The Queen's Conquer

Chapter 26 : The Memories that Remain

Vadon • [va-dôn]
Wilderness; uncultivated tract of land.

🖤

~+~

~ Samuel ~

The twilight hours following our ground-breaking fucking incident are well spent cleaning off in our large bathtub—a second occasion for Anastasia this evening, except this time I'm able to be there with her—and later stuffing our faces with a frozen pizza I dig up out of the freezer while dozing off to some obscure, cheezy movie on the couch. Thankfully, a hot bath helped to relieve most of the soreness between her legs, but I know the effects will still linger well into tomorrow morning.

As I now lay here with my mate, soothing her to sleep while the movie plays in the background, all I seem to remember is the joy of her laughter when I'd attacked her with my signature barrage of kisses in the tub; or the way I'd felt her heart flutter when my arms squeezed around her while she had a pepperoni slice half in her mouth.

The little things like those make me more aware of how simple acts can completely alter her mood. Though our conversation from earlier regarding the command I gave Eira still lingers in my mind, tonight shouldn't be spent arguing about something that can be dealt with during a better time.

Anastasia's prick of a friend, Max—a male I'd gladly maul if it wasn't for current circumstances, was who had her sobbing into my chest the entirety of our drive home. He was what forced utter hatred to fill my veins, consequently fueling some inner possessiveness of mine when Anastasia had walked into my office with those glossy eyes. All I could remember before pinning her to my desk was the raw words he spoke during our meeting—the looks I watched him give my mate, as though he also sensed the womanness and self-reliance she's grown into since the first time I fucked her.

It brings me a sense of satisfaction knowing they never had any previous sexual relations—a detail Anatasia told me once when I asked about the bastard's relationship with her—and that she never felt such things towards him. That I'm the first and only one she's ever truly loved.

But I'm now more worried than ever about sending her and him away to their home kingdom, several nights together, without the ability to keep the sonofabitch in check. I have no doubt my mate will be able to do it for me; she's the one who keeps me in line, after all. As for him...that's a whole other story. And I need to make sure I get the message screwed into his thick fucking skull that if he even attempts to pull shit, I will be the first to make sure he regrets the decision. 

"Why are you still awake?" Anastasia suddenly mumbles from where half of her face is squished into my shirt.

I'm shaken from my heavy thoughts, tilting my head down to see her sleepy emerald eyes glittering up at me. "Just thinking," I murmur back, my arm unconsciously tightening around her blanketed frame as my other hand continues to play with her hair.

"Well, you think very loudly," she grumbles.

I quirk a brow at her. "What are you talking about?" I half-laugh.

"It's like your personal thoughts are connected to our bond—our mindlink, or whatever," she explains. "I can't hear exactly what's in your head, but I can feel everything. And right now, it feels like you're about ready to explode."

I chuckle a bit more freely, kissing her forehead for what feels like the hundredth time tonight. "You don't think your thoughts and emotions bother me all the time, too?" I question. Under our heaps of blankets, I feel her pinch my side. "Ow, ok, ok. I was only kidding, I'm sorry."