Queen (Bloodline Vampires 3)

Wolf whistles. “Suppose it’s too much to pretend they were just moved to different colonies.”

“They wouldn’t be able to because of the seraph bond.”

Damn it. I press my lips together, fighting against the urge to scream that it’s not fair. That we deserve to catch a break for once. “You think they drain the vampires and kill them during the pregnancy.”

“We don’t know what to think,” Malachi cuts in with a warning glance at the other two. “Seraphim don’t drink blood.”

“Other ways to drain a victim.”

“For fuck’s sake, Wolf. Shut up.”

Drain them of power, of life, of what makes them them. The thought leaves me cold. I was only interested in blood when I lost control earlier, but that’s the thing: I wasn’t in control at all. If that hunger had switched to more magical things, I wouldn’t have been able to stop it. Neither would the men. “You have to leave.”

“Absolutely not.”

I glare at them all. It’s not easy with them arranged the way they are, but I make a valiant effort. “I am not endangering you just because I’m pregnant. That wasn’t part of the bargain.”

“None of this was.” Rylan shrugs. “We work with the realities we have. It might be that you’re just mirroring a full vampire more than your seraph half. They need to consume large amounts of blood.”

“I’ve never needed blood before.” I was never even offered it until Malachi, so if that was a requirement of living, I would be long gone. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“It makes as much sense as anything.” He doesn’t look away. “We are working on theory here. There’s no reason to jump to the worst-case scenario.”

“That’s enough.” Malachi’s voice has gone harsh. “We all need sleep and then we need to come up with a plan for tomorrow. Everything else can wait.”

Until I get hungry again. Or the magic goes weird. Or…

We have been more unlucky than we’ve had breaks that went in our favor. First we used me to break the blood bond that trapped Malachi, only to discover I was actually half seraph and had bonded with all three men. A seraph bond isn’t something that can be reversed.

Then, we finally thought we’d have some time to figure things out, to explore the new powers the bond had allowed us to share, only to have my father show up and take the men.

Then, I find out I’m pregnant, the one way most likely to dethrone my father, only for the pregnancy to be just as freakish as I am. The kind of freak that endangers those I’ve come to care most about.

It’s only as I’m falling asleep that a small voice in the back of my mind points out I didn’t immediately throw up the blood I consumed.

That I feel better.

11

I wake up with Rylan at my back and Wolf nuzzling my breasts. It’s a low, dreamlike adjustment from sleep to awareness, and I shift against them, enjoying the feel of their naked skin sliding against mine. They’re here, with me. It’s not a dream. They’re safe…at least for now.

Rylan cups my hip. “Awake?”

“Yes,” I whisper.

Wolf chuckles against my skin. “Good.” He moves down, dragging his mouth over my stomach. He nudges Rylan’s hand to my thigh, and Rylan responds by gripping me there and lifting my leg up and out, opening the way for Wolf. They move seamlessly the way they always seem to. Even when they’re arguing, there’s always this awareness between my men. It speaks to their long history. Everything about their relationships speak to their long history.

Malachi isn’t in bed with us. I can feel him faintly in the distance, some miles away. He doesn’t seem distressed, but… “Malachi?”

“A little morning hunting.” Wolf playfully nips one thigh and then the other. “Don’t worry about him.”

Rylan sighs against my temple. “You can’t just tell people not to worry.”

“You’re right.” Wolf laughs, high and unhinged. “I have a better way.” Then his mouth is on my pussy.

He kisses me thoroughly, tasting every inch with long swipes of his tongue. He ignores my clit almost entirely, a delightfully aggravating experience as he tastes me. “Missed this,” he murmurs against me. I missed it too. I don’t get a chance to say it much, though, because he chooses that moment to thrust his tongue into me, making my back bow and drawing a cry from my lips.

Rylan slides his other arm between me and the mattress, hugging me to his body as Wolf ravishes me with his mouth. I can’t think, can’t move, can only whimper and shake. “I need—”

Wolf sucks hard on my clit, but he stops before I can reach my peak. I cry out in protest, and his laugh goes dark. “Feels good, doesn’t she?”

It takes my pleasure-drugged brain a few moments to realize he’s not talking to me. He’s talking to Rylan, who’s gone tense behind me. His arms provide a loving cage that keeps me immobile. He’s so still, he might as well have been carved from stone. “Wolf,” he snarls.