of?—”
“Rich vampires,” she finished for me. I tried to lean into her, but she shifted away from me with a scowl.
“And powerful,” I added with a wink. I trailed my fingers up her thigh. “But I’m an engaged woman now”—I created mindless patterns on her thighs that caused her heart to jump—“and oftentimes, you can’t trust them. Especially if they marry into powerful families. So, I’m bringing you to give them a little assurance that they can still trust me.”
She paused for a beat, her eyes shifting back and forth.
“You want to blackmail yourself?” she asked.
Ah, the little mouse is a bright one, isn’t she?I knew she would be. Makes it all the more fun.
“You could say that,” I confirmed in a low murmur. “To be honest, after tasting your blood, I can’t get it out of my mind. So if there is one person I want to be seen acting as a blood-crazed fool for, I want it to be worth it. I want it to be you.”
“You trust me with these vampires’ secrets,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Aren’t you the least bit worried I’ll use them for my own purposes?”
“I hope you do. Bring a little excitement into the palace,” I said with a shrug. The response obviously surprised her, her eyes widening and the tenseness in her shoulders dropping just a smidge. “I do have a request, though.” When she didn’t respond, I nodded. “I want some of your blood before we arrive. I am willing to act like a blood-crazed fool in there, but not be one.”
Her jaw clenched, all the implications of what I was asking her plastered on her face. She was unhappy about it, but maybe if she could get something out of it…
“Fine,” she spat out, and in seconds she had assumed a position much like I had previously. She kneeled in front of me, her hands placed on the seat on either side of me. I spread my legs so she could get closer. The flaps of my coat fell to the side, exposing my legs and the small piece of cloth that was covering what was between them.
She leaned in and tilted her head to the side, exposing her long, toned neck. It was one of the only places that wasn’t marred by a large scar.
“Light petting is okay, even preferred, so we can sell it. I’m not particularly fond of being finger-banged by a human in these scenarios, so stay above the underwear if you get handsy. I won’t say no to a bit of head, though,” I explained as I gently brushed the hair away from her neck. The light shiver that ran through her caused my excitement to rise. “If you’re comfortable and feeling it, I can make you feel goo?—”
“No,” she interrupted harshly, her narrowed eyes cutting to mine in warning. “I will be in control of that part. No touching from you.”
I bit my tongue. “Very well,” I said, leaning toward her neck. The pulse point there was calling to me. The blood was so close under the skin that the scent was already mouthwatering.
I didn’t hesitate this time. I sunk my fangs into her, pausing just enough for the venom to travel through her before drinking my fill. One, maybe two gulps. That was what I told myself. But then the little mouse just had to touch me.
I don’t think she meant to. She was probably trying to steady herself on the seat, but my legs had been spread so wide that her palms came into contact with my bare thighs.
I didn’t let anyone touch me during feeds. Not only because of what the venom did to them, but also because they were usually selfish lovers, only seeking to find their own pleasure while they rode out the effects of the venom.
But not the little mouse. No. She was different. She gripped my upper thighs. The feeling of her warm, calloused hands sent shocks through me and had me tangling my hand in her hair, pulling her closer.
Does she hate how this is making her feel? How warm her body is getting? How needy? I hope so, after what she did.
The car jerked forward, forcing her to fall further into me. If I hadn’t been so preoccupied with her, I would have been angry that my driver disobeyed me, but maybe I should have been thanking him instead. Her hands were forced up my thighs, her thumbs just teasing my underwear.
The blood was delicious. Her blood. I couldn’t deny it, but there should have been no reason why I arched into her. Why I moaned against her.
I couldn’t remember the last time I wanted someone to touch me, let alone a human.
Feedings were always the same. Cold, hard walls forced between us, and as soon as those boundaries were broken, I ended it. Never giving into even an ounce of the warmth that blossomed in me as the blood settled in my belly.
But it was different with her. I wanted her to feel it. Wanted to get back at her for what she had pulled in the room. And I was failing.
I forced myself to pull away from her. Both of us were panting. Her golden eyes were hooded, and her mouth was open, giving me a sinful peek at her pink tongue.
I want to kiss her. The thought alone enraged me.
Who is she to make me feel this way?
Her eyes roamed my face before settling on my lips. She brought her hand up to my oddly steady lips and wiped away the blood that lined them.
“Vampires,” she uttered with such disgust it shocked me. “Do all of you have such awful fucking table manners?”
“If you wanted me to clean you up, all you had to do was ask, little mouse,” I purred and jerked her head to the side so I could run my tongue up the length of her neck. I paused when I got to her ear. “Or maybe there is somewhere else you’d like me to lick?”
“Vesper,” she growled and pushed me away. The desire was clear in her eyes, but so was the distaste. “You call me Vesper. Not little mouse.”
“Aurelia,” I murmured. “But you can call me princess.”