Captured (Vampire King Book 2) (6 page)

“Claws!?”
Victoria shrieked in terror, jumping a few feet back. “When did you get those?”

“Holy
Goddess.” Ty approached, kneeled by Samuel’s hands, and studied the claws that
burst from Samuel’s fingertips. “It’s one thing to say your powers are
ripening, but…it’s a whole different matter to actually witness it. The only
vampire with claws that I’ve ever seen was the Quiet King.”

Samuel
raised his hands and turned them around, gaping at the sharpened black tips.
“This is the first time claws have come out. I didn’t even know I had them.”

Unsure
of my movement, I touched some of the torn flesh that surrounded the claw on
his index finger. “Does it hurt?”

“No.”
He shook his head. “I just felt like Victoria was challenging me and I got
angry.”

“Do
you feel challenged a lot lately?” Ty stood.

“No,”
Samuel mumbled.

“You
did get pretty mad with Ian and me in the tunnel,” I offered. Samuel groaned.

“The
anger could be related to your ripening.” Ty sniffed near Samuel. “Do you feel
territorial towards your queen?”

“Back
away from her and she’s known as Brie to you,” Samuel said through clenched
teeth. “And I have no new anger or territorial issues.”

A
tiny laugh escaped my lips and he glared at me.

“Fine.
I’m a little territorial.” Samuel’s claws retracted.

“Well,
regardless, this is happening so quickly,” Victoria murmured in a hushed tone.
“I’ve read that in the ancient times before the Quiet King, when there were
lots of princes, it took them numerous years to ripen. Only strong domina blood
could speed up the process and still that only cut a year or two off the
process”

Ty
and Victoria directed their gazes to me.

“We’ll
be back after we’ve cleaned up.” Samuel seized my hand, guided me to another
iron door, and opened it. New flesh formed around his wounded fingertips and
sealed. “We’ll finish this discussion after we’ve settled.”

Chapter Four

Crossing
the threshold into Samuel’s room was like being transported to another world.
Lush carpet, as green as a field of grass, decorated the floor. Sky blue paint
coated the walls. A mural of a huge sun hovering over a blossoming forest had
been painted on the wall across from me. Silver and gold paper birds hung from
the ceiling by tiny wires embellished in glimmering beads. I stood in front of
the door with my mouth gaping open.

“Don’t
laugh at my bedroom.” Samuel frowned as he lit several blue candles on a table
by a big bed in the center of the room. Blankets with an intricate pattern of
rainbows covered the bed. Loud laughter fled my lips. I wrapped my hands around
my mouth and still my giggling spilled between my fingers.

“I
didn’t decorate this. Victoria did.” Samuel opened a white door on the right
side of the mural’s sun.

“No,
I didn’t!” Victoria shouted near Samuel’s open bedroom door as she returned to
the campfire. “That’s all Samuel’s doing right there, which is probably why
he’s never brought a woman back to his room. No one’s sleeping with a man who
loves rainbows. It would make me doubt his ability to perform.”

“Thank
you, Victoria.” I closed the iron door behind me. Samuel escaped through the
white door. A shelf full of nature books was piled near the bed. Three black
trunks stacked on top of themselves stood next to the shelf. A lock hung from
the handle of each trunk. I strolled closer to the mural of the sun, analyzing
the subtle details of the forest. The artist had included many animals—from
tiny birds to massive furry beasts displaying fangs and gazing back at me as if
they were about to pounce.

“Who
did this beautiful mural?” I called out to Samuel.

“I
did,” he said from the bathroom.

“You’re
a wonderful artist.”

“No.
I’m just a bored vampire.”

The
sound of water running hummed into his bedroom. I rushed toward the white door,
kicking my slimy boots off.
Finally, I
can get out of these nasty clothes and be clean.
I unbuttoned my pants and
arrived at his bathroom’s entrance, inhaling the sweet perfume of mesoberries
as it drifted from the blue candles. I slipped off my pants, left them on the
floor, and then entered a very blue room.

Lit
cerulean candles rested in each corner of the space, bathing the area in light.
Shimmering turquoise glazed the walls. Various painted fish were on the walls
from yellow to violet. They enhanced the scene and gave me the sensation that I
was walking into a massive ocean. A blue rectangular tub sat in the heart of
the room. It was beyond huge. Three muscular Samuels could have filled it.
Sparkling azure tiles shaped in ovals embossed the floor. Samuel lounged in the
tub with his eyes closed. Bubbles enveloped his bulging muscles. Water slicked
back his midnight black and sandy blond hair.

“Where
do you think you’re going?” He lifted an indigo sponge dripping with soapy
bubbles. He dragged the sponge across his biceps and neck. I bit my lip,
remembering how I’d laid thousands of kisses on the curves of his bicep just
that morning.
God, would it really be
that bad staying with him?

“Did
you come in here to watch me clean?” He opened his eyes and tilted his head my
way, flaunting a flirtatious smile that inspired me to lick my lips.

“I’m
getting in your bathtub.” I yanked my ash-coated shirt up over my head. It
stunk of rotten blood and burnt wood. I couldn’t wait to tear it off. Then I
peeled off my panties and bra. “I want to burn these clothes, but this is all I
have.”

“Burn
them. I’ll ask Victoria for a shirt and pants for you and then we’ll go buy you
some things of your own to wear later. Tonight you can sleep in my shirt or in
nothing at all.”

