Kindred Souls Complete Series: Books 1-4

Chapter Twelve

He wasn’t what I expected. He wasn’t the arrogant asshole I imagined and prepared myself for. I wasn’t sure if his confident and charming exterior was real though. I didn’t want to trust it or him.

“Tell her what you brought her,” Sky said, pure mischief in his eyes.

“Ah.” Aster rubbed the back of his neck. “Indigo and I put together a wardrobe for you. It will make things easier on all of us if you dress a little more appropriately for palace life. Though I admit, I’m partial to you just like this.”

I gulped at the heat in his eyes as he raked me over with his gaze. “What kind of clothes?”

Sky snorted, holding his hands up when I scowled at him. “Our girl here isn’t fond of dresses, my friend. You aren’t doing yourself any favors.”

Aster shrugged. “She has no other choice. My father will look for any excuse to end her. This is his worst nightmare, his son’s kindred being someone who is so openly against the crown. You must at least pretend to fall in line. It is the only thing that will satisfy him. And we are nowhere near ready or prepared to take him on yet. You are going to need to act like you are cowed and obedient. Something I am assuming will be difficult for you.”

Sky snorted again. “You have no idea.”

I shrugged. “We’re all assholes.”

Even Whist let out a chuckle.

Aster grinned. “It would seem you have a type.”

I fought the answering smile trying to curl across my lips. “Apparently.”

The prince sat his mug onto the table. “Would you allow me to escort you to your class? It begins in half an hour.”

I sighed. “I guess. Where are these fancy clothes I’m supposed to suffer through?”

Sky rose from his seat. “I’ll help you.”

I eyed him with suspicion. “I’m not wearing anything like that dress from last time.”

“You’ll have to tell me more about it. Only Whist got the pleasure of seeing you in it.”

Whist sent me a heated look, one I tried to avoid, not comfortable discussing it in front of the prince. It was hard to believe it was only a couple weeks ago. It felt much longer, like I’d known them forever.

Without looking at any of them, I followed Sky down the hall. He led me to the one room I hadn’t gotten a chance to snoop through before Saber found me. It was a simple room, one with only a couple plush chairs around a low table.

“What do you use this room for?” I asked.

Sky shrugged. “Nothing, really. It ended up being where we put extra furniture.”

I glared at him. “So you do have a room that could be mine.”

He shot me an unrepentant grin. “Nope. It’s storage. Sorry.”

I considered pushing him, but my eye caught the rack of dresses. The corners of my lips pulled down. They wanted to wrap me in frills and froth so thick I wouldn’t be able to run away.

Sky ran a soothing hand up my back. “I know, doll. It’s ridiculous.”

“I suppose I need to get used to it. Let’s find the least shitty one of the bunch.”

“Indigo has excellent taste, and she isn’t a huge fan of dresses either. She’ll have chosen well for you.”

I flicked through the choices, halting at a simple gray dress. Sky was right, the choices weren’t bad. They were more elaborate than I preferred, but none of them were like the green dress Whist gave me to wear. The gray appealed to me. No flounces or heavy beading and the material was smooth and soft.

Sky narrowed his eyes as I held it up for his inspection and nodded. “I like that one. And it’ll match a present Saber got you.”

“What present?”

“I’m not going to tell you. It’s a surprise. Now put the dress down and come here.” His tone changed, the light good humor gone, his dominant, commanding nature taking its place.

I laid the dress along the back of the chair and approached him. He stared down at me a moment before his hands slid beneath the bottom of my shirt. I raised my arms as he slid it up my torso and off of me. Instead of touching me like I wanted him to, he grabbed the waistband of my pants and shoved them down my legs. I stepped out of them, his hands on my waist keeping me from falling over.

I stood before him in nothing but my underwear. He looked me up and down with his ice blue eyes bright with desire. My fingers ached to touch him, but I forced myself to stay still.

Sky reached out and drew a finger down the center of my body starting at the base of my neck all the way down to the band of my underwear. He dipped beneath the band and teased my clit. My knees buckled, and I gasped, but Sky’s other hand caught me. He kept rubbing me as he settled me onto the other chair and knelt on the floor between my legs.

“While you’re in that boring class, I want you to think about us and what we’ll do to you once it’s finished. How good we’ll make you feel.” He leaned forward and took one of my nipples into his mouth.

My legs widened, wordlessly begging for more. Instead, he stood and stepped back, picking up the dress. “Let’s see how this fits.”

I groaned and scowled at him. “You are an evil asshole.”

He winked. “I know. But we don’t have enough time for me to properly ravish you. And I want you to think about us while you’re in that class. Think about what’s waiting for you when you’re done.”

“So the class is even more tortuous?” I hauled myself from the chair.

“The prince will be with you if you have an itch you can’t scratch.” Sky avoided my eyes as he unbuttoned the back of the dress.

“Are you trying to talk and tempt me into giving into the bond with him?”

“Maybe.”

“Why?”

Sky shrugged and slid the dress over my head. “He’s my friend. He’s a good man. And your first three kindreds worked out really well. There’s a reason you’re bonded to him.”

“Is there something between the two of you? Like with Saber?”

Sky turned me around to button up the back. “No. Nothing like that. We’ve just been friends for a long time. He’s the spare, you know. His father never gave a shit about him, too busy grooming Indigo to be the next Queen. Somehow neither of them turned into him. I don’t want you to miss out of something wonderful just because of who his father is. He’s wanted his kindred as long as we have. Longer, actually.”

A shard of guilt lodged in my stomach. “How do I reconcile it though? How do I ignore who his father is? How long can I play this game? And I don’t want to be a princess trapped in the palace. It was never the life I wanted.”

“I don’t know, doll. But it’s the life you’ve got right now. And you could do a lot of good here, help change things. None of us will push this on you. But we won’t lie to you either.” He twisted my hair up into a soft, simple bun.

“I don’t want you to lie to me. I want to know what the three of you want.”

“But we don’t want you sacrificing more for us either. We’re behind you either way, doll.” He stepped back. “You look perfect. No one’s going to look down on you now.”