“I’m sorry baby, it was never my intention to hurt you. I just can’t accept that you risk your life for me. Never,” he murmured between my kisses, his fingers stroking above my upper lip. My body absorbed every contact with his skin like a mermaid in water.
“The same goes for me. I hate that this woman hurt you in so many ways, the thought of her being in your vicinity makes me sick. You are mine,and no one is allowed to hurt you.” I kissed his lips again and Malakai let his wings fall around me, like a shield from the outside.
Then I heard a gasp, and Malakai and I turned to look at Xavier.
“As much as I hate interrupting your reconciliation, Damien sensed another sliver of dark energy trying to get through our Veil. We should begin with our meeting.”
Chapter 34
One of my soldiers—I thought his name was Drew or something, but I couldn’t care less—his gaze was directed at Gwendolyn, like she washis.
I wanted to say something about it, when Malakai suddenly hissed.
“Stop. Looking. At. Her.”
Gwendolyn hadn’t realized that this man had been staring at her nonstop, her thoughts way too occupied with worry to recognize anything else going on. After Malakai’s little emotional overreaction, she started blushing in a color that solely belonged to me. I gripped her thigh under the table to let her know I was still there. I needed to make sure she was aware of her feelings.
“Well… Xavier, the situation looks very bad. Leanan must have found a way to circle her power through the Veil. Although our protection wall used to be strong enough, I don’t know how this could happen,” my commander Taine said. “I guess love makes you weak,” he added, keeping his gaze low, but I knew who he intended the blame for.
“Sorry? What did you mean Taine?” I wanted to hear the wordsdirectly from his mouth so I could have a reason to kill him slowly.
“The relationship to Gwendolyn has weakened you…”
“Weakened me? You always have been a loyal friend and soldier, Taine. But if you ever talk negatively about the relationship to the one who’s bonded to me, you’ll be sent back to the kingdom of my father very quickly. I can’t guarantee to you that it will bewhole.”
“Xavier,” Gwendolyn admonished me, she must have noticed that my eyes were already red, my vampire side was very dominant and by simply being near her, my body felt on the verge of madness. Her fingers were gripping my hand, stroking my knuckles in soft movements. This woman was my craving, my fascination, my passion, my obsession. All I needed was her.
He could be right, maybe you need to start focusing more on the safety of the Veil instead of my pleasure. Your people need you.I heard her little thoughts in my head.
My people are you. Without your love, do you really think I care about the safety of my land? Without you none of what we’re discussing now has any purpose.
“That’s what I meant, Xavier. It makes you weak, unable to rule your own country. When will you finally realize thatyour bondis the reason Leanan is attacking us?”
Instead of responding, I took Gwendolyn’s hand in mine and began stroking her fingers. I put on a smile, trying to reassure her that I was okay.
Then I turned my gaze to Damien.
We both wanted to kill him right now, but suddenly the door opened and my brother strolled in with Lydia’s mate. Seth.
“Oh, it looks like we stumbled into a private show I wasn’t invited to,” Sparrow said with a smirk. “And I almost missed it.Tsk.”
Beside him stood Seth, his amber eyes locked on me with thesame unnerving intensity that had always quieted a room. One of the reasons my father had picked him as his commander. He knew of his intimidating presence.
However, it seemed like the Vampire Kingdom had made Seth pale, his usual golden-brown skin almost the same shade as mine. His long sleek black hair was bound into a braid—it almost made me smile, knowing that Lydia loved braiding long hair. It was her favorite thing to do when we were children. Sometimes she even hunted me down to just test out the weirdest hairstyles with my hair.
And then when his eyes gazed at Gwendolyn, I growled. I stood up quickly, offering him my hand.
“Seth.”
He ignored my gesture.
“Xavier,” Seth said flatly, like the greeting was a formality he’d rather skip.
Meanwhile, my little brother went over to Drew, who was still lingering a little too close to my woman. Without wasting any time, Sparrow clapped a hand on Drew’s shoulder and leaned in with a mock-whisper every one of us could hear.
“Sweetheart, your eyes are giving hunger. Careful… someone might think you are planning to bite someone who doesn’t belong to you.”
Drew flushed with embarrassment. Gwendolyn blinked in surprise, clearly unsure whether to be amused or mildly mortified.
