It was a bit funny, the way Francia sneered at Candido and how offended he looked. I didn’t think there were very many people who would chance getting on his bad side, but Francia didn’t seem to care. To be fair, I got the sense that Francia was far older than anyone else in the room. I bet we all looked pretty childish to her no matter how mature we might be.Still, I would never want to be on the other side of Candido’s glare. I looked up at him as his expression turned angry. He bared his teeth at her and his eyes flashed.“You don’t know—”“He can be,” Vanessa said, cutting in. Candido’s mouth clicked shut. His nostrils flared like he wanted to speak, but he was holding back. It was kind of amazing that someone could make him be quiet like that. “As his father and so many other men in the family have been, but what he lacks in maturity, he makes up in fortitude and a good heart.”Candido’s eye twitched as he looked at Vanessa, but he said nothing.Francia’s lips twitched into a wr
The words made the whole room go quiet. I felt most of their resistance to the statement. The members of Blue Moon seemed ready to fight. Then, Candido shot to his feet and left. I jumped up and went after him as Vanessa started to speak.“I think this is a good time to pause this conversation…”“I’m sure,” Francia said with a sneering tone. “Wouldn’t want your alpha king to miss anything.”I grimaced, wanting to turn back and defend him, but I followed Candido out of the building and onto a terrace that overlooked a remote section of some mountain I didn’t even recognize.I wasn’t sure what to say. I just wanted to be near to him and try and make him feel better. He was silent, staring out into the distance. He didn’t seem ready to scream or fight. He just seemed sad and a bit lost as he leaned against the railing and hung his head.He let out a deep breath and I put a hand on his shoulder. “Are… you okay?”He said nothing, but it was enough of an answer. I felt a bit antsy, wanting
Francia turned to us slowly. Her gaze drifted over me and then to Candido. She looked like she wanted to shake her head and pat Candido on the head as a conciliation prize.“She wouldn’t be the first to give birth to a hybrid,” Francia said. “And does it truly matter whose child it is? And what do you think he plans to do with this child? It’s probably not even his first one.”My stomach dropped. “Not his first one?”“How many could there be?” Vanessa asked. “I thought vampires were the undead.”“It doesn’t matter?” Candido asked.Francia chuckled. “The thing you call death, a vampire would call a new life. It is the main reason why Francium can say that he did not kill Claire.” She paused. “Among other reasons.”I glanced at Francium who gave me a tense smile.“And all living vampires, in some way, are descendants of the vampire king,” Francia said easily. “They are very different than the werewolves of today, though we are all related to him as well.”I felt Candido flinch beside me
Francium was escorted by armed guard back to a room somewhere else on the compound while Candido and I headed back to the room I’d woken up in. I hoped he and Claire were able to be near to each other. I didn’t know how it worked with hybrids, but I knew that I didn’t want to be far from Candido and I hadn’t even gotten my full moon mark yet.My stomach fluttered with happiness at the thought of what it would look like when it was complete, about how it would feel to know that my alpha king really was mine, and I was his queen.As soon as the door closed, he was on me, backing me up towards the bed and pressing his lips to mine. I wrapped my arms around him, thrilled about it, and letting him kiss me as deeply as he wanted. We fell backwards onto the bed with a soft grunt. His hands skimmed over my body, kneading, and squeezing as he licked into my mouth and groaned.He slotted his hips between my thighs and rolled them against me, sending flashes of pleasure through me. I rolled my h
Claire and her parents left the room and Candido directed them to meet with the staff to arrange dinner for them that night and Francium.“We’ll talk more about you returning to school when this is all over, later.”Claire’s lips twitched and she nodded. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”“Enjoy dinner,” I said, waving them goodbye.“Hedy,” I turned to look at Candido. “Will you join me for dinner? There’s… a new restaurant I think you will enjoy.”My heart fluttered and I pressed closer to him. “Like a date?”His eyes softened and he nodded. “Like a date.”I nodded, “I’ll go up and get ready. What should I wear?”“There’s… a red dress in your closet. It’s new.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Enjoy the tub, get some rest, and indulge me? We have hours before dinner.”The problem was that I didn’t want him to wait. “Can’t we have lunch?”“We will, but it will be here.” He smiled. “Besides, I have work to catch up on, and you need more rest.”“You need more rest too. We could just go to lun
I turned back to my room closing the door behind me. My heart was so full. I was almost dizzy with the feeling of Candido’s lips against mine and his voice in my ear. I shivered and walked away from the door.Then, a knock sounded on the door.“Yes?” I asked.The door opened and Candido stepped in. His eyes were full of light and hungry. My heart lurched. Then he was across the room, cupping my face and kissing me. He turned me towards my bed and shove me down. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him against me.He groaned into my mouth and lifted me up. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but it didn’t matter. I just hoped this wasn’t another dream.He kissed me and ran his hands over my body. I shivered and gasped. Then, I felt something giving way, like there was a resistance in me that was falling. I pushed back against the feeling and he grunted, rolling his hips against mine and pinning my hands over my head as he kissed me deeply and possessively. I moaned and wrapped my
“Of course.” He shifted me a little until I was curled up in between him and the back of the lounger, blocking me from the wind and keeping me warm.“How is this, princess?”I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of his warm, musky scent.“It’s perfect.”I looked up at Candido as the sun began to rise and warm the air. The winter was more mild than usual. I looked up and saw the space heaters around us.“Good morning,” Candido said and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Care to come into town with me today?”I nodded. “That sounds great… Like another date?”His lips twitched. “A date unlike last night… Hedy—”I pressed a finger to his lips and met his gaze. “It wasn’t you.”His eyes narrowed.“Those… Those guys… I was drugged and I had no control over my powers. I…” I shook my head. “I felt my wolf giving in to you.”He flushed. His eyes flickered with light and he sat up stiffly.“I didn’t know what that meant,” I said. “I panicked. I thought I was… somehow still affected by everythin
He twitched and the SUV took off. I looked at him.“Why didn’t you say anything?”His lips twitched. “First thing you will learn about being queen, Hedy, is that the press has only one job: get a rise out of you. They make money when you respond.”He sat back. “I make it a habit of not playing their game.”I looked out the window and nodded slowly. “That’s why no one knows anything about you… Good or bad.”“They know what they need to.”We reached city hall and there were reporters there too, but we pushed past them easily and walked into the building. Once inside, he opened a bunch of documents for me on a tablet and sat across the table from me.I was about to tell him that I didn’t understand anything, but I stopped.He knew I was Pandora now. I didn’t have to hide anything from him.“We’ll need to deal with Red Moon,” I said.He nodded. “I agree… Let’s start with what we know so far and go from there.”We worked quietly for a moment before we ended up leaning over the tablet toget