24. Montana

Iwas bathing in bliss an hour after the sun had set, lying back in the sand beyond the fire beside my husband. Julius had given us more blood and I finally felt whole again. My priorities had changed entirely now I was fed, and I didn’t give a damn about blood right now.

I rolled toward Erik, sliding a hand up his bare chest. He’d replaced his pants but nothing else and I delighted in the hard planes of his stomach beneath my roaming fingers.

“Move an inch lower and I’m going to lose it, rebel,” he muttered, pushing a hand into my hair with a roguish grin.

The others were chatting, not paying us any attention but a cool blush still crawled into my cheeks.

His hand skated across my bare shoulder. I’d put a vest and shorts on after our dip in the sea and Erik caressed my exposed flesh hungrily.

“Let’s go for a walk,” he said suggestively, and my mouth hooked up at the corner.

“We’ve done a lot of walking today,” I teased, circling my finger through the hair that led beneath his waistband.

He released a low growl. “I like walking,” he said, his eyes sparkling with mischief. He placed two fingers on my side, marching them up to my shoulder. I smiled, leaning forward and bracing my hands in the sand on the other side of him.

I brushed my lips over his and he caught the back of my neck, groaning as his tongue invaded my mouth.

“Get a room!” Clarice called and someone threw something at us. I laughed as Erik picked up the empty bottle and tossed it back at the group.

“There’s no rooms out here,” I said, burying my face in Erik’s chest.

“Come on.” Erik pushed me up, hauling me to my feet as he stood. “Worth a look,” he said against my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.

“Go a mile at least,” Fabian begged. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“You’re just jealous you haven’t got anyone to play with.” Julius aimed a kick at Fabian’s shin.

“Neither do you, slayer,” Fabian said with a smirk, but Julius only shrugged.

Erik snared my hand, dragging me away from the fire and we headed across the sand, running shamelessly into the night.

Anticipation built in my chest and my body hummed with how much I wanted Erik. It had been too long, and he finally seemed himself again. I was aching with how much I needed my body to reunite with his.

When we’d run far enough, he released my hand. I could barely even see the fire in the distance, the orange glow of it vaguely flickering on the horizon. Erik moved in front of me and the light of the moon peeking through the clouds illuminated his dark expression.

“I’m owed a private strip show,” he said thoughtfully.

I gave him a playful look. “I’m pretty sure you became a very angry prince when I stripped earlier.”

“That’s because you did it in front of the others,” he gritted out, his fury over that still evident. “But now they’re not here and I’ve been thinking about that little stunt all day.”

“What about it specifically?” I teased, taking a step forward but he backed up. We always played cat and mouse like this and I fucking loved it. Despite the wrath in his eyes, I could see the want in him, the light too, and I was sure no darkness would find us tonight.

“I’ve been thinking about bending you over and spanking your ass for disobeying me,” he said, his eyes dragging down at me as if mentally peeling off my clothes.

I stepped closer again, biting into my lip as I reached for him, but he retreated once more.

“Strip,” he commanded.

“Make me,” I dared.

“Mouthy as always,” he murmured, lifting a hand to grip my chin as his iron eyes scored across my features.

“Just how you like it,” I answered, a little breathy from the power that emanated from him. I was reminded of those days in his castle, fighting with him, fearing him. How had we gotten here? With this beast looking at me like I held the world between my hands?

“Ever the rebel,” he agreed. “But when you bow, you do so only for me.”

“And only in private,” I said, a grin twisting my lips.

“But I will kneel for you anywhere, my love,” he swore. “You are the only goddess I will devote myself to now.”

I shivered as his hand trailed to my throat, caressing before fisting in my shirt and tugging me one step closer. “Strip for me and I will worship you with pain and pleasure. Submit to me tonight and let me show you the power you can reap from me in that submission.”

My throat thickened and I nodded, peeling his hand from my shirt and stepping back, our eyes remaining fixed.

I pushed my hair back from my face then caught the hem of my top and dragged it over my head. His eyes lit with excitement as he took in the lacy bra I’d gotten from the mall. I’d found it in a store full of nothing but lingerie and this one had sparked excitement in me. It was a garment I only wanted him to see. The way it pushed up my breasts and the thin material gave him a glimpse of what lay beneath.

I tugged my shorts off, kicking them away from my feet and he took in the matching panties with equal desire. He released a low growl in his throat and the noise sent heat coursing through my veins. He was the key to all my desires and his gaze alone unlocked me.

“More,” he demanded and I took pleasure in the control this gave me, reaching behind my back and unhooking my bra.

I shrugged my shoulders and let it fall to the sand at my feet, twirling to let him see more of me.

“Enough?” I asked sweetly and he shook his head, his eyes wanton.

