Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 71131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
“I-I was curious.” I licked my dry lips again, lying through my teeth, I knew this guy, I worked with him. It was my job to infiltrate. But this, this felt different. “You know who I am.”
“I know who you are,” he snapped back, his expression hard. “The question is, do you know who I am, who I really fucking am, Del?”
“The heir.”
“Fucking royalty.” He was trying to scare me, his typical MO. I lifted my chin. His smile was more amused than angry. “Not that you care.”
“Couldn’t give a shit,” I said out of the blue.
He barked out a laugh. “And yet I feel like servants should always bow… maybe it’s just me, but isn’t that… respectful?”
My breath hitched.
Roman. Think about Roman.
We weren’t together at the time, but still. I love him, right? I love him more than anything.
And yet every part of me needed something.
Something more in that moment.
Something forbidden.
I found myself falling to my knees instantly.
King’s eyes lit up. “See? Isn’t that better?”
“Go to hell.”
“Oh, I live there already, but thanks for the directions. Do you take a left near self-loathing, or is it a right at depression and a drinking problem?”
“Maybe it’s straight,” I challenge. “Through silver spoons shoved up asses and saying yes all the time?”
“Oh, are we shoving things up asses now?” he teased.
I gasped.
“Cute.” He tilted my chin up at him, then tilted his head in such a predatory way I immediately got scared. “So, how will you serve me?”
I was about to call his bluff when I heard footsteps. “Del? Del, are you back here?”
It was my uncle.
Fear slithered up my spine and down again. King must have seen it because his mask slipped. Teasing replaced anger and authority as he stomped over to the door and jerked it open just enough to look at my uncle and sneer. “She’s mine.”
“Wh-what?”My uncle stumbled back.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I not make myself clear? I’m just years away from being your fucking king, sooooo, if I say she’s mine and that I have her, that means you do exactly what, you little shit?”
Nobody talked to my uncle like that.
I held my breath.
He would kill King.
I waited. It wouldn’t be pretty.
Instead, he stayed quiet for a long moment and then said, “I’m so sorry, King. I had no idea you had an interest. I’ll just… can you just make sure she gets home safely?”
I could almost hear King’s growl as he said, “She won’t be coming home tonight… I’m bored.”
“Oh.”
My eyes went wide.
My uncle didn’t even try to protect me. He didn’t demand to see I was safe. All I heard were footsteps as he walked off.
King shut the door and hung his head, then turned to me, eyes locking on. “Tell me everything, leave nothing out. You have fifteen minutes and then—”
“You’re going to fuck me?” I asked.
He frowned, then a ghost of a smile appeared across his face. “I was going to say I’m going to feed you, but if you’d rather—”
“No! No, sorry, I mean not that you aren’t— But there’s someone, and I—” It was the last word I uttered before I burst into tears.
King was faithful to every word.
He held me.
He fed me.
He protected me.
And in the end—he gave up everything for me.
And I still had no idea why.
“Hey,” Roman nudges me, and I blink, somehow surprised to find myself back in the present. “We really do need to go back inside, plus your fiancé might be looking for you.”
My fiancé.
Mine.
King.
I shudder again. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go back inside.”
We’re greeted with laughter, wine, food, and celebration. I hate it all. I hate that my uncle has the nerve to celebrate joining our families when everyone knows the only reason it’s happening is because the other five want peace, and King, for whatever reason, wants me.
An alliance.
Right.
Because that’s always worked so well throughout history.
I straighten my shoulders as Roman stands a few steps behind me like he knows we have to go back to putting space between us. We’ve kissed, but we’ve never had sex. No time, and quite honestly, I worry what would happen if my uncle caught us. Plus, I want it to be special, and so does he. So we linger, we touch hands, we kiss when we can, and we live this weird secret life that only Roman and I and my fiancé know about.
Weird. So freaking weird.
My smile starts to falter when my uncle looks over at me, his ever-present glare saying, don’t mess this up.
I feel like throwing up as I walk over to King and slip my arm through his. To his credit, he doesn’t stiffen, just looks down at me like he adores me when he knows where I just was.
“Hey.” He kisses my forehead, and his lips linger.
I shiver.
It’s involuntary.
Anyone would shiver when a hot guy kisses them on the forehead.