31

IVY

A WEIGHT had been lifted off my shoulders after last night. But there was still so much to do in preparation for the academy. In a day, I would be gone, and I was terrified of what might come of it. Sable’s warnings played in my head on repeat, and there was a sense of anticipation behind them.

And then there was everything else.

I couldn’t stop worrying about Maeve. It made my magic rise within me in response to the thought that maybe there was still something wrong between us. Maybe it was the bond or the stress of the last few days. I wasn’t sure, but the need to address it overwhelmed me.

My heart thundered as I moved through the suite. Early rays of sunshine broke through a bank of fog surrounding the palace, draping the mountains in a soft, hazy blanket of light. No one else stirred, but my mate wasn’t in the bedroom, so I followed the burning of our bond into the kitchen, where the door to her office sat.

I ignored the uncertainty swirling in my gut and placed my hand on the icy doorknob. It turned with a soft click , revealing a familiar space.

Maeve looked up from a set of files as I entered, the only light in the room coming from the lamp on her desk. The space was smaller than her office in the last safe house, though I supposed the suite probably wasn’t designed with our needs in mind.

“Still working, I see.” I offered her a smile and closed the door behind me. The dark brown wood of the desk and floors accented the dark wallpaper and the academic feel of the office. It suited her in a way, reflecting her poise and generally regal air.

I still didn’t know much about my vampire mate, but I was curious. Like Elias, she held everything close to her chest, and it made me wonder what had happened in her past to make her so…

Cautious.

Especially with me.

Her features softened as she dropped the papers in her hands. “Something like that. Is everything alright?” she asked, leaning back in the large desk chair. It engulfed her lithe frame, though for some reason it made her seem more business-like.

I shook my head as I approached the dark-wood desk. “No, I was actually coming by to see if you needed anything. You’ve been in here a while.”

Maeve blinked, and it was then she must have realised how early it actually was. “I hadn’t even noticed the time,” she murmured, shaking her head. “How long have I been in here?”

I leaned against the side of the desk and crossed my arms. There was a soft, red line around the blue of her irises that made my stomach clench.

“Quite a few hours.” I met her stare with a raised brow. “Is everything okay? Do you…do you need to feed properly?”

Maeve thought about it for a moment, her eyes flickering a bloody red, before rising. “I’ll go find someone on the staff who can bring me—”

“Wait.” I rested a hand on her shoulder, and her body tensed at my touch. “I can…I can help.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Once is one thing, Ivy.” She pressed her lips together, eyes searching mine. “I wouldn’t take advantage of you like that. You are my mate, and I will not treat you like a living blood bag.”

I stepped towards her, cupping her cheeks. “Maybe I want to. Maybe I want to give something back,” I replied, offering her a smile. “I can’t explain it, but I don’t like the idea of you going to someone else.”

Maeve shook her head, her eyes darting away from mine. “Ivy, you just found your bond with Rowan. I don’t wish to take away from that.”

I made a sound of frustration. “Please don’t take from anywhere else,” I said. Her gaze cut back to mine. “I don’t know why, but please .”

A beat of silence passed between us as Maeve watched me. That carefully blank mask fell over her face as she did.

It was true. I couldn’t exactly explain why I hated the idea of her taking blood from another source. When the whole blood-bag thing was explained to me, I hadn’t questioned it.

Maybe it was the intimacy of it all, or at least, my own thoughts about it. She might have been my mate—mine, claimed, and bonded—but she was still her own person. Could make her own decisions.

Even the thought made creeping possessiveness rise within me.

As if sensing that, Maeve’s brows pulled together, and something changed in her expression. I blinked; suddenly, I was no longer standing by the desk. Maeve pushed me against the wall, hands framing either side of my face, her expression giving nothing away.

“You truly know how to ruin me, don’t you, Ivy?”

I swallowed hard, unable to look away from the reddening of her irises. “I don’t like the idea of you biting someone else. It’s crazy, I know, and I can’t really explain it, but—”

“But you have claimed me,” she whispered, her lips a breath from mine. “You are the owner of my heart, my body, and my soul. You do not wish for me to take from others what I can take from you.”

I wasn’t sure how to reply. My blood pounded in my ears as she inched closer, her eyes shifting from blue to red. “Tell me, Ivy, do you want to be used like the pretty little thing you are?”

My heart pounded and my breath quickened. “I’m yours. Just as much as you are mine, Maeve.”

Maeve hummed under her breath as she cocked her head. Those predatory eyes running over my face before landing on my throat. “I have been thinking about tasting you again. Last time simply wasn’t enough. I hunger for you, a mhuirnín .”

“Then take me.” I bared my neck for her, inhaling sharply as her fingers skimmed the length of my throat. “I’ve always been yours, Maeve. And I’m not scared, as much as you think I am. This—this is something I’m certain of.”

