“They fear him,” she murmured, watching as I tapped out the melody she’d been composing.
I hummed. “Callum was an instrument of my brother for centuries. He destroyed many, many lives.”
“He must carry so much guilt.” Her expression grew distant and I knew it was her own guilt she thought of now.
Lilith had told me in confidence that after Adrienne had sent her family theoyistashe’d made from the hunt at the Montag estate—almost all of it, in fact—the letters from her mother had begun to come much more frequently. I never knew what they said, but any time Adrienne received a correspondence, her face would appear more drawn, her eyes more haunted.
“He should not,” I replied, speaking of them both.
Her teeth strummed her bottom lip and I added a little flair to the ending, turning to wink at her in the hopes of drawing her out. Though a little of the light returned to her eyes, she did not smile or laugh—she did not often do those things anymore since Jules died, but she tried for Lilith. It warmed something in me that she did not try for me, that she allowed me to see the weariness in her expression.
“You are tired, my heart.”
Adrienne shook her head. “I’m fine.”
I leaned over to press a kiss to her shoulder, skimming my nose across the curve of her neck. She tilted her head to the side, arousal blossoming in the air between us. The only time she softened for me now was when my teeth were in her throat. Only then could I taste the longing in her blood, the desperate need for connection—the mating bond pulling at her soul for her to recognize what she refused to acknowledge.
“Will you allow me to drink from you?”
Her golden brows knitted together. “Of course.”That is what I’m here for, she said silently, the words a reminder shouted at herself so loudly I picked it up easily.
At the beginning, I’d asked her to take my blood a handful of times. But in each and every instance fear wept out from her pores and I would catch flashes of images I had come to identify as her mother in various states of distress. After a few times, I had not pushed the matter, though more and more I wished I had. If she would drink my blood then she would understand the depth of emotion I felt for her, the need I had for her that went beyond what her blood provided.
I loved Adrienne Valois more than I had ever loved anyone or anything in my entire existence.
“Stand up.”
She obeyed, heartbeat thrumming at her throat. This evening or late afternoon she must have closed the lid not to disturb anyone as she played, though Bernard and the others within my employ enjoyed her music very much. I took advantage now, grabbing her by the hips and settling her above the fallboard.
“Lift your skirts.”
The deep blue of her gown contrasted beautifully with her pale skin as it slid up her thighs. She wore no stockings or undergarments, and I raised a brow as she exposed her glistening pink cunt to me.
“Is this for me, little bird?” My voice was merely a rumble as I dragged my thumb through her wetness.
Her neck arched, hips jumping off the shiny wood, the hem of her dress brushing my trousers straining against my cock. Shiny scars from my bite littered her inner thighs—marks I’d been unable to bring myself to erase, and she had never asked me to, thank the goddess. I kissed each one in turn, my cool breath slipping across her aching sex as I dipped from one leg to the other, nipping and sucking the only evidence of my love she would ever accept.
“Yes, Eamon,” she breathed.
Another pulse of warmth in my heart. Only recently had she begun to call me that—one single brick in her wall fallen. I rewarded her with a kiss to her clit, moaning at the taste that was just as sweet as her blood.
By the time I sank my teeth into her flesh she was already coming, gushing around my fingers as I fisted my cock. Adrienne stared down at me with parted lips, blue eyes flicking from my face to my hand. Every cell in my body ached to press inside of her, to claim her, to once and for all take away this goddess-damned fear that clung to every breath she took.
I should do it.
But I would be no better than anyone else in her life if I did.
So instead, I stood, bracing one hand on her thigh to press it open, fucking my fist as my attention flicked from her face to her cunt and back again. I allowed myself to imagine she was finally welcoming me home, finally accepting me as her mate, finally trusting that I would never, ever let her go.
When I came across her swollen cunt only moments later it was with a cry that was somewhere between relief and a sob. I gathered my release with my fingers, pressing it into her with languid strokes that had her mewling and reaching for me.
And I pretended, just for a little while longer, that it meant something to her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mademoiselle Valois,
It is with great regret we inform you that your mother, Madame Penelope Valois, has fallen behind on her payment to us. As she has named you as her cosigner, the matter of the two thousand and seventy-fiveoyistafalls to you. Enclosed you will find name and address of where payment can be remitted. If the balance fails to be paid, the house within the confines of Oylen Outer City will be forfeit.
