I walked towards Layel's palace, with the king himself beside me. The masses of vampire's parted to make way for their king and their new queen.
Queen.
I'd never wanted to be one, denied it even, and here I am once again a queen. I wonder what Layel would say if I told him I was the rightful queen of the Amazon's.
I smiled at the thought.
"Why are you smiling?" Layel asked joy suffusing his beautiful features.
Gods I love this man. He was perfect in every way and he was Mine.
I opened my mouth to reply when I caught sight of a familiar face.
"Shivawn!" I cried and broke away from Layel's embrace to hug the nymph.
"Delilah?" he asked incredulously, returning the embrace "Why are you here?"
I heard a fierce growl behind me and looked back. Layel looked at Shivawn with a gleam of absolute murder in his eyes. Alliances conveniently forgotten.
"Do not touch her. She is mine!" Layel roared, striding forward
I smiled smugly and kissed Shivawn's cheek just to enrage him even further. Shivawn laughed and held me tighter, recognising the mischievous glint in my eyes. I heard another growl, this one feminine. I looked over his shoulder and met the eyes of a pretty vampire. I looked back at Shivawn and understanding dawned. Slowly I smiled.
"You never told me you were mated"
"I never had the chance. You choked the life out of me as soon as you saw me" he replied
We both laughed.
"Remove your hands from my mate or you will lose them" Layel growled, his voice dangerously low
"Mate?" Shivawn asked, surprise flitting over his face "So the beautiful Delilah finally chooses her match. And her match is the legendary king of the vampire's no less. I should've known" He rolled his eyes
"Yes and that mate will kill you if touch her a moment longer" fury reigned in Layel's voice
"And I will kill her, Shivawn if your arms remain around her any longer" the female vampire stated with vehemence
I rolled my eyes. "You better do it Shivawn. He does get a bit possessive sometimes"
"So does my mate" he replied resignedly, releasing me
I stepped into Layel's waiting arms.
"Jealous?" I threw the challenge over my shoulder, as Layel's arms tightened possessively around me
"Once I would have been. Now I will never want another"
I faced my friend and saw love shining through his eyes for the mate that was in his arms. He leaned down and kissed her, drawing it out as long as possible.
"Why, are you?" he asked gently, his eyes never leaving his mate's face
"Don't delude yourself Shivawn, I have my own mate" I said as I gazed up into Layel's clear blue eyes. Desire flared inside of them. One of his hands fisted in my hair and the other tightened around my waist pulling me closer. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck to kiss him. He met me just as fiercely, his tongue thrusting itself inside of me. In that moment nothing existed except Layel. His touch. His scent. His perfection.
"Delilah please, couldn't you wait until you reached your bedchamber" Shivawn interrupted with laughter in his eyes
Slowly, reluctantly I disentangled myself from Layel's embrace. He kept one arm around my waist as if he couldn't bear not feeling me against him.
"How do you know the nymph?" Layel immediately demanded, jealousy colouring his tone
I laughed at the memory his words conjured. I looked at Shivawn and saw embarrassment colouring his cheeks.
"Shall I tell him?" I asked Shivawn teasingly
"No you will not" he ordered
"You of all people should know I was never good at taking orders, Shivawn" I turned and faced Layel again
"Well?" he asked impatiently
I arched my eyebrows "You dare use that tone against me, Layel?"
"Sorry. Please tell me how you know the nymph". As he said the word nymph he shot a withering glance at Shivawn
"Well among the Amazons we have an annual mating season where we choose a man to bed. The men are captured and blindfolded so that they will never be able to find the camp again. Shivawn was one of them."
"You bedded him?" Layel's voice was laced with pain
"No I didn't" I reached up to touch his face in reassurance. He caught my hand and held it against his cheek "Though he desperately wanted me to"
"No I didn't!" Shivawn protested, as his mate growled
Ignoring him I continued "We lined the men up and each of us chose the man we wanted to bed. Most of the Amazons chose Shivawn, but before you can bed the man you had to fight your sisters for him. The one who emerges victor will take him. The men themselves are allowed to choose an Amazon they desire. Shivawn named me as the one he desired. I didn't truly want him but I hate to lose a fight so I won the tournament. And I took him to my tent" Layel's arms tightened around me pulling me away from Shivawn. His face a mask of pure hatred.
"He attempted to seduce me, but I resisted. Though he was angered that anything female did not desire him, we eventually began to talk and found that we had a great many things in common. We became friends over the course of the next few years"
Layel relaxed slightly. Shivawn, on the other hand look mortified. His mate was murderous.
"Alyssa! Don't you dare look at my mate in that way" Layel roared, his every protective instinct rising.
"I apologise my king" she looked meekly down
"Alyssa I do not desire her anymore. I swear to you that you are the only one for me" Shivawn promised her.
Slightly mollified she attempted to give me a smile. I returned her smile with one of my own. I heard Layel suck in his breath and I looked at him. He was looking at my lips with such longing that I ached to satisfy him.
"Come Layel. Let us go" I said.
Taking the hint, he took my hand and led me up the stairs. Layel's castle was huge; its riches were beyond anything I had ever seen. But I was not even slightly interested in the palace; all I cared about was that I could spend the rest of my life here, with Layel. He led me down a corridor and through endless passages until we finally reached a huge wooden door. As it opened I saw a huge bed. I was at the entrance of Layel's bedchambers. The thought made me heady and white hot desired beat through me. I grabbed the collar of his shirt and drew his mouth towards mine.