Sweet fuck, she looked gorgeous on her knees. Thorne Black was a strong man and resistant to temptations, but this woman had tried him since the day she’d met his family. He’d wanted to ask her this for so long. He stood before her with the box in his hand and he opened it, taking a breath to calm himself further as her silky lips distracted him. Focus.
“Sephiria Tepes,” He began, holding the box and the beautiful silver circlet in his hands. “This is a collar. It is not a collar to enslave you to my wishes, but a collar with which you are to honor yourself. You are and always will be my equal; I need you to know that, and believe it. This collar only will be placed around your neck with your permission and understanding of what it entails. I will not be putting it on you today, because you do not understand what it means. For the meantime, I will teach you, and we will take our time to learn what it means for you.”
His queen-to-be looked shocked but in awe of what he said, but she nodded and inspected the necklace. “I understand. You know well that I have a lot to learn about trust, and you know how hard this is for me. I appreciate you not rushing me on this…though I still…really..*” Her face turned pink as she grew quieter, her eyes darting from him to the floor.
Placing it into her hand, he knelt down to face her at eye level. “What do you want, My Queen?”
Queen? How long it had been since she’d been called that, and this time it was out of nothing but love. The gentleness he showed toward her was breathtaking, and made her body quiver all over again with the need to be filled. Seph looked into his eyes and spoke to his mind, so she didn’t have to say it out loud. I want you, Thorne. I’ve wanted you for so long, and I cannot stop myself from staring at you.
Intrigued, Thorne chuckled and cupped her chin. “No, my Queen. You will say it with this mouth…the mouth that hungers for more than just blood tonight,” He ordered with a sultry grit to his voice as he murmured against her throat. “I know what you want. Your body, your scent gives it away. I can read a woman very well…something else that Avreal never told you, is that you are not my first to hold the Collar. Avreal and I were…very open, and how often she dreamed of lying between your legs.” To make a point, he slid his hand down to cup her dampening sex, tenderly pressing his palm against her aching clit.
“H-Haa! Thorne, th-that’s…” She whined in his hand as he wrapped his other one in her silky alabaster locks, the white contrasting against his tanned skin beautifully as though the two were made to blend.
“I’m not done, little one,” He purred, getting up for a moment and circling around her as he spoke, slowly but surely coming around to stand behind her. She stayed kneeling, despite her every desire to get up and pounce. Thorne could see her struggle. “Such restraint. What a rigid wall you have built around yourself, my dear. It’s this very thing that I will bring crashing down, because it holds you back from your potential. You have been taught to hate yourself and what you have become, but what for? Your skill is unparalleled in battle, your diplomatic and compassionate self has saved entire countries from war, and you have nearly given your life multiple times for the right reasons…what have you been so ashamed and self-hateful for? What crime have you committed? Being what you are? A Vampire?” He gripped her hair a bit tightly, knowing she’d be alright with that after last night, and she swooned a bit in his grasp. It was a damned good thing he was holding her up. “Answer me, darling…or I let go.”
Sephiria was cornered and she knew it. This was the day she ended her grief, and began to face her demons. Her friends from before had told her that she would need to face the truth eventually, and she hadn’t understood what it meant. Now, she was all too aware of what they wanted her to face. It was time to tell him. “…My crime was devoting myself to a God who cannot save me from this. I was born cursed…Quinchaveous told me such when he rescued me from Vlad.”
“Quinchaveous was a liar.“ Thorne growled, loosening his grip on her hair in favor of wrapping his fingers around the underside of her face. “You will not listen to his voice in your mind. You shall hear me and my praise of you, my girl. Do you understand? He has no place in your heart, that demon.”
Gulp. Sephiria had never seen him this way; he was not angry with her and that was evident, but he was certainly angry for her. It was incredibly arousing, especially with his hand on her throat like this. “Yes, My King,” she agreed from the heart, nestling her head in his hand by turning it a bit to the side. Her submission was so sweet that he loosened his grip and cupped her face.
“I am not angry at you, my love. He stole you that day, not rescued you. Your situation might have been worse at the time, but he had full intention of using you in the same way that man did. May the gods curse them both where they lie.” He kissed her softly, tasting her mouth on his tongue as well as her soft little whimper. She was in so much need that it had to be hurting her, and he was aching as well. “I know it will not be tonight that you erase your self-doubt, or your pain. It will never leave you, dear, but it will become easier to sleep…and live outside of fear. Give me this trust. You are no monster, and certainly no Christian.”
Spotting the cross tied to her neck, he entangled the twine in his fingers and pulled. It snapped off and it was tossed into the fire, melting slowly as the silver bubbled. He explained to her that the necklace had been coated, but that coating was beginning to wear off…making her dreadfully ill, which explained her intolerance for warmth and heat. Vampires were fully capable of going out into the day once fully healed and at full strength; Quinchaveous had given that to her as a gift when he had taken her all those years ago, and it had been slowly poisoning her. Out of sheer relief, Sephiria let out a breath as she listened. She hadn’t been losing her mind all this time.
“It’s also likely to give you nightmares,” He spoke again, ending his explanation there. “The enchantment on it was to remind you of your sins, rather the sins he forced you to commit. The guilt is not with you, love. None of it was.” Thorne helped her to stand and brought her to the furs by the fireplace, full of pillows and knitted fabric to cover up with – lined with more fur.
She laid down and it was by far the softest thing she’d ever felt in her life. The texture was heavenly, but what he was about to do would have her feeling far better. “If you believe you are full of sin,” Thorne began as he removed his breeches and knelt between her legs, lowering his chest to hers so their faces would meet, “Then let me cleanse you, by the might of my Gods. They accept you, my Queen, as you should accept yourself. Is this what you want? To be cleansed of sin?”
“Yes, my King,” Sephiria answered as he neared, feeling his heartbeat in his chest against hers as their lips met. She wrapped her legs around his lightly, more giving them a place to rest as his cock twitched on her belly. He made no attempt to go near her pussy yet; he’d make her beg like he did last night.