The Hybrid Queen Book 2

Previously.....

"You shouldn't speak in such a manner to vampires, you little human." His ghostly white eyes were the most haunting sight she had ever seen.

"You wouldn't have to mind my manners if you hadn't approached me in the first place, vampire."

He moved too fast for her to track and panicked when she felt him behind her. He yanked her hair back, and she forced herself to endure the pain, so she wouldn't scream.

"You know, creatures like us love a challenge; therefore, Jack and I would love to cool down that fire of yours."

"I'd just end up burning you instead."

He jerked her hair again and she winced.

"Such a sharp tongue," he leaned in and took a whiff of her body fragrance. She couldn't escape, getting out of a vampire's grip was the most useless action in the world for a human.

Before she could deem herself defenseless, both men dropped to their knees. Their hands flew up to their heads, and they yelled out in agony.

Simone searched for her savior and saw Darius blazed with vengeance. She had never seen his eyes so dark and concentrated on one thing, pain. He smirked as he praised his work of having both men crying out for their lives.

"My prince, please." They both begged.

"Was that any way to treat a potential queen to the throne?" Darius' heated voice rang with fiery.

"No, no my prince. We had no idea."

Their petty pleading made no difference. Darius possessed no sympathy. He was blinded to any justification for their cruel intentions towards Simone. Watching Darius torture the defenseless vampires frightened her; not for her safety. She truly believed with all her heart Darius would never purposely hurt her ever again. She could sense his sick enjoyment of their misery, and that was a side of him she had never witnessed before.

"Darius stop," she warned him as Aurora and Luca approached them. "Dar, please."

Darius' facial features relaxed, and the haunting male cries stopped. Two security cops came forward from the crowd that had gathered around due to curiosity. Most were struck with fear and disbursed as quickly as the shock wore off.

The car ride back to the castle was cold and quiet. For once, Simone's tongue was caught. There was nothing she could say with the kids present. She felt him wondrously glancing at her occasionally but she didn't dare look back. How would she react? She couldn't connect all the emotions running inside her head.

Athena was at the entrance to greet them. Simone couldn't have been more pleased to see her.

"Can you get them ready for bed? The kids are exhausted."

Athena bowed and pushed the two little bodies towards the stairs. "Of course, my lady."

Simone watched their tired little bodies drag their feet upon the stairs. Even after they were gone, she had nothing to say to him. Simone causally took her leave, but even her maneuvered light steps were laced with controlled anger. She was upset with him, therefore; he closely followed her into the study room. Darius slid the French wooden door shut and awaited her wrath, but she remained silent. Never in his life had he yearned to hear her voice than at that moment.

"You're mad at me." He stated, hoping to dissolve the tension. "Simone I'm sorry if I scared you. I didn't mean to-"

"That's not it," she finally turned to look at him.

"Then what is it? Something is definitely upsetting you." He took a step closer because all he wanted to do was hold her and tell her he would never hurt her.

"You...you enjoyed that, didn't you? You enjoyed torturing those men." She crossed her arms over her chest for leverage.

Darius exhaled his willpower. He could never win with her.

"What was I supposed to do? Let them get to you. I stopped them the only way I saw fit. They are extremely lucky. The pain I caused them was a fraction of what I could have done."

"Wow!" Even his tone was insincere. There was no indication of remorse. "Do you hear yourself?"

He finally saw it in her eyes: disgust. She was the only one to cause him to hate himself and almost his very existence. Nothing ever felt good enough.

"Simone they were going to kill you," his heightened rage grew louder.

"I understand that, Darius, but my problem is not them. Yes, I am genuinely grateful you showed up when you did, but my concern is you. You thrive off their pain."

It wasn't right. She wouldn't let him convince her otherwise. Darius' darkness was powerful. He couldn't deny it.

"You are complaining about my method of punishment?"

How could he make her feel so foolish? He was justifying his actions by procuring her safety. He did it for her.

"No. The way you find pleasure in others' misery is what I have a problem with."

"Oh Simone, will you ever be satisfied?" Protecting her was going to be the death of him; he already knew it. "You always have to find something about everyone and make it into something completely out of line."

"This isn't about me," she fumed. Darius' menacing look was starting to make her question if she should challenge him.

"No it's about me and my flaws. Yes, Simone, I have a past. I have tortured and killed more men than you could count. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

She knew all this. Why was she constantly reminding him of what he was?

"Is that what you want me to do? Do you want me to scare you off because trust me, any sequence of my past will have you running for the hills? I never claimed to be a saint Simon. I have done so many gut-wrenching things in my life I'm not proud of, but that is not who I am anymore."

"Then who were you when you were torturing those men?" She spat viciously, and it honestly tugged at his heart.

He wanted so badly to please her, but how could he give her the answer she wanted? "Yes I enjoyed it," he shamelessly yelled. "You want to know why because for a split second, I thought about what if I haven't been there in time. What would have happened to you then? I was afraid." Afraid he'd never see her again.

"Afraid?"

He groaned. Darius believed no amount of torment he had endured in his life amounted to the torture she was forcing him into now. "I did it because I love you. I'm afraid of losing you."

His conflicted confess rendered her speechless. Perhaps she hadn't heard him correctly.

His eyes melted to pools of compassion. "You make me feel alive again, Simone. You drive me crazy, but I love every second of it." He crept closer to her. Her shallow breathing was scaring him, but he figured she was just overwhelmed. "I love your every form of crazy, even the one that wants to kill me."

He chuckled, and Simone still couldn't concentrate on anything but breathing and the sound of his voice.

"I have never loved or cared for someone so much in my life."

The silent seconds after his proclamation felt like lifetimes.

Simone's eyes began to water as she whispered, "Say it."

Darius knew instantly what she wanted to hear. "I love you."

She strutted with determination. "Once more."

"I love you." The words effortlessly flowed off his tongue.

Simone crushed her lips against his with so much bent up passion, she rocked him back. Her arms closed in around his neck and he lifted her up off the floor.

"Again," she brushed against his lips.

"I love you, Simone Rose Regan."

She claimed his lips one more time, not wanting to let go of the piercing feeling running through every fiber of her body. He parted from her luscious, demanding lips and rested his forehead against hers.

"You mean every word, don't you?"

He nodded. "Yes sweetheart. I mean every word. I love you and only you."