The vampire shook her head slowly. “Ivy…”

“Elias already gave me his whole ‘I’m not good enough for a Queen’ speech, Maeve. And if you’re planning to do the same, save it.” A lump formed in my throat as I sought out her stare, but she was focused on my chest, eyes on the place where my heart thundered. “I don’t care. You’re my mate .”

Maeve shook her head, and finally met my stare. “My past is dark. Much darker than your other mates, Ivy. I have done horrible things.”

I shrugged. “It’s in your past, isn’t it?”

She stared at me for another long moment without responding.

I wanted to say more, but Maeve claimed my lips in a gentle kiss. Before I could react, her tongue danced across the seam of my mouth, begging for entrance. She tasted of spice and something else, something so deliciously her it filled my senses and wrapped me in its embrace.

I gave in to her, feeling the moment the tension uncoiled within her. Maeve deepened the kiss, slipping her tongue into my mouth. It was slow, careful, like if she moved too quickly, she might frighten me away.

Hesitantly, I pressed my hands into her shoulders before wrapping my arms around her neck. Maeve made a sound in the back of her throat and pulled back, chest heaving.

“My past is in the past, but it is always with me,” she whispered, her lips swollen with the kiss. “It is dark and twisted, and I don’t want to scare you away.”

“I don’t scare easily, Maeve,” I replied. “And I won’t pass judgement without the facts. But right now? You need to feed—and I need you to trust me.”

I waited for her to decline the offer. My skin prickled with anticipation and awareness.

She smirked. “I understand why you don’t wish to see me feed from another. It’s your magic and the mate bond commanding it. And I will admit, the idea of feeding from another disgusts me.”

I couldn’t help but grin. “Good.”

Maeve chuckled, shaking her head as her arms tightened around me. “I will always need you, a mhuirnín . Now and for the rest of eternity.”

As my arms dropped to my side, Maeve traced her fingers over my sweater until she tucked her hands into my own. My heart raced as she guided me to a soft green velvet chaise across the room. The weight of her eyes unlocked a deep desire within me, calling for my magic and the bond that begged for more.

Maeve pulled me into her lap, my legs straddling her hips, her hands on the back of my thighs. Her eyes remained steadily on me.

“Is this okay?” she asked.

I nodded carefully before resting my hands on her shoulders. For the first time tonight, her chest moved with a breath, and her pupils dilated.

“I can scent your arousal, a mhuirnín .” The words sent a shiver down my spine as her lips travelled down my chin to my exposed throat. “I can even smell your blood, its potency. The sweetness of it already coats my tongue.”

At the first scrape of her fangs, a shiver of desire coursed over my skin. The prick made me feel more, like it heightened the already intoxicating desire coursing through me. I needed her mouth elsewhere though, claiming me in a different way.

“Wait,” I whispered, body trembling. Maeve pulled away immediately, red eyes filling with worry as she met my stare.

“Are you okay?” she asked, tracing a finger over my cheek in that same gentle caress as before. “Did I hurt you?”

I gave her a soft smile. “I have a better idea.”

She frowned, hesitantly releasing me as I pulled myself off her lap. Through the bond, I caught the impression of her lust heightening.

Slowly, I dragged my sweater from my body, revealing the soft planes of my stomach. My breasts tumbled free as my bra came off next. Maeve inhaled sharply as her eyes darkened.

There was a different hunger there, one similar to before our date. It was intoxicating, knowing she desired me as much as I did her.

Meeting her stare, I trailed my fingers over the peaks of my breasts, thinking about a scene I wrote in my last novel. The heroine made all the first moves before leading her lover into their bed.

I needed to make the first moves with Maeve, to show her that despite her fears over her past, I was invested in her. That I cared about her as my mate, as my friend, and as my lover.

From my breasts, I moved my hands down to my tights, hooking my thumbs into the waistband of my pants. With a smile in her direction, I tugged them down, careful to keep my panties in place.

“Touch yourself,” she said, voice hard. “Tell me how you want me.”

I inhaled sharply and touched myself over my panties, feeling the wetness seeping through the thin material. All the while, I couldn’t take my eyes off Maeve. Her eyes grew darker, lustier. She licked her lips as I trailed my fingers over my clit, down to my inner thigh. “I want you to feed, right here,” I whispered, teasing myself. “I want you to feast.”

Languidly, she rose, and any worry I had disappeared as she did. In the blink of an eye, she was behind me, one hand cupping my breast, fondling my hard nipple, while the other followed the path of my fingers. “Then I shall feast,” she replied, nipping my earlobe, her fang sending a delectable shiver of need through me.

She pressed a kiss to my throat as the hand on my thigh rose to tease the seam of my panties, barely brushing against my aching centre. She laughed against my skin, her breath hot against my already feverish flesh. “You’re soaking wet.”

“So, you should do something about that.”