Chapter 20 Cyrene
CHAPTER TWENTY
CYRENE
Kieran’s eyes darkened at my words, the midnight blue eclipsing to near black as he gazed down at me. The weight of his body pressed me into the mattress in a delicious way that made every part of me feel amazing.
“You want to belong to me?” he whispered, his voice rough with emotion. “Cyrene, I belong to you.”
He brushed a strand of hair from my face with so much tenderness it made my throat tighten.
“From the moment I saw you at that festival, laughing in the moonlight, you’ve owned pieces of me I didn’t know existed.
Six years I searched for you. Six years I wondered if I’d imagined the witch who brought joy to my life. ”
This powerful king, who commanded armies and negotiated treaties, who faced blood magic without flinching, had spent years looking for me.
“And now you’re here, in our kingdom and in our bed.” His voice dropped lower. “And you’re asking to be mine?”
I lifted my hand to his face, tracing the sharp line of his jaw. “I am. And you mine.”
His kiss was so tender it made my magic stir beneath my skin, golden warmth spreading through my veins. When he pulled back, his eyes held something fierce and possessive that made me shiver in anticipation.
“Let me show you,” he said, easing away from me.
He stood beside the bed, the fading daylight casting his features in shadows. With deliberate slowness, he began to undress. First his shirt, revealing bit by tantalizing bit of his chest and abdomen. The fabric whispered as it drifted to the floor, and my breath caught at the sight of him.
Pale skin stretched over lean muscle, his body that of a warrior rather than a man who sat on a throne all day. A thin scar ran along his right side, and I wanted to trace it with my fingertips, to learn every mark and line of him.
His hands moved to the fastenings of his pants while I stared. A flush heated my cheeks, but I couldn’t look away.
“Like what you see?” A hint of teasing laced his voice.
“Very much.” I drank in the sight of him. “Don’t stop.”
His smile came slow and predatory as he unlaced his pants and pushed them down over his hips. They pooled at his feet, leaving him dressed in only an undergarment that did little to hide his stiff cock.
He hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his undergarment and slowly, torturously, slid it down his legs until he stood completely bare in front of me.
My mouth went dry at the sight. He was magnificent, all lean strength and hard angles, with none of the softness that marked my own body.
The evidence of his desire for me was unmistakable, and a thrill of both nervousness and anticipation raced through me.
Soon, I’d feel that thick, long cock moving inside me.
He climbed onto the bed with the fluid grace of a predator, his body moving over mine until he caged me between his arms. I was still fully clothed, the fabric a maddening barrier between us.
“Too many layers,” he murmured, his fingers finding the ties at the neck of my gown.
I lifted my head, allowing him better access as he loosened the laces. His knuckles brushed the sensitive skin of my throat, sending shivers racing across my skin.
“Cold?” he asked, though the knowing gleam in his eyes told me he understood exactly what had caused my reaction.
“Not in the slightest.”
He smiled and continued his work, easing my gown down over my shoulders. When the fabric caught at my elbows, I arched my back, helping him slide it further down until it bunched at my waist.
He looked at me like I was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen.
“You’re stunning,” he breathed, lowering his head to kiss the hollow of my throat.
I made a soft sound of pleasure as his lips trailed lower, following the edge of my undergarment. His hands slid beneath me, finding the laces at the back and working them loose.
“You’re good at this,” I said.
He paused, looking up at me with serious eyes. “Because it’s you.”
The simple honesty in his voice banished any momentary insecurity. I reached for him, pulling him up for a kiss that quickly rekindled the fire between us.
With one smooth motion, he tugged my undergarment away, leaving my upper body bare to his gaze. His eyes darkened further as he took in the sight of me.
“Perfect,” he whispered, his hands skimming down my sides to my hips, where my gown still bunched.
He shifted lower on the bed, taking the fabric with him until we were both naked, skin against skin as he moved back up my body.
The feeling was exquisite. His cool skin against my warmth, the weight of him, the slight scrape of calloused fingertips as he explored every bit of me. His hands traced the curve of my waist, the flare of my hips, sliding up to cup my breast with the gentlest care.
When his thumb brushed across my nipple, I gasped, arching into his touch. He lowered his head, replacing his thumb with his mouth, and the sensation sent sparks of bliss straight to my core.
“Kieran,” I wove my fingers into his dark hair.
He took his time with my breasts, giving attention to one, then the other until I was writhing beneath him, desperate for more. All the while, his hips rocked against mine in a steady rhythm that built the tension coiling inside me.
His mouth traveled lower, across my ribs, my belly, pausing to kiss the jut of my hipbone. His hands slid beneath my thighs, gently parting them as he settled between.
The first brush of his lips against my core drew a cry from me.
His tongue followed, finding the sensitive bundle of nerves that made stars burst behind my eyelids.
He’d learned quickly and knew exactly what to do to make me gasp and moan, what made me clutch at the sheets as pleasure built to impossible heights.
When he slipped one finger inside me, then two, the sensation was overwhelming. His mouth continued its relentless assault on my senses while his fingers found a spot that made me bow my back off the bed.
“That’s it,” he said against me. “You’re going to take my cock so well, love.”
The endearment pushed me over the edge. Joy crashed through me in waves, my body clenching around his fingers as his name spilled from my lips. He worked me through it, gentling his touch as the aftershocks subsided, until I lay boneless and panting beneath him.
He moved back up my body, pressing kisses to my heated skin as he went. When he reached my mouth, I tasted myself on his lips, and the intimacy of it sent a fresh pulse of desire through me despite my recent release.
“You’re beautiful when you come apart,” he said, brushing damp hair from my forehead.
I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer. “I want all of you, Kieran.”
