Queen of Myth and Monsters (Adrian X Isolde, #2)(49)

“And you only choose people who are…useful?”

He chuckled. “Do you have an opinion, Sparrow?”

“Perhaps if you did not seek use but loyalty, we would not be in the situation we are now.”

“Gesalac and Julian were once loyal,” he said, and there was a bitter note in his voice that made me think Adrian was far more affected by their betrayal than he chose to show. I wondered what had shifted their loyalty and if it had begun before I arrived, because sometimes, I felt like the catalyst.

“Killian would be a great noblesse,” I said.

“I am not in disagreement,” Adrian said. “But would he turn?”

“Why do your noblesse have to be vampires?”

“I’d prefer they not die so quickly.”

“He hasn’t yet,” I said, though the thought of Killian dying terrified me.

Adrian’s arm tightened around me, as if he sensed my sudden fear. I did not know if Killian would consider turning into a vampire or remaining in this land of red sun permanently. I was not even certain his perception of vampires had really changed. He helped the people of Cel Ceredi because I was his queen and because they were mortals.

“I killed Razan,” Adrian said abruptly.

I went rigid against him. I wanted to look at him, to read his face as he admitted to murder, but another part of me was afraid of what I might see.

“Why?” I asked carefully, though I knew tension had been building between them since we had discussed Ravena at the council after her attack.

“He could not be silent,” Adrian said.

We were quiet as we moved beyond the valley where the snow was not as deep. The landscape sloped down into a field that was split at the center by an emerald-green river that fed into a cluster of evergreens.

“It is beautiful,” I said, breathless.

“Shall we race?” he asked, a note of excitement in his voice.

“Yes,” I said and leaned forward, grasping tufts of Shadow’s hair while Adrian took the reins into both hands. We started at a trot, and as we moved into a steady gallop, the ride almost felt like flying. Adrian’s body tightened around mine, and the wind roared in my ears.

I smiled and laughed more than I had in a long time.

When Adrian slowed, I turned to look at him. He was grinning, a wide and beautiful smile I rarely saw, and then he kissed me, deep and long and hard.

He pulled away, leaving me breathless, and dismounted. I followed and he took my hand and led me into the trees, leaving Shadow to graze in the field. The snow here only peppered the ground, and the evergreens were so thick, it was hard to see what lay beyond the tree line, but the farther we walked, the more I noticed light—and not the muted tones of the red sky but true golden light.

I halted for a step, feeling an unexpected thickness gather in my throat, and then took off running, bursting through the thick line of trees into sunlight.

It was bright and brought tears to my eyes, but I closed them and turned my head toward the sky as warmth bathed my skin despite the cold. Then I began to twirl, spinning until I was laughing and dizzy. I was not sure how long I stood there beneath this sky, the one that had belonged to me as a princess and not a queen, but I soon sought Adrian, who waited in the shadows, leaning against the trunk of a tree, arms crossed over his chest, watching.

I had always thought he was beautiful, even when he was my conqueror.

Now, I loved him, and he was somehow more stunning.

I ran to him and jumped into his arms, his mouth closing over mine as he unclasped my cloak and his before laying them on the ground.

When he returned to me, our mouths collided in a feverish kiss as we knelt to the ground.

I guided Adrian’s overcoat from his shoulders and ran my hands beneath his tunic, palms smoothing over his warm, hard stomach.

He shivered. “Your hands are cold.”

I smiled. “I need them warm for what I want to do.”

He raised a brow. “What exactly do you want to do?”

I rose higher onto my knees, my gaze level with his as I answered. “Suck your cock.”

Adrian grinned and pulled me close.

“That mouth, Sparrow,” he said, and his tongue parted my lips, twining with my own.

His hands pressed into my body as he ground into me, his arousal pressing hard against my stomach. With my hands warmed, I stroked him up and down as we kissed, smoothing beads of come over the crown of his cock until his fingers dug into my skin as he held me.

“You should sit back,” I said as I pulled away. He did as I asked, resting his back against the tree. He gathered my hair into his hand as I bent to take him into my mouth. He was warm, and the come that had gathered at the tip of his cock was salty. I liked the way his breath hitched as I worked him with my hand and my tongue, the sting of my scalp as his fingers tightened in my hair, the bulge of his muscles as he dug his heels into the ground.

“Fuck,” he groaned, his fingers pressing into my neck. He held me in place for a few seconds with his cock fully in my mouth before pulling me up and kissing me.

“I want to be inside you,” he said.

I shifted forward, straddling him and sinking down onto his cock, my knees digging into the hard earth despite our thick cloaks.

“Do you like this?” I asked.

He laughed, hands on my breasts, squeezing every time I thrust my hips.