Vengeance of a Queen: The Resurrection of Queens, Book 2
Vengeance of a Queen: Chapter 4

My breathing is ragged as Malcolm snakes his hand into the front of my sleep shorts, and a low moan sounds from both of us as he discovers I’m not wearing anything beneath them.

“Just one fucking taste,” he growls against my neck, making me shudder.

“Yes.” The thought of his mouth on me…mierda. I had no idea just a thought could nearly make me come.

His fingers dance along my clit and my eyes slide closed. I arch my hips to bring his fingers to where I need them, but he just continues to lightly circle my clit, torturing me like a bastard. My panther growls threateningly inside me, but when he bites my collarbone, I’m surprised when my panther just melts, once again purring with contentment.

Far too slowly for my liking, Malcolm’s finger slides into me. My nails dig deeper into his shoulders as he adds a second digit. He doesn’t thrust them into me, instead, he glides the pads of his fingers over my channel…searching.

“Malcolm!” He replaces my G-spot at the exact moment his thumb starts to circle my clit. My breath hitches. He gently, slowly, starts to work both spots, almost as though he has all the damn time in the world.

His lips move up to my throat, and his other hand starts to play with my nipple. “You’re so hot and wet, Liv.” His voice is husky, the timbre causing my pussy to clamp down around his fingers, which only makes him chuckle darkly. “That’s right, kitten, squeeze my fingers like you would my cock.”

I’m usually not a dirty talk kind of girl, but Malcolm makes it all sound so damn good. The deep, rumbling British accent, combined with the way he’s touching me, makes me so damn hot I start panting.

I can feel my orgasm rushing to the surface faster than I would have expected, considering his leisurely pace. I moan loudly, not bothering to hide how good it feels to have him caressing all my good spots at once. Suddenly, he bites down hard on my shoulder. It’s not hard enough to break the skin, and certainly not a permanent mate mark, but it’s hard enough to have my panther roar inside me as I scream my release.

Still in a daze, I blink my eyes open to replace Malcolm’s face close to mine, his burning gaze holding me captive. He removes his fingers and slowly brings them to his mouth before licking them clean. A low rumble sounds from him, and his eyes burn brighter as he tastes me. Fuck. Me. That is hot.

When he’s finished, he leans in to whisper, “The next time you challenge me like that in front of anyone, you had better be ready for me to bend you over and fuck you senseless while they watch.”

I’m still dazed from the damn orgasm he managed to get out of me, so it takes a moment for his words to sink in, but once they do, I bristle. I sober right the fuck up too.

“You’d better be ready to make me submit, witch.” My panther adds her own growl to my threat. “Because I will challenge you as much as I want, pendejo.”

He chuckles darkly as he pulls back to grin at me. “Excellent.”

The next morning dawns far too soon for my liking. Normally, I’m a morning person—unlike Ayla—but between the witch wine and the super casual hallway orgasm from Malcolm, I just want to stay in bed a bit longer.

His words, his challenge, from last night ring in my mind again, and I bolt upright in bed. That pendejo said he would bend me over in front of everyone if I challenged him again. I snort. He can fucking try.

I am sick, sick, of all this back and forth with him. I’d bet money he’s going to put distance between us this morning, but I’m not going to let him. Between his whole “save the stupid little female” stunt and his comments last night, he’s gotten me truly pissed off. If he thinks he can toy with me just because we have a mate bond, he has another thing coming.

Malcolm is about to realize that I am a woman. Ain’t no one who does petty like a pissed off woman. An evil grin spreads across my face as the urge to stay in bed vanishes and a new determination flickers to life in my core.

He better bring it.

I get out of bed, choose an outfit to make a grown-ass witch weep, and then get in the shower. I know Malcolm has the room next to mine. I’ve been practicing with my magic, so I’m curious to see if I can break the sound warding on the rooms. I can’t be an evil seductress without throwing out a few surprises, now can I?