I hooked my fingers in my panties, tilting my head as I held him in suspense.

“Off,” he ordered and I rolled them slowly down my legs, slipping them over my feet and dangling them on one finger as I stood upright before him.

His gaze scraped hungrily down me, so penetrating it was like his hands were on me already.

“You have no idea what you do to me,” he said in a rumbling tone that made my skin skitter with pleasure.

I stepped forward, approaching slowly and pressing myself against him. His cool body was flush to mine and the feel of his muscles tensing made me inhale a breath.

“What is it I do to you Erik Belvedere?” I asked lightly, slipping my hand between us and running it down his chest to his waistband.

I spread my fingers and dragged them lower over his pants, brushing my tongue over my fangs as I felt his large cock swelling beneath my palm.

He moaned hungrily then pushed me back a step. I pouted and he released a dark chuckle. In a surge of movement, he swept me off my feet and I dropped onto the sand with him holding my waist. He pushed my legs apart and I released a desperate whimper as his mouth immediately dropped to my breasts. My nipples hardened under his torment as he moved between each of them, nipping and sucking before blowing cool air onto them. I rolled my head against the sand, digging my nails into his shoulders as he continued to pleasure me.

He ran his tongue between the valley of my cleavage, licking all the way down to my belly button. I inhaled deeply, my hips rising to meet the wetness of his lips.

He lifted one of my legs, slinging it over his shoulder as he crawled backwards and placed a line of kisses along my pubic bone.

My back arched and I clawed at the sand as he continued his sweet torment. “Erik - fuck - please.”

He laughed and the deep tone vibrated through to my core. He moved backwards, bypassing the spot where I so desperately wanted his mouth and kissing my inner thigh instead. He caressed the back of my knee as he held my leg over his shoulder and the combination was pure fire. I moaned and writhed, longing for more.

His mouth moved ever higher and I teetered on the edge of insanity then he spoke against my skin. “Tonight, pleasure will be answered with pain.” He dug his fangs into the spot he had just been kissing and I cried out, my flesh sparking at the sudden change in sensations.

His bite deepened and I cursed as he finally slid his fangs free and licked away the blood he’d drawn from me. His kisses returned, soft and gliding higher, grazing over my clit and making me writhe in the sand. He grabbed my hips, using the strength contained in his body to flip me onto my knees. I gasped, catching myself before I face-planted the sand just as his palm clapped against my ass and sent another spike of delicious pain through me.

My back arched as he did it again and I felt myself get even wetter for him, this roughness so fucking good. He spanked the back of my thigh then my ass again, palming the skin and squeezing hard until I was sure his hand print was marked on me. He gripped my hips, tilting them up and burying his face between my legs, lapping at my wet pussy and groaning into it, the vibration making me moan like a heathen. He fucked me with his tongue, working me up into a complete frenzy before reaching around to pinch my clit. Hard.

I yelped as his tongue continued its divine torment while his fingers pulled and tugged on my clit, hurting and pleasuring me at once. The combined sensation had me coming apart and suddenly I was falling into ecstasy, my hips pushing back to take more of his wicked mouth, and he laughed into my pussy as he claimed his first orgasm from me. But knowing him, that was never enough.

He flipped me over onto my back before I’d finished coming and dropped his face between my thighs, his tongue dragging over my sore clit and soothing the pain he’d caused.

My orgasm fell quickly into another one and I screamed as electricity darted through my body so powerfully it was like the stars were falling from the sky and crashing into my flesh.

My back arched and my hips bucked as I wrapped my thighs around his neck, but he never stopped, his tongue soft and circling, pushing me further and further into realms of pleasure I had never experienced.

His fingers drove into me next and my eyes rolled back into my head as he wrung more pleasure from me, the third orgasm seizing every inch of my body in its grip. He drew his fingers in and out in a tortuously slow rhythm while his tongue matched the same pace and my head swum as I finally came down from the wave of bliss.

“Faster,” I urged, needing more already.

He bowed to my command and I cried out as my body throbbed under the intensity of his tongue.

I wrapped my other leg around his neck, drawing him closer, carving great gouges in the sand with my hands.

A fourth climax ripped through me and I made so much noise, I feared it would reach the ears of our group. But I didn’t care. The world was lost to me as I rode out the waves of pleasure spreading through my body in an endless ripple.

Erik lifted his head as I released my thighs from his neck. He licked his lips and the sight was so erotic that I almost came undone again. He caught my waist with a feral look in his eyes, flipping me over again in one swift movement. He drew my hips back at the same moment I heard him push his pants down and I braced myself against the sand as he drove his thick cock inside me.

He gasped his delight, his hips slamming against me as he claimed me in this way that felt wholly animal. He reared over me, pushing my hair aside and digging his fangs into my neck, biting deep.

