Emory“This is her?” a blonde woman with a pointy nose asks, her raised finger barely sharper than her beak. “This is the fucking breeder?”I take a deep breath, not wanting any trouble. I am obviously outnumbered, and while I have no problem kicking Opal’s ass and her friends’ asses, I have a feeling I can’t take Prince Lex and Prince Jacob. Not at the same time anyway. I imagine they’ve both got some sort of warrior training.“Good morning, Princess Opal,” I say, tipping my head down. “Prince Lex, Prince Jacob… ladies.”“Don’t you know you’re supposed to stand and curtsy when you’re in the presence of your superiors?” Opal says, kicking me in the leg with her shoe. It’s not hard enough to hurt, but it doesn’t feel good.“Oh, but don’t you recall, sister dear,” Jacob says, pulling her back by her arm. “She’s a princess, too, remember?”That gets a laugh out of most of them, though when I look at Lex, he’s not laughing. In fact, he looks a bit concerned, like this is going to go south
EmoryMy head is aching, and my shin is throbbing, but when I look up to see King Kane standing near the side of my bed, it’s like all of the aches dissipate, and the only thing that matters now is him.I start to sit up, but he stops me with a motion of his hand. Helga and Nellie are gone, and it’s just him and me now. I don’t move, but he comes to sit next to me on the bed so that his hip is right next to mine.“Are you all right?” he asks, his voice full of concern as he gently brushes my hair away from my face.I am lying in an awkward position to be able to talk to him, and I do feel it is necessary that I let him know what happened, at least to a degree, so I roll my hips toward him and scoot up a bit on the pillow, while holding the ice bag in place over the lump on my forehead.He takes it from me, and once again, his fingers touch my skin, just briefly, but it is enough for a fire to begin to grow in my flesh, rippling through my body to create a knot in my core.“I’m all rig
EmoryKane’s mouth is smooth and warm as his lips move against mine. Once again, I’m surprised that they’re not cold, but the longer he holds himself against me, the more those thoughts fade from my mind, and all I can think about is how badly I want this man who is touching me in a more intimate way than anyone ever has before.No fear resonates within me as his tongue taps against my bottom lip, prompting me to part mine. His tongue touches mine lightly, and my body is ablaze as tingles radiate down my spine and out through my limbs, causing a tightening in my core. He takes his time, his hand on my cheek as he steadies us, and I keep my eyes closed to savor the feeling of him, the taste of strawberries and cinnamon, not at all what I was expecting, the way his intoxicating scent wraps around me.When he pulls away from me, I find myself leaning forward, unwilling to release him, but the moment has passed, and as I open my eyes, I see a very serious expression on his face.“I need t
KaneKissing Emory was likely a mistake, but as I rush down the hall to the room where my brother, Prince Jacob, all of Opaline’s consorts, and the princess herself are awaiting my arrival, I can’t say that I regret my actions. The warmth of her lips lingers on mine, and I can still taste her on my tongue.She may regret letting me kiss her, though. It seems she is confused about the relationship I have with the princess from Scarlett Thunder, and I honestly can’t blame Emory for not fully understanding something I can’t comprehend myself. It doesn’t make sense that I would marry someone I hate simply to have a child unless I thought I was going to die and leave my throne to no one, but I plan on living a great deal longer, and my brother can always rule in my stead if I decide this isn’t the life for me.I will have a child because it is expected of me….I push those thoughts aside and try to do my best not to think of Emory either as I enter the room off of the library where I asked
EmoryAs I eat my dinner, I contemplate whether or not I am letting myself get carried away with the feelings I am developing for Kane. I have heard about women becoming obsessed with their captors before, but it doesn’t seem like he is my captor. On the contrary, in many ways, it seems like he is my savior.I sit at the table in the little dining area, eating a nicely prepared game hen, as well as several sides, and wonder whether this is what they are eating in the dining room tonight as well or if this is especially prepared for me. Last night, I hardly ate anything since I was so nervous, but tonight, I am practically swallowing my meal whole. I am glad to see I also have a slice of chocolate cake. Perhaps it is easier for me to eat without goblets of blood sitting everywhere.Helga and Nellie are in the room, but I think their cleaning is really more just to keep me company. They meander around, dusting things, moving items from one spot to another, not really doing anything. I s
EmoryI am trying my best to fall asleep, but my mind continues to spin with thoughts of Kane and the kiss we shared earlier in the night. The feeling has faded from my flesh, but it continues to burn in my mind, and I can’t help but wonder if there’s any possibility he is still thinking of me.Dinner has to have ended long ago, so I wonder what he is doing now. I imagine him sitting behind his desk in his office or lying in his bed sleeping. Vampires do sleep a bit, don’t they? My father used to say they did, so it would be the perfect time to attack, except he never figured out how to take advantage of that.I sigh and roll over, thinking I will force myself to sleep when an odd feeling settles around my middle. I feel a tightening in my core, and my breathing becomes shallow.Immediately, I sit up, my eyes focused on my bedroom door. I sense that he is there before the door even opens. He steps into a beam of moonlight filtering in through the window, standing there with his irides
KaneI walk back to my room, collecting the shoes I’d left in the hallway, my shirt in my hands, thinking about what a horrible fucking person I am. There’s simply no way to ever explain or justify what has just happened, not to anyone who isn’t a vampire anyway, and I completely deserve it if Emory never, ever wants to speak to me again.Thankfully, the hallways are mostly empty, except for the occasional servant passing through them. None of them dares to speak to me when encountering me in such a state, and I can imagine servants working this shift have a multitude of information to keep to themselves about the comings and goings in the castle.All I want to do now is climb into my bed and hide under my blankets for a long while, until I figure out a way to go back in time and change what’s just happened—after I have a large glass of blood, anyway. I can still taste her; I can still feel her on my skin.I can’t let myself think about how she tastes sweet like morning dew or how I’v
EmoryI wake up sore in places I’ve never felt before, and it takes me a moment to remember why. I try not to even roll over because of the muscle pain I feel in my core. Blinking against the sun streaming in from between the splits in the curtains, I feel a pain that radiates from my forehead, where I’d crashed into Rainer the day before, through my skull, and out the other side. But that pain is nothing compared to the one I feel in my heart.A groan escapes my lips as I note I can still smell him on the bedding. I can still smell him on me. I push my head beneath the pillows, wondering what time it is but simultaneously not caring. I want to go back to sleep and wake up three days ago when I still had some control over my life. I want to remember all of this so I can avoid making the same mistakes twice. I want to take Lola and run away from home, but when my father tells me we are coming to visit the Vampire King to discuss his spoils of war, not his debt that he is rightfully owe