Page 68 of Blood Ties

“I’m not finished,” she murmured.

I smiled against her mouth. “Thank fuck.”

I wrapped my hand over hers and guided the next stroke. Once she caught the pace, I returned my hand to her arse and held her against my thigh. She watched me now, her cheeks flushed and her lips swollen from my kisses.

I came across her hand and my stomach with her name leaving my mouth. Pleasure tightened every muscle the chains allowed me to move. Bryony stayed close until it passed, her lips against my jaw and her hand still wrapped around me.

I cleaned her hand with the least damaged part of my shirt, then pulled the hem of hers down over her breasts. Her knickers were beyond saving, so she left them on the floor.

She glanced at her ruined knickers. “That’s going to be awkward if anyone comes in.”

“Then they’ll regret the timing.”

Her tired laugh warmed my chest.

I drew her closer.

She shifted off my thigh, winced at the state of my trousers and settled sideways across my lap. I closed my arm around her as far as the waist chain allowed.

Bryony covered the healed cut at my throat with her hand.

“I thought feeding you would leave me dizzy again. Instead, I’ve lost my knickers, ruined your trousers and discovered you can be unbearably smug while chained to a wall.”

“My throat is healed, my heart is beating and you’re naked from the waist down on my lap. I’m calling the treatment successful.”

She settled more comfortably against me. The chain left little room, but neither of us moved away.

I pulled her shirt lower over her thigh. “You gave me enough to heal without leaving yourself weak. We’ll still eat and drink before we move again.”

“There’s the bossy vampire.”

“He nearly died. It damaged his patience.”

“You’re warm,” she said.

“Your blood.”

The manacle around my wrist clicked open.

Bryony lifted her head as the iron slid over my hand and struck the floor between our feet.

18

BRYONY

Stellan’s arm tightened around me as the sitting room shook. Red light ran over the fallen iron and raced along the waist chain still holding him to the court.

“Don’t move yet,” he said. “The room is opening.”

I was naked from the waist down on his lap, so I wasn’t planning a quick dash anywhere. “You’re certain?”

“No. Harrowmere rarely explains itself. It prefers noise and property damage.”

The wall split down the middle. Two sections of stone moved apart, revealing a wide hall lit by red lamps. Doors lined both sides, and a staircase curved down beyond the final arch. Warm air carried the smell of the rose garden into the sitting room.

Black doors stood open along the hall. Old weapon racks filled the spaces between them, and a silver raven had been set into the floor. The human house above us felt very far away. Stellan had ruled this vampire court, and Adrian wanted to steal it.

Stellan watched the new hall with his fangs still down. “That’s the lower court. It connects the royal suite to the guard rooms and old household quarters. The chapel lies at the far end. Most of it has been sealed since Cecily died.”