“Yes,” I sighed, relishing the pain as ecstasy met with it in the middle. The sound drove him on and he pushed deeper inside me, filling me until I garbled his name, every inch of his cock so far inside me that I was stretched to accommodate his size. He caught my chin, turning my face sharply so my mouth met his at the awkward angle. I tasted myself on his tongue and an icy blush invaded my cheeks.

His hips moved more aggressively, one of his hands digging into my waist while the other held me firmly against his mouth. As he slammed into me again, I buckled forward into the sand, receiving a mouthful of it. I laughed and Erik snorted his amusement, pulling out of me and pushing me onto my back,. I was covered in sand and I couldn’t stop laughing until he dropped over me again and shoved himself inside me.

The sand rubbed between our skin, causing a friction that was somehow incredible, every nerve in my body alive with it. I snared my legs around his waist, clinging to his shoulders as he buried himself in me with another fervent thrust that blew my mind.

I gasped, my body tightening sweetly around every inch of him. He was fire and I was ice, my body pooling into something entirely fluid beneath him.

I gazed into his eyes and the intensity that passed between us rocked another rolling wave of ecstasy through me. My thighs squeezed him fiercely as I came apart beneath him again and again and again.

He caught my lower lip between his teeth, chewing and sucking before forcing his tongue into my mouth. With a breathy groan, he fell to ruin, his hips crashing into mine so fervently that we shifted up the sand and I felt his cum spill inside me, his cock so rigid and so deep within me that I felt as if we were one being. Pleasure dripped from his lustful gaze as he held me in place, finding a release that made every one of his muscles tense.

His lips fell to mine and sand, salt and sea was all I could taste. When he leaned back, he brushed the sand from my forehead with a bark of laughter.

“You’re covered,” he said, pulling out of me and tugging up his pants.

I felt like I’d fallen to ruin on the ground beneath him, unable to move as I watched him slide a hand into his boxers and reorganise himself.

“Let’s go wash.” He pointed to the sea and I shook my head.

“I can’t move.”

He grinned devilishly, leaning down and scooping me into his arms before striding out into the water. Spray speckled my skin and I dipped my toes in as he waded further out then laid me down to float atop the calm waves. I sank under and rubbed the sand from my skin before rising at his side, completely entranced by him.

“You’re so, so beautiful, Montana,” he said, running a hand over the damp strands of hair that clung to my shoulders. “And not just because of how you look. It’s your soul. I’ve never met anyone so full of life.”

Emotion swelled inside me and my heart whispered sweet promises of forever to me.

We will always be together. Always.

I moved into his arms and he held me close, kissing me sweetly and sending a flood of love into my body as if it had come directly from his heart.

I bathed in the moment of calm, knowing once we continued our journey tomorrow, reality would hit home again. Who knew what we would have to face once we reached the holy mountain? More trials could await us, but tonight I’d enjoy my time with Erik. It was one of the few peaceful days we’d been offered, but it wasn’t entirely without the shadow of Valentina looming over us.

“I used to dream of places like this,” I said, gazing up the beach to the line of trees that flanked it, rustling in a gentle breeze. “Our Realm was all concrete, the only green I ever saw was beyond the fences.”

Erik frowned and I laid my hand over his heart, glancing up at the man who had once been my captor.

“Whatever happens after we find the mountain, we can live wherever you want. The beach, the mountains, the city. Whatever it is, I’ll give it to you,” he promised.

I gave him a knowing look. “You have a responsibility to rule the empire, Prince Erik.”

“If we become human again, there’ll be no empire to lead,” he said, his brows pinching together. “At least...I assume not.”

“The country will still need guidance,” I said thoughtfully. “But I can’t imagine what the world will look like without vampires in it. Will the humans accept them even if all the vampires return to their mortal forms?”

“My experience of the world is that people only find a way to get along if they have a united cause. They’ll need a reason to live side by side. They’ll need hope, a promise of a better world.”

“And who will give them that if you relinquish your throne?” I pressed.

Erik sighed, looking up at the cloudless sky above and I followed his gaze to the sight of the sprawling heavens. “Perhaps you’ll do it,” he suggested lightly and I prodded him in the ribs.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I laughed.

“I’m not.” He looked down at me. “You and your sister are the only ones who’ve closed the bridge between mortals and vampires. Maybe the two of you should lead us in the future.”

“Ha. Ha,” I said dryly.

He captured my chin. “Of course, I’ll happily advise you on how to run a country, princess.”

“Well you are good at bossing people around.”

“Mhmm,” he hummed, pressing his lips to mine once more.

I let go of the strange suggestion he’d made, knowing there was no point in any such discussion until we actually broke the curse. Right now, all I wanted was him, the ocean and a single peaceful night to commit to memory and carry with me when our time here was up.