I close my eyes to help me concentrate, letting my magic move slowly away from my body as I try to detect the wards. I fist pump when I feel them. I gradually take down the warding between my room and Malcolm’s. While a witch’s ability to hear isn’t on par with a shifter’s senses, their hearing is much better than a human’s, so he’ll be able to hear me just fine.

I nestle myself against the wall of the shower that is closest to his room and run my hands over my body. I’m not going to fake my reaction by any means, but I may turn up the volume a bit. One of my hands starts to play with my nipples while the other settles with my fingers over my clit. Wanting to ensure Malcolm gets the best auditory show possible, I don’t touch my clit just yet. Instead, I focus on tweaking my nipples, letting my moans fill the bathroom as I close my eyes and lose myself in the sensation.

My mind helpfully provides images of Malcolm to aid this little display. I groan as I imagine my nipple in his mouth while his hands run down my body. My fingers start to swirl around my clit, a groan escaping my lips. My movements become faster as I start nearing the edge. I don’t need to slip my fingers into myself, I can make myself come just by playing with my nipples and clit with images of Malcolm playing in my mind. My head thumps against the shower wall as I noisily moan Malcolm’s name while I come.

I instantly slap up the warding again and finish my shower, then I dress quickly and glance in the mirror. With a snap of my fingers, my hair is braided down my back in its typical shieldmaiden-esque style. I adjust the girls a bit to make sure they are attention-getters, and then I turn to look at my ass and legs and smile.

My skinny jeans might as well have been painted on, and they are ultra low-rise, so I made sure to wear a little something lacy underneath, because I plan on flashing my ass at Malcolm every chance I get. The thigh-high, black leather boots give my ass a little extra oomph, thanks to the heel. I’m wearing a long-sleeved shirt with a neckline that plunges down to my navel, showing off parts of my bra. It’s one of those bras that has all those sinfully sexy straps in the front. I paint on some eyeliner and mascara and head out the door.

A grin spreads across my face when I hear Malcolm’s door open right as I begin to descend the stairs. His footsteps falter when he catches sight of me watching him over my shoulder. His eyes smolder, and there’s a very clear bulge in his pants. I wink at him and head downstairs.

Malcolm catches up to me halfway down and grabs my arm. I glance down at it and then up into his eyes, arching my eyebrow at him.

“Don’t think I’m going to let your little show this morning slide—or this outfit, for that matter.” His gaze rakes over me, and I shiver. There’s a predatory gleam in his eyes that has my panther panting. “I don’t know what the hell you’re playing at, Liv, but make no mistake—”

“Don’t try to threaten me with a good time, Malcolm,” I purr. “You need to make up your mind. Do you want me and this bond or not? The whole ‘saving me from myself’ bullshit is just that, bullshit. You either want me or you don’t.” I pull my arm away and keep walking down the stairs. “Now, we both have somewhere to be.”

As I enter the dining room, I notice that Ayla and Caleb are already there, along with a few of the other Council lackeys we brought with us. Everyone is deep in conversation, but it’s nothing serious by the sounds of it, so I take my time getting myself some breakfast and coffee. Malcolm stalks into the room, shooting a glare at me as he roughly takes a seat with his arms crossed.

“Well, okay, big guy,” Ayla starts. “What the hell has your panties in a knot?” Her gaze flicks between Malcolm and me, as though she’s trying to solve the world’s most difficult puzzle.

“I don’t think you need to be delving into their personal affairs, Ayla.” Ayla turns to level a glare at Caleb, as though the mere thought of not being involved in my personal affairs is offensive to her.

I choke down a laugh.

I decide to change the subject. “What were you guys talking about when I walked in?” Ayla is going to corner me when we’re alone anyway, no need to discuss this in front of everyone.

Ayla casts me a narrow-eyed look before answering, “We were talking about visiting the Council’s library to see if there’s any information about the prophecy itself. But first, we wanted to search my parents’ cottage. It’s something I feel should not be done with a bunch of random people around.” She throws that last part at Caleb.

“Why don’t you and I tackle the cottage? We can take a small group with us, and they can stay outside like the good guards they are. Malcolm and Caleb can head to the library.” I don’t miss the glare either male aims in my direction, but given Ayla’s huge grin, I know we’ll get our way.

