“Turn it up,” Evie calls. “Loud as possible.”
I kick open the door to our new rooms, the sun streaming in from skylights all along the roof. No dragon insignias here, no gilded or bejeweled anything. Just stacks of books, a microscope, a telescope, several scientific gadgets I choose to ignore, and a few of her old family photos I managed to salvage from DC.
Laying her on the bed, I prowl over her, kissing her until I’m drunk on her taste, desperate for every last bit of her.
“What happens now?” she asks as I strip her bare, her skin luminous in the sunlight.
“Now you roll over and I—” I flip her, then spread her legs wide.
“No, I mean with the government, with what’s left of—Oh!” She squeals when I drag my tongue along her wet cunt and then to her tight asshole.
“We deal with that another day.” I lick again, sucking her tender flesh between my lips and sinking two fingers inside her soft cunt.
She moans, her body already taut as I lick and suck, tasting and delighting in her. When I focus on her clit, my tonguedancing all along that tender bud, she arches her back, her tension rocketing higher until she comes. I feel her pleasure, the rapture of her release making my cock even harder, my need for her so intense that it takes every bit of my control not to bite her plump ass cheek.
Fuck it. I sink my fangs into her, her cry of pleasure and pain bringing out the beast in me. I release her, running my fangs up her back, and when I enter her, I don’t stop. I fill her tight, wet cunt until she’s panting, her toes curling as I grip her shoulder and fuck her hard. Again and again, filling her as I hold her captive beneath me. My queen. My god.
“Valen.” Her moan is torture, is goading me into coming.
I won’t allow it.
With a yank, I pull her up to me, one hand wrapping around her delicate throat while she arches for me. I thrust harder, bouncing her on my cock as I kiss her, our tongues warring with each other as I share the rich taste of her blood with her. I’ll never get enough of this. Of her.
I cup one of her breasts, squeezing her nipple. She reaches up, her fingers in my hair, her small claws raking along my scalp.
“Please,” she breathes.
Her orgasm is building again, flowing between us, a rising wave that will drown us both. I can’t avoid it any longer, not when my mate needs it, needs me to give it to her.
I keep one hand at her precious throat and use the other to stroke her wet clit. Her rhythm becomes wilder, her hips locking, and then she’s screaming my name, a guttural cry that makes me feral, makes me lose my fucking mind for her. I bite her shoulder, sinking my fangs deep as I fill her completely, barely getting all the way in before I spend, my cock kicking inside the delicious confines of her cunt. She constricts around me, milking me as I groan against her, drinking her, fucking her, living only for her.
My one. My only.Kedves verem.
EPILOGUE II
“—with gratitude and a deep respect for the work involved, I now turn the stage over to the scientists responsible for this breakthrough.” The speaker steps aside and motions for Evie and Wyatt to come to the podium.
It’s a windswept morning, the sun filtering through fast-moving clouds. I stand half a block away, though I can still see and hear just fine. Austin is much the same as before, though the university has long since become overgrown and the property of squatters. The governor’s mansion is still here, though. Its grounds unkempt but the building still standing. A contingent of national guard has kept it free of looters. The governor who followed Juno quit the post after only two months. The seat is vacant now, the Saints and what’s left of the US government slowly taking over Austin and creating a new makeshift capitol here. State lines aren’t as important anymore. A lot of things aren’t as important.
“Um, thanks. So, well, we’re here to talk about the vaccine. Wait, Liz is that you?” He shades his eyes with his hand.
I catch a glimpse of one of the soldiers stationed around the periphery, her hair in tight braids and her eyes on Wyatt.
“Focus,” Evie hisses.
“Right, um, the vaccine. And we can answer, you know, questions or something. But we’re really happy to have helped out, and we, um, we’re pretty cool, so you can ask what you want.” Wyatt pauses, his face going blank. “Or I think we’re supposed to talk for a while first maybe?”
“Such fantastic public speaking skills.” Valen crows.
“Oh don’t be mean, you know he’s doing the best he can.” I elbow him.
Evie leans over to the microphones. “What Wyatt meant to say is that we’re very happy to offer this safe and effective vaccine. The components are a mix of vampire blood, human blood, and inactive virus. We are both vaccinated and fully stand behind this vaccine. We’ve also conducted trials in conjunction with the US government, and all those records and findings have been peer reviewed by scientists both here and abroad.”
The smattering of press in the small crowd begins to raise their hands, some already shouting questions.
“Just like old times.” It’s only been a few years since I was here watching Juno field questions about the plague. It feels like several lifetimes.
“You certain you aren’t jealous you don’t get to take credit for it?” he asks, his fingers stroking along my side.
