Hunt the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #11)(110)

Indifferent to her father or the chattering crowd, Sally launched herself off the dais and directly into Roke’s waiting arms.

She breathed deeply of his familiar scent, tears streaming down her face as he buried his face in the curve of her neck.

“I have you,” he murmured, running a comforting hand down her spine. “And I’m never letting you go again.”

“Leave us,” her father bellowed, and Sally glanced up to watch in surprise as the Chatri scurried out of the room, along with Fallon who pulled a stubborn Cyn through a side door.

Once alone, her father moved to stand directly in front of them.

“How dare you trespass in my home, leech?”

Roke tucked Sally behind him as he faced her father without fear.

“I’ve come for my mate.” His power fractured the floor beneath their feet. “I’m not leaving without her.”

Her father ignored the display of strength. “She came here to end the mating.”

She felt Roke tense at the soft words, his brows drawing together as he glanced toward her.

“Sally?”

Sally resisted the urge to deny the accusation. This was too important to screw up.

“Sariel has promised to break the spell,” she admitted.

The pale eyes darkened with a hurt he didn’t bother to try and hide.

“That’s why you left?”

She glanced toward her father. “Can we speak in private?”

The king parted his lips to deny her request, only to hesitate when he read the unmistakable threat in her eyes.

He’d already crossed a line when he’d brought her to his homeland without asking. If he pressed her on this, there was a good chance she was never going to forgive him.

He made a sound of disgust. “Very well. I will allow you a few moments.” He pointed a finger at Roke. “But know this, vampire, you are in my territory. Here you will obey my rules.”

Sally laid a finger against Roke’s lips, preventing him from spewing his angry words. Only when her father had disappeared behind the thrones did she lower her hand.

“Someday,” Roke muttered.

Turning so she could face him directly, Sally laid her hand on his cheek, the ache in her heart easing as his power settled like a cloak around her.

“I didn’t mean to disappear,” she told him.

He peered deep into her eyes, as if searching for the truth. “Then why did you?”

“My father requested that I become a sort of diplomat between the Chatri and our world.”

Her words caught him off guard. Lucky for him, he didn’t share his personal opinion of the offer. It was enough that his lips curled with blatant repugnance.

“And you said?” he asked.

She held his gaze. “I said, yes.”

He carefully hid his reaction. “I see.”

“Next thing I knew I was here,” she continued her story.

The pale eyes blazed with silver fire. “Here and asking for our mating to be broken.”

She stroked her fingers down his cheek to trace the stubborn line of his jaw.

“The spell to be broken.”

“Why?”

She released an unsteady sigh, forcing herself to speak the painful words.

“Because you deserve the opportunity to find your true mate.”

He grabbed her fingers that she was stroking down the line of his throat and pressed them to his lips.

“I have found her,” he snapped.

It’s what she hoped for with every fiber of her being, but she couldn’t risk that someday he would be denied the female destined to be at his side.

“You don’t know that.”

He wasn’t happy. “Christ, what do I have to do to prove it to you?”

“Allow my father to break the spell.”

“No.”

She frowned, baffled by his refusal to even consider her request.

“If you’re so confident I’m your mate, then why are you being so stubborn about the spell?”

His thumb rubbed against her inner wrist, the air prickling a sharp chill.

“I have no doubt you’re my mate.”

“But?”

There was a short hesitation, then with obvious reluctance, he admitted what was bothering him.

“But, I can’t be certain I am your mate.”

Sally stared at him in confusion. “Isn’t it the same thing?”

“Not necessarily.” He lowered her hand, turning her arm over so he could push up the sleeve of her gown and reveal the crimson marking. “When a vampire’s mate is of a different species there’s no guarantee that they will be similarly committed.” His fingers brushed over the sensitive tattoo, sending a jolt of lust straight through her. “Do Chatri even have true mates?”

She stepped closer, her gaze lowering to the sensual temptation of his lips.

“It doesn’t matter.”

She could feel his rising arousal as her gaze remained on his lips, his fingers continuing to caress her arm.

“It doesn’t?” he asked, his tone husky with need.

“No.” She smiled as she caught a glimpse of fang. Ah, her gorgeous, sexy, utterly exasperating vampire. “Because I love you.”

He blinked, looking as if he’d just been hit upside the head with a shovel.