The Bell of Freedom (King and human romance)✔

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The sun starts to set beyond the walls of this entrapment. Cain's fingers trail down my spine carefully as I keep turned away from him. It's so relaxing that I almost feel asleep. I hear his nostrils inhaling into my throat and I laugh out quietly.

"What are you doing?"

"I still can't taste you," he says. "No reading at all." He turns on his back and sighs. "If I do ever feed from you again then I might have to wrap you in a dozen blankets."

I roll myself back over, he flicks his eyes to me but he stays on his back. "Do creatures ever. . . do that?"

"With each other?" he says. I nod. "Yes. We form couples just like humans."

"But you've never tried it?"

He smiles at the ceiling. "I've never found anyone worthy of it. Some of the females try and seduce me when they visit but I know it's a trick. They don't want me. They just want the position beside me."

"To be Queen," I whisper.

"I had a Queen once," he says. "She was at my side for a thousand years. Marina warned me about her, half of my entire kind warned me about her, but I didn't listen. She was taking the blade without my knowledge and killing anyone that opposed her. The greed of power grew inside of her until she didn't see us as equals anymore. She wanted to put another on the throne, someone she could be superior to because I was too strong for her liking. She conducted an entire plot to assassinate me but I outsmarted her. I've never trusted another female as a companion since then."

"What happened to her?" I whisper, wondering just how true Wendy's story was.

"I could not kill her," he mutters, his eyes narrowing with anger at the fact. "The completed soul she consumed made her too powerful. I locked her in a type of cage and dropped her in this. . . I cannot describe it in a human language. It was on another planet. That was three hundred years ago, her temporary immortality will end soon. I am waiting for that day so I can finally drive that blade through her heart. Or I will just let her starve to death."

"Saffron," I say. "That's her name, isn't it?"

He nods. "You remember."

"Zander must have really loved her," I whisper. "He could have consumed me and challenged you. He could have even released her himself. But he chose to offer you the deal instead."

"He didn't know where she was." Cain grins. "The planet I imprisoned her on is still inhabited, untouched by us. Her imprisonment, without feeding, will only make her weaker. So if she hasn't escaped by now then she never will."

"You're ruthless when you're scorned," I say.

He laughs. "As long as you don't betray me, you are safe."

I smile, running my fingers along his chest. I gently pull at the hairs, rubbing them in my tips. He closes his eyes and relaxes, his arms folding behind his head. "Cain," I say.

"Hm?"

"You will still protect Jackson after I'm gone, won't you?"

His eyes open, staring down at me sadly. "Why? Where are you going?"

"You know what I mean."

He catches my hand against his chest, he entwines them together against his skin. "When I said I couldn't ever hurt you, I meant it. I'll protect him for as long as I can."

"Thank you," I say.

"Enough of the sad talk," he says, dropping down the bed to be eye-level with me. "I'd like to do this with you every night." He runs his hand along my waist, making me shiver as he places it between my legs. "Do you consent?"