Desire in His Blood

Azur released me.

I gasped for breath as I fell to my knees on the floor, my hands flying up to the bite. The skin was smooth. He hadn’t made me bleed. Not yet.

But I hadmade him bleed, I realized when he stepped in front of me. A small stream of black blood was ru

The other part, however…

I tilted my chin up as he scowled down at me. I glared right back, despite my heaving chest and my wounded pride.

“I will break you,” he promised me softly, those eyes rapt on me. “It is only a matter of time.”

The worst part was that I believed him.

This Kylorr was a sick monster. He’d bought me, he’d brokered this marriage, all because this was a game to him. He wanted to torment me. He wanted to make me fear him. He wanted me to submit. How many others had he done this to? How many other wives had he had?

A thought occurred to me. Were there other wives, even now? Did he go around collecting various females from different species, accumulating them with his wealth, all to bring back to Kry

I believed he would break me eventually. I heard the truth of it in his voice.

However…

“Not before I draw more of your blood, husband,” I promised him right back, meeting his eyes. My voice was unwavering. It was strong and certain.

Azur gri

“I welcome you to try that again,” he warned. “You won’t like what I do in retaliation.”

His black tongue flicked against one of his ivory fangs.

Then his eyes went to my night dress and my unbrushed hair, made even more unkempt by his handling.

Scowling, he said, “Wash yourself and dress. Make yourself presentable.”

“Why?” I gritted out.

“We’re descending to Kry

The derision and distaste in his own voice was baffling. Still on my knees, I scrambled up to stand, pushing back my hair. Despite the fact that I’d worked myself to the bone for the last five years, I was still a daughter of the Collis from a respectable house. Even though no one knew of our debts, of our shame, my father was still a great and honored war hero. New Earth citizens recognized him from all over the colonies.

“I am still a Lord’s daughter!” I hissed at his back. “You ca

His laugh filled the room like a rumble of thunder. He didn’t even turn to face me. He gave me his flared wings, and behind them, I heard, “You gave up your citizenship when you signed your name in blood, wife. You belong to the Uranian Federation now. As such, you belong to Kry

His smirk was dark and mocking when he gazed at me over his shoulder. Acid burned the back of my throat.

“As for your father,” he spat, “he was only too happy to let you go.”

I reared back, the unexpected words hurting more than I’d ever thought they might. It wasn’t anything I didn’t know already. My father hadn’t fought to keep me. He had betrayed me long before this Kylorr had ever made his terrible offer to Mr. Cross.

“Clean yourself up,” he ordered me again. The voice of a High Lord. Cold and detached but forceful. He knew I would not refuse him. Could not refuse him. “We’ll land on Kry

Chapter 6

Azur

Rivin was staring at me. Hard. I recognized the look. I saw it very rarely, but I knew what he was thinking.

He had his arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the ship’s corridor. Putting more weight on his left wing instead of his right—an old injury from long ago. A bone that had never quite set right from when we’d been young.

“Do you have a grievance?” I challenged, never deviating from my path. I hadn’t been away from Laras for long, but I never liked to journey off planet. Not with the Kaazor testing our borders again as of late. I needed to be home, back in my territory of the Kaalium.

Only, this journey was necessary, I thought, grinding my teeth together, feeling a prick on my bottom lip. When I pressed my fingers there, the roughened pads came away black with a small bead of my blood.

Forgetting I’d had them extended, I retracted my fangs so they wouldn’t cut my lip, licking the blood away. For a brief moment, I thought of her. The fear she couldn’t quite mask, though she’d valiantly tried. The pleading waver in her voice when she’d begged no. She feared my bite.

She should, I thought, steeling my spine, a shiver of satisfaction zipping through me.

“Are you sure this is wise?” Rivin asked. Again. “Kythel said—”

I growled, “This is my responsibility. Not Kythel’s.”

“Azur,” Rivin said softly, pushing off the corridor right outside her room. My room on board my ship, truthfully. Considering I couldn’t stand the sight of my new bride, I’d bunked in the common quarters with the crew. “I—I haven’t seen you like this in a long time. I’m worried that—”

“What?” I asked, rounding on him, flaring my wings until he was forced to take a step back. Behind his shoulder, I saw the closed door of her room. I could still smell her in my nostrils, taste her on my tongue. She’d smelled divine. When I’d bitten her neck in warning, I’d almost been tempted to take my first feeding right then, my claws curling at the want. Her scent unsettled me. The ferocity with which hunger had gnawed at me was surprising, considering looking at her made me feel vaguely nauseous. “She is owed to me. She is owed to us all.”

“Then your brothers should have a say in this, don’t you think? And Kalia?” Rivin asked quietly, his blue eyes flickering between mine, his head narrowly bowed, a symbol of respect and deference. But my friend knew he could push boundaries with me, boundaries I wouldn’t let others ordinarily cross. There was safety nestled in the folds of our long friendship, despite the fact that I was the Kyzaire of Laras.

“It is my responsibility. For Aina,” I told him again. Quietly. Keeping his gaze. “We will not speak of this again, do you understand?”

Rivin’s lips pressed.

I was the eldest son of House Kaalium.

Rivin—an only child—couldn’t possibly understand the weight. The burden. But when I closed my eyes to sleep at night, all I could see was Aina. All I could hear were her wails. All I could think was that she was trapped in a dark, endless place, cursed to live out the remainder of her immortal life in Zyos.

I hadn’t slept properly in over a month, and the fatigue was begi

Turning from Rivin, I continued on my way to the helm. I itched to get off this ship. My wings hadn’t stretched properly in nearly a week. I hadn’t felt the icy wind in my face, the caress of it against my wings, hadn’t touched the clouds of Laras, nor looked upon the Silver Sea in nearly a week.

It had been much too long, and I vowed that I wouldn’t return to space unless my father requested my presence.