“Love.” He shifted, positioning himself between my thighs, the hard length of him pressing against my entrance. “Look at me. Don’t look away.”
I found his gaze.
“I want to see your face,” he said. “I want to remember this moment exactly as it is.”
He pushed forward slowly, giving me time to adjust to the feel of him. The initial stretch was uncomfortable, but not painful, and the discomfort quickly gave way to a fullness that felt perfect, as if he was made to fit inside me.
When he was fully seated, he paused, his breathing ragged. “Are you alright?”
I nodded, overwhelmed by sensation and emotion. “Better than alright.”
He began to move, using slow, measured thrusts that gradually built in intensity. Each withdrawal and return felt like a promise, a claim, a binding more powerful than any magical ceremony.
I wrapped my legs around him, changing the angle until he hit that perfect spot with every thrust. His rhythm faltered, his control slipping as heat built between us.
“Cyrene,” he groaned, his hands tightening on my hips. “You feel incredible.”
Magic sparked between us, visible as golden light that danced across our skin where we touched. My joy magic responded to his vampire essence, the two energies twining together like they had in the crypt, but more intimately now, more completely.
The bond between us flared to life, no longer the faint thread I’d grown accustomed to, but a living thing, pulsing with sensation and emotion. Through it, I felt his pleasure mirroring my own, his wonder at our connection, and his fierce protectiveness.
His thrusts grew faster, deeper, and I met him move for move, our bodies finding a perfect rhythm. The tension inside me built again, coiling tighter with each thrust.
“I can’t—” I gasped, clinging to him as everything became almost unbearable.
“Together,” he said, his voice strained. “Come with me.”
He slipped a hand between us, finding my clit. One stroke, two, and I was falling, pleasure crashing over me in waves more intense than before.
I felt him follow, his release spilling inside me as my name fell from his lips. Our magic flared brighter, filling the room with golden light shot through with midnight blue, before slowly fading as we came down from our shared high.
He collapsed, careful not to crush me beneath his weight. His arm wrapped around my waist, and he tumbled to the side, pulling me with him. He held me as our breathing gradually slowed.
For a long while, we lay in silence, the only sound our mingled breaths. His hand traced idle patterns on my skin, and I felt content in a way I hadn’t experienced in years.
“That was…”
“Magical?”
He laughed low, the sound vibrating through his chest. “Literally, yes. Did you see what our magic did?”
I nodded. “It’s never done that before.”
“No, it hasn’t.” He kissed my shoulder. “Though I can’t say I’m surprised. From the first moment our powers connected, they’ve behaved differently.”
I looked up at him. “What does it mean?”
“I don’t know.” His expression was thoughtful. “Vampire lore mentions magical compatibility as a sign of some sort of magical connection, but it’s rare.”
I searched his face, trying to understand what he was saying. There was something deeper here, something significant about the way our magic responded to each other. But he seemed reluctant to name it, and I wasn’t ready to push.
Instead, I curled closer, resting my head on his chest.
“What happens now?” I asked, my voice small in the dimming light.
His arms tightened around me. “Now we finish mastering the Shadow Rite. We find who tried to sabotage your magic.”
“And after that?”
He was quiet for a moment. “Whatever you want, Cyrene.”
I lifted my head to look at him. “What if I want to stay?”
Something vulnerable flashed in his eyes. “Then you stay for as long as you wish.”
This wasn’t about a political alliance anymore. It wasn’t even about the bond that had formed when we said our vows. This was something deeper and more profound than I’d expected to find when I’d agreed to marry the vampire king.
“I do wish it,” I said. “To stay.”
He pulled me closer, burying his face in my hair. “Good. Because I’m not ready to let you go.”
We lay together as twilight deepened into true night, the room gradually filling with shadows. Neither of us moved to light a torch. The darkness felt intimate, a cocoon around our newfound connection.
His hand continued its gentle exploration, tracing the curve of my hip, the dip of my waist, the sweep of my shoulder. Each touch felt both possessive.
“Tell me something,” I said.
“Anything.”
“What happened after the festival, when you had to leave?”
His hand stilled before resuming its path. “My father’s steward found me at the festival grounds. He told me there had been a magical attack. By the time I returned to the castle, both my parents were gone.”
Pain edged his voice. I pressed closer, offering what comfort I could.
“I had to take the throne immediately. There was no transition period, no time to grieve. The kingdom needed a strong leader, especially with rumors that the attack had been orchestrated by a neighboring realm.”
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
“The first few months are a blur now. Council meetings, funeral arrangements, diplomatic crises. But through it all, I kept thinking of you.” His voice softened.
“The joy witch who made me laugh. I sent people to find you, but all they could discover was that you were visiting from a village to the north.”
“I waited for you. Every day for months, I went back to the spot where we’d said goodbye.”
His arms tightened around me. “If I could have—”
“I know.” I kissed his chest, right over his heart. “I understand now.”
“I never forgot you, Cyrene. Not for a single day.”
The raw honesty in his voice cracked me wide open, letting in light I’d kept shuttered for years.
“I never forgot you either.”
His eyes glinted in the darkness. “Tomorrow we’ll continue your dance lessons.”
“Is that what we’re calling it now?” I teased, gesturing to our naked bodies.
His laugh came low and warm. “An essential part of diplomatic relations, I assure you.”
I snuggled against him, drowsiness overtaking me. His steady heartbeat lulled me toward sleep, and his arms were a haven I hadn’t known I was seeking.
He rested his chin on the top of my head.
“Sleep well, my queen,” he whispered, his voice a caress in the darkness. “Tomorrow we face them together.”
The word followed me into dreams, wrapping around me like a promise.