“You need to keep the bond open at all times,” Caleb growls. Ayla nods her agreement and starts to guzzle another cup of coffee.

“Olivia,” Malcolm growls in a low warning, “let’s talk alone for a minute.”

“Let’s not.” I shoot a tight-lipped smile his way as I start in on my coffee.

“That wasn’t a request.”

“I’m a queen, Malcolm. I don’t take orders from you.” My panther growls her agreement with me, and I allow my eyes to flash over the rim of my coffee cup when I look at him again.

Fine. We’ll talk like this. Malcolm sounds annoyed, and I can’t stop myself from rolling my eyes. Poor, sweet, fragile man. You shouldn’t be going anywhere near that cottage. Not after what happened yesterday.

Look, I told you earlier, you need to figure your shit out. Stop acting hot one minute and cold the next. Once you determine what the hell you want to do, we can talk about things like partners. Until then, keep your damn opinions to yourself. I slam the bond shut.

Later that day, Ayla and I are sitting at the table in her parents’ cottage, trying to decide where to start. While the cottage is small, it’s clear there’s magic everywhere, and we aren’t sure if that magic is hiding something or simply part of the history of this place. It’s going to take us a while to unravel everything.

“So,” Ayla starts, “what’s going on with you and Malcolm?”

“He’s all over me one second, and the next, he’s telling me he’s staying away from me for my own good.” I huff and cross my arms over my chest. “You don’t make a woman come all over your fingers in the hallway of some random castle and then act like nothing happened.”

“Oh?” She grins over at me. “I was unaware of the finger banging in the hallway.”

“Last night. And because he seems to think I’m just going to roll over and show my belly, I took the sound ward off the wall between our rooms and flicked the ole bean in the shower this morning.” I grin back at her. “Loudly.”

Ayla throws her head back and laughs, which causes me to start laughing too.

“I love that you’re such a petty bitch. This is why we’re friends.” She sighs before giving me a stern look. “Don’t make the same mistake I did. Don’t push him away.”

“I’m not planning on it, but he needs to figure his shit out. I refuse to be a damn yo-yo.” I begin tugging on the end of my braid. “But I sure as shit don’t plan on making this easy for him either.”

“That’s my girl.”

“We should probably start trying to unravel all the magic in here, huh?” I gesture to the room around us.

“Why do you have to bring rational thought and responsibility into this conversation? I’m trying to avoid thinking about how difficult this is going to be.” She shoots a glare at me. “But you’re right. We need to think of a way to get through all of this.”

Almost of their own volition, our eyes drift back to the symbol on the mantel. It showed us pieces of the puzzle yesterday, so perhaps there are more symbols carved around the house.

“It’s a place to start anyway.” I’m not even mad that she read my thoughts through our pack bond. “I’ll take my parents’ room if you’ll start out here?”

“Sure. I know you didn’t get a chance to go in there yesterday. Do you want me to step out and just give you a minute?”

“No. I’d rather have you close. This is going to be an emotionally draining day.” Ayla stood and walked into her parents’ room, not bothering to close the door.

I start running my hands over the table, trying to feel for any carvings in the wood. Even if there are other symbols like the one on the mantel, they may not be as easily visible. My mind starts to wander as I continue my search, reflecting on what we witnessed yesterday.

Lucifer went to anchor the prison for the Härja. If recent lore is to be believed, Lucifer is the ruler of Hell. So those seven dark creatures are imprisoned in Hell with Lucifer. Who voluntarily left. Didn’t Darcy say she was changed by Lucifer?

There are so many missing pieces to this puzzle that it’s hard to even get a vague understanding of the completed picture. A timeline would be good. I send the mental note to Kelly since she’s also eyeballs deep in research and would probably do a better job of the task anyway.

Getting up from the table, I make my way over to the beds tucked in the corner. I poke my head underneath and notice a small wooden box. My hands start to close around the box when I feel the call of magic surge through my veins.