Chapter Eight

W hen they reached the castle, Sasha led her to the front doors instead of the stables and ushered her inside, all the way to Damien's office. Locked inside, she reached out to Damien.

"I am safe in your office."

"Good. Stay put. We caught the bastards."

She breathed out a sigh of relief and fell onto the sofa. Elias handed her a glass of something dark. She shot it back without much thought.

"More?" he asked, to which she nodded. He filled her glass then his own. "Your husband is quite terrifying when he lets the vampire out."

"Between your magic and his reflexes, I'm not quite so worried about your safety, sweetheart." Her father patted her on the leg then filled his own glass. "I am not pleased that you will be under constant threat, however."

Alcohol burned down her throat. "It comes with the title, I'm afraid." Her nerves were frayed. Despite the fact she already talked to Damien, she couldn't help but worry about him. Especially after seeing that arrow nearly skewer him. "Are you safe? Were you injured?"

"I am unharmed, Liana. I will be with you shortly after we question these traitors." That would have to be enough for now.

Elias and her father distracted her with a game of cards until Damien's office doors opened. Only he could enter, the magical protection around the room keyed only to him. She stood, her heart skipping a beat.

He strode in, Luciano and Ramone behind him after Damien granted them access under the spell. She scanned him for injuries despite his reassurances. Although he appeared unharmed, he certainly did not appear unaffected. The air around him vibrated with anger, his face drawn into a glare even she wouldn't challenge.

He walked right up to her father who stood and bowed as soon as the doors opened. Gripping her father's shoulder, Damien reassured him, "Your daughter's safety is my only priority. I will protect her with my life, I promise you that."

Liana merely blinked.

"Damien, I never doubted you would be able to protect her, but we both know she can do as good a job at that herself, if not better." He patted him on the shoulder, shooting a smile toward Liana. "If everything has been settled, I think it is time Elias and I be on our way. Lady Monroe will have my head if I am late for supper."

"As you wish, Michael. Sasha will escort you home." Damien gripped her father's hand, clasping it with his other as well. "Aside from the ending, it was a great day. You should join me more often."

Michael bowed his head. "A generous offer I will take you up on soon."

Giving her father and Elias a hug farewell, they waited until they were gone before getting into the details of the attack.

"Rebels?" Liana asked. That was all that she needed to say.

"Yes." Damien scrubbed a hand through his hair and leaned on the edge of his desk to sit. "There were only about ten of them."

"Too small a group to do much damage. They might have been able to get an arrow to either of you if Damien weren't a vampire and Liana didn't have power," Luciano explained. "Seems quite the wasted effort once again, similar to your wedding day."

Liana thought of Damien's quick action in catching that arrow and how her magic protected him, the arrow shattering to the ground uselessly.

"Perhaps they are testing us. Each time they attack they are seeing how we react, what magic I use, and how our soldiers react. Maybe they are planning," Liana guessed.

All eyes landed on her. "That is actually quite clever," Luciano admitted. "If it were true though, they'd be gathering knowledge on your strengths and weaknesses, on how your security is handled."

A low, steady growl rose from Damien. Liana walked to him and laced their fingers together, pushing soothing magic into him until he was calm. "Then they discover very little considering my magic is more powerful than them. They cannot harm us."

Luciano shook his head. "That is a very dangerous way to think. You must never overestimate yourself, nor should you underestimate your enemy."

"Then what are we to do now? How do we get rid of these rebels? I refuse to live our lives in fear all the time."

Damien squeezed her hand. "We will continue to search for them and their leaders. For now, let us forget this day and have a relaxed evening."

"We will be here for support, Liana, never forget that either," Ramone offered. "As for tonight, your mother is feeling under the weather, and I will be tending to her. Good evening," he said, then hurried out the door.

Liana turned her worried expression on Damien. "Is she ill?"

Luciano and Damien snorted. "I will never understand why he tries to hide it." Luciano waved a hand as he headed toward the door. "I used to tell everyone to keep away and if they interrupted us, they'd lose their head."

Once he disappeared around the corner, Liana raised a questioning brow. "It is my father's way of saying that my mother is in her fertile days, and they will not be coming out of their quarters for a while."

Her cheeks were red before he finished speaking. "Oh my. That was unexpected." She willed her blush to fade, her pale skin always giving her away. "I didn't think your mother would have to deal with that anymore."

He pulled her to stand between his legs, hands resting on her waist. "Female vampires surpass childbearing years at about four-hundred years old. She's got a bit to go."

"Does that mean you could possibly still become a brother?" she teased.

His smirk was more like a grimace. "Although we would all be happy about it, I no longer want to talk about this. I'd much rather talk about you and how much I love you."

Lifting her arms over his shoulders she leaned into his body. "Oh? And what would you say?"

He pulled her in for a kiss. "That you mean everything to me. That I almost burned the forest to the ground with how furious I was when that arrow came at you."

