2 — ONE TWIRL AND A DIP AWAY

VANESSA

This one was probably the popular whore of the royal family who viewed women as trophies.

Indeed, every family had a black sheep. And he was theirs.

Disgust rolled within me when he had the guts to reach further down and cup one of my ass cheeks, pulling me tightly against him and rolling his hips.

I shoved down my discomfort and cocked a smile, tilting my head to look at him clearly. “Keep your hands where I can see them, or you’ll find yourself dancing with a limp.”

The smile had not slipped from my face as I said this, but his was now a mask of the jolly that was there a few minutes ago.

Yet, he threw his head back and laughed. A scratchy sound that prickled at my skin.

“I’d like to see you after the dance.”

“Really?” A mocking laughter slipped out of me before I could think better of it.

He tried to say more but the music saved me again and the circle shifted, placing me in the hands of another rando.

Twisting my neck to find him in the crowd, he mouthed, “In private.”

Come to think of it, it was a chance to be in close proximity with the King, perhaps. A girl could only try.

So I nodded yes, broke eye contact with him and kept my gaze locked on the man adorned in black and gold a few feet away.

Everytime I reached for the next partner, I prayed for it to be him, but fate was cruel tonight. At first, it was some fat man who snatched my hand and twirled me away just as I reached for Leonidas’ sleeve.

Then it was a boy who I looked to be older than. Setting eyes on my cleavage, the tip of his ears turned the brightest points of red. In his nervousness, he kept stepping on my toes.

He mumbled, face pinched tight in embarrassment. “S-so sorry, my lady.”

The young fool.

I think I even spotted an erection hiding under his suit. With the way he bent his head awkwardly, it’d be easy to snap his neck for ruining my shoes and my mood.

But not today, I promised myself as I snatched another man in the next change.

Frustration bubbled up fast when partner after partner, Leonidas was still several paces out of my reach.

Fuck this.

I was ready to break protocol and simply walk up to him for a dance when the music took a sudden flow into a slower melody. The crowd shifted, catching me off-guard.

Tripping lightly on my dress, I stumbled forward, bracing myself for a clumsy collision. Instead, I slid into the croon of rock-hard arms.

I’d never felt anything so strong, yet so delicately careful with me. The heat of his body, coupled with the overpowering scent of male cologne sifted up my nostrils.

God, my head became woozy with want. Alongside want, came anger so overwhelming I felt it ring in my ears.

How do men go about wrapping their hands around people?

I looked up, prepared to give the person an earful with my palm, when all the anger I felt packed up and left the room.

It was the man of the night. He did not say a word, only watched me with a terrifying intensity that made me forget the main reason why I was here in the first place.

To kill him…Leonidas.

He opened his mouth and words slid out so smoothly. “You’ve been working very hard to find your way to me. Now you found me, shall we see if the dance was worth the pursuit?”

Shakily, I dragged the much needed air into my deprived lungs, while wondering how one man can look like he chewed gravels for appetizers, yet have a voice that made warm gushes in dry brooks.

He led me to the center of the floor, twirling me twice and dipping me. Slowly, he let me rise, his eyes…wait, they were two colors? One blue. The other…

I did not get a chance to catch what it looked like when he pulled me flush against his body, but unlike his crude brother, he was extra gentle about it.

“Don’t forget to breathe, Mi Corazon,” he crooned against the shell of my ears and my legs immediately felt like jello. “Now, tell me something. What is my lady’s name?”

“Geneva, Your Grace,” I replied without thinking.

He purred so deep I felt it in my own chest with our bodies pressed together. “I’ve never heard a name quite beautiful.”

Heat flooded my panties, one hot pulse after another.

No.

This was not the plan. Focus, Vanessa, damn it. Cutting off eye contact, I forced my heart to stop the staccato beats it was making.

“Look at me.” My breath stuttered when warm fingers caught my chin and lifted it slowly, leaving me no choice but to face him. “You were the woman at the balcony, no?”

With a heavy swallow, I nodded. “Yes.” Then, “Your Grace.”

“Perhaps you find the King to your taste, or have you been disappointed?”

God, his voice and the way it skittered over me, leaving goosebumps on my flesh, causing me to leak like a broken faucet.

Of all the jobs I’d taken, this one was proving to be the most difficult.

Fuck it, Vanessa. Just stick to the plan. He’s just like any other fucker you have killed, only the most good-looking. Take him to a private place, fuck him and kill him.

Surely, it was not that hard, was it?

Daring to be bold, I wrapped both my hands around his neck and pulled him down to the same eye-level.

From the corner of my eye, his guards stepped forward, probably to yank me off their King but he stopped them with a hand.

Oh, to have such degree of power. And just like that, another plan formed.

“The King never disappoints, Your Grace. You’re exactly as I pictured in all of my wet dreams.” My gaze lifted from his lips to his strangely colored eyes. “Would you like to know the details?”

For a moment, his gaze turned serious – and then he laughed.

A full belly laughter that had his shoulders shaking. “Maybe you should reserve those tales for my brother, princess. Since you landed in my arms, he has not stopped pinning me with that death glare.”

True to his words, I turned my head and there was the jerk from earlier. He was no longer dancing. With a glass of wine in his hand and his tall frame against the wall, he cocked an eyebrow and winked.

I cocked a lazy smile in reply but in my head, I knew who it was I was going to kill first.