“Your
shirt or nude, huh? Are those my only choices?” I threw the stuff on the floor.
I faced Samuel as he drank in the image of my bare skin and erect nipples. His
eyelids drooped to lazy hoods as if he were drifting off to sleep. I tiptoed to
the tub, not wanting to get too much dirt on the pretty tiles.

Climbing
the steps, I tried to join him in the water, but Samuel blocked my foot with
his arm. “You’re not allowed in here.”

“And
why not?” I suppressed a giggle and offered him a fake pout.

“You
laughed at my bedroom.”

“Your
bedroom was unexpected. Remember. I watched you kill guards with no mercy. I
assumed you had skulls and a corpse pattern on your blankets instead of
rainbows.”

“They’re
not rainbows,” he growled, although his lips curled up into a smile. “My
blanket is simply a pattern of colorful lines.”

“Lines
that are arched like rainbows.” I eased in the tub as his gold eyes focused on
my breasts. His pupils turned from full of amusement to yearning within
seconds. Warm water enveloped my body, soothing every cell and calming my
nerves. I whimpered in pure unadulterated comfort.

“My
space is not that different from any other male vampire’s bedroom.”

“Your
bedroom resembles a little girl’s room.” I laughed and as soon as I said it, my
daughters’ faces blasted into my mind—big green eyes set above chubby little
cheeks and surrounded by auburn curls. I had to leave them with my husband when
I became a domina. Later, when I escaped the Royal Court, Samuel helped me go
back to Zumaya. I arrived at my old home in the middle of the night, snuck in
while they were all asleep, and discovered my husband had married someone else,
who my daughters considered their mother. To make matters even more
heartbreaking, she was pregnant. I shook the images away; glad Samuel was too
busy ogling my body instead of reading my sad thoughts. He would just want to
hold and console me when, really, all I needed was for him to fuck me into a
cloudy haze where no gloomy memories existed.

“A
girl’s room? You’re over exaggerating.”

“No,
I’m not,” I said. “Many young girls, human or vampire, would be overjoyed to have
your bedroom.”

A
rumble sounded from his chest. He slid the sponge over his body once again.
Water glistened on his smooth, delicious skin that coated taut muscles. His
lips transformed into a wicked smile and exposed more of his sexy ivory fangs.
He seized my waist with calloused fingers, guiding me to him.

“Are
you questioning my manhood, Queen?” His hands slipped from my waist up to the
bottoms of my breasts. A lusty craving flooded my senses. I arched my chest
toward him and moaned. His thumbs massaged bubbles onto my nipples. My soft
points awakened, filling with blood and growing hard and alive at his touch.

“No,”
I whispered. “I would never question your manhood.”

My
hands dove into the warm water, searching for his stiff sword. My fingers found
the hard tip. I wrapped my hands around it and relished in its thickness and
length.

“I
do question your decorating skills,” I murmured, slipping my hand up and down
the stalk of his cock.

“You
can change my room to what you want.” His eyes blazed. His fangs caught his
bottom lip and pierced them. Tiny beads of blood emerged. I soared to his lip
and lapped at the blood with my tongue. It tasted so sweet. I greedily licked
some more, sucked, and bit the plump lip until he groaned into my mouth and
squeezed my hips with his hands. I wanted his cock inside of me. The hunger
burned molten-hot within my body, setting every pore on fire.

“Fuck
me, right now.” I stroked him with my right hand and let my left hand’s fingers
journey to his heavy sacks, teasing them as I traced their outline all the way
to the beginning of his muscled behind.

“Hey
there.” He moved my hand away before I could explore further. “Each time we
make love, you get friskier and friskier.”

“Is
that a request to slow down my sexual appetite?” I clasped onto the mushroomed
head of his cock and tightened my fingers. His chest thundered with need,
filling the room with the sound. My thumb circled the tip.

“No.
I love your desire.” Samuel tenderly pinched both of my nipples, inciting a
riot of sensuality throughout my flesh. I moaned. His fingertips danced over
the peaks. “It’s just going to get harder and harder to let you leave.”

“Don’t
think about that.” I gasped as he toyed with my nipples some more, driving me
into madness. “Focus on this. We’ll deal with that later.”

His
fingers ceased from moving and hovered over my nipples.

I
cried out in annoyance. “What?”

“When
are we going to talk about you leaving?” His fangs withdrew. “You keep saying
let’s talk about it later.
When will
later be?”

“Surely,
later is not when I’m holding your erection in my hands.” I sulked and pushed
my bottom lip out.

“Let’s
stop playing games.” His hands shifted from my aching points and slipped back
down to my waist. “I want you with me.”

“I
know you do.” I let go of his cock and averted my eyes.

“I
don’t have a lot of money, but everything I own, I could spoil you with. You
would never desire anything, not material things or physical attention.” He
landed soft kisses on the side of my face.

“I
don’t doubt that all of my needs would be met.” I backed away from him and
climbed out of his grip. He moved his hands from my waist. A scowl stretched
across his face.

“Samuel,
don’t you think it’s weird that we met two weeks ago? You smell me, drink my
blood, and now you want me to attach myself to your every step? It’s so fast.”

“I
don’t care.”

“I’m
just saying this is too fast. I barely know you.”

“Yet,
you’ve let me fill you any time I’ve wanted.”

“Maybe
I’m addicted to that feeling of you being inside of me.”

“Stay
with me.” His striped blond-and-black eyebrows furrowed. He leaned back against
the tub, targeting me with golden eyes.

“No.”
I gathered the sponge he’d been using earlier and wiped bubbles along my face
and then squeezed the sponge over my head so the warm, soapy water poured down
my tresses.