Her forehead rested against his, savoring the feel of him. "I felt exactly the same when that arrow hit you."

"Hit your shield," he corrected. "I didn't even see it coming. My senses were trained farther out."

"I shall thank the gods then that I gave you that protection charm yesterday." She couldn't fathom losing him, especially not so soon after they were married. They'd only had a month of marriage and to even think of losing him had her magic roiling with anger.

Damien breathed her in. "Do you know how terrified I was? I knew I stopped that arrow. I knew you were okay, yet I could not reason with myself to calm down. I could only imagine you injured and dying." His arms tightened around her, their bodies flush against each other. "The only thought I had in my mind became revenge. Revenge for anyone daring to harm you or even think of taking you from me."

His breath grew ragged, his arms tightening still. Liana gave him this moment, let him hold her so tightly because she wanted to do the same to him.

"I know exactly how you felt. I saw that arrow hit the shield around you and could only think the worst. I would have followed after you if Sasha hadn't held me back."

Damien pressed a gentle kiss to her neck, a sigh of air hitting her skin after. "You are an addiction, my love. You have consumed every part of me, for better or worse, and I would burn this kingdom then the rest of the world out of spite if the gods ever dared to take you from me."

She brushed her fingers over his scalp, the weight of his words should have scared her. They should have caused slight concern that the King of Triaedian held her safety above that of his kingdom. Liana found that she didn't quite care though. The words were a balm to her heart because she felt the exact same way.

Laying her head over his, she whispered, "If the gods ever took you from me, they'd feel what this power of mine could do with wrath fueling it. Juno would regret blessing me with it."

A husky chuckle rumbled up his chest as he pulled back. "You and me, against the gods," he said. She thought he might be teasing. The intensity in his eyes said otherwise.

He pulled her into a soft kiss, her heart skipping a beat at just how easily she could kiss and touch him now. The newness of him, of his touch, still hadn't faded even after a month of marriage. She didn't let him pull away, the kiss turning slow and heated. In that moment, there was nothing she wanted more than to remind herself that Damien was alive and well.

He had the same idea with her. In the next second, he spun her around and sat her on his desk. His hands found their way under her skirts and shoved them out of the way. She wrapped her legs around his waist pulling his hips against hers, their mouths crashing back together. Gone were the gentle caresses. Fierce need pulsed between them. It demanded desperate breaths and heated touches.

Damien ripped through her undergarments with sharp claws then tore at the laces of his trousers with vampiric speed. Liana had no time to catch her breath before he plastered his body to hers once more, sating that deep need within her. She wrapped her arms over his shoulders, holding on as he rocked his hips into hers.

Magic surged beneath her skin, as responsive as her body to the passionate attention from Damien. It writhed beneath her skin, heightening the sensations of their connected flesh.

"You are mine, Liana," Damien growled. "Mine to have in this life for a very long time." She bit her lip and nodded, knowing that her voice would betray how far gone she already was. "If anyone tries to harm you, I won't try to control myself," he declared, his words punctuated with every thrust of his hips. "I will rip them to shreds so there is nothing left for the gods to take." He bent to bite her neck but didn't yet break the skin.

Liana groaned, her eyes rolling back and let herself fall back on his desk. Clawed fingers dug into her thighs, holding her tightly to him. Magic whipped out of her control to rip open his shirt, baring all that tanned, muscular torso.

"Look at you, my pretty little mage, laid out for me like a gift." He paused for a moment, only the sound of her desperate breaths filling the air. Damien bent over, bracing his hands on either side of her head. "You are the only thing I ever want waiting on this desk for me from now on."

It took her a beat for her brain to form a coherent retort. "If this is the kind of attention I receive, I think that could be arranged, my King."

He pulled her smirking bottom lip between his teeth and bit down lightly. "I knew you'd agree with me eventually."

Her laugh turned into a moan when he started moving again. "I wouldn't say agreed, per say. Let's call it mutual gratification."

He silenced her once more with his lips while his body worked her back to dizzying pleasure. All teasing fled her mind. She truly lost herself in him every time he made love to her. Never did she think that possible because she never thought she'd trust a man so completely with her body let alone her heart.

She tightened her thighs around his waist and craned her neck, presenting it to him. He ran his nose along the delicate skin.

"You smell of magic and pure lust," he growled. "You smell like mine." Fangs brushed her neck right before he sunk his fangs in.

Her mind shattered, only Damien holding her together as she rode out their pleasure together.

Damien licked over her wounds but didn't pull back. "So, about keeping you here," he started which had her devolving into a fit of lazy laughter.

"In your dreams, my King. Besides, I have a workbench now too that is feeling left out."

He huffed in amusement. "My wife, the insatiable."

"That shall be my reigning epithet, Queen Liana the insatiable. And you shall be King Damien the relentless."

Laughing, he pulled her into a sitting position. "I love you, my Queen."

Heart soaring and her body sated, she truly felt loved.