Chapter 4 #2
Turning to me, he softly said, “I find that hard to believe.” No doubt hearing the whispers of our hiding staff, he peered behind me before extending his hand. “Shall we take a walk outside?”
I didn’t want to.
I also didn’t wish to be overheard when I offended him. Of course, I had yet to find out if King Breyron was a tattler. But time and again, members of our staff had proven to be.
Outside was best.
Ignoring the king’s offered hand, I led the way through the cherrywood doors, then down the three circular stone steps to the drive.
His carriage waited there, with two giant Pegasus before it.
One nibbled at its flared wing, black feathers rustling, as our newest stable hand set a large pail of water before them.
The young man, hoping to be turned into a vampire, almost tripped into the pail in his haste to bow to the king, who flicked him a gold coin. It spun toward the gaping stable hand. He caught it before it fell into the water and stared after us with wide brown eyes.
Once we’d reached the path beside the manor, I said dryly, “To what do I owe the pleasure, Majesty?”
“I told you to call me Brey.”
“And I told you that I did not wish to marry you.” Taming my tone, I added, “That I did not wish to marry at all.”
He had the decency to look somewhat contrite, cheeks coloring as he gave a winced smile to the pebbled path.
It failed to mollify me in the slightest. “You deceived me,” I whispered.
“Would you believe me if I said that I was not only enthralled but mildly terrified?”
“No.”
“Would you be interested in forgiving me?”
“No.” I charged down the path ahead of him.
He caught up quickly, his booted steps light over the cream stones. “You’re angry.”
“Angry doesn’t begin to describe how I feel, Brey.”
He was silent for some moments before saying, “I have to marry. I wasn’t aware you’d have reservations. If I had known, I would have at least spoken to you before—”
“You must be desperate indeed,” I said quietly. “To make such a deal without so much as laying eyes on your chosen bride.”
“I have seen you before.”
That slowed my steps. “You have not.”
“I have.” Brey plucked a rose from the vines crawling over the manor. “Many times, actually.”
Frowning at the rose he carefully held, I muttered, “I would remember seeing you.”
“Because you think I’m pretty?”
My rage returned. I stomped ahead.
Chuckling under his breath, he hurried after me. “You wouldn’t remember because you didn’t see me. No one did.”
I scoffed, but as realization dawned, I stopped and turned. “You were a cat.”
Halting far too close to me, he nodded. His scent engulfed like a cloud. A buttery citrus that distracted.
“So rather than attend them, you spy on events?”
“Some,” he said. “When necessary.”
“When necessary,” I repeated. Curious when I needed to remain furious, I gazed up at those eerie yet entrancing eyes. “Does this have something to do with your secret?”
A hint of a smile parted his lips. “Does this mean you now loathe me a little less?”
“If anything, I loathe you more.” I spun on my heel and continued toward the rear gardens. “I have a life, and because you apparently appreciate my candidness, I’ll gladly tell you that you’re ruining it.”
As if withholding a laugh, the king expelled a hissed sound. “I assure you it is not my intent to ruin anything.”
“The only thing you can assure me is an eternity trapped in something I never wanted.” A dry laugh had me shaking my head. “Actually, you cannot even assure me that. Not once our souls are linked.”
“You never know, lethal. You might like being married to me.”
“Don’t call me that, and I won’t.” It took effort to keep my voice from rising alongside my fury.
“And you won’t like being married to me either.
In fact, you’ll wish my father had given you all the gold on this isle to make your suffering worth it.
” That gave me pause, and I turned. “Just how much is he giving you, exactly?”
The feline king just twirled the rose between his long fingers.
“I know that’s why you chose me. I know your father was constantly gambling. I know for every windfall, he lost twice as much. We all know.”
I’d done it now—guaranteed a five-night stay in the cellar.
But stories about King Exayn had permeated our inner circles since I was old enough to understand what people were gossiping about.
Not only had he been a frightful man, prone to shifting into a large snake to intimidate his way out of trouble, but he was also a drunkard who’d never failed to sully an event with his crass humor and foul temper.
I expected Brey to finally snap and spew his outrage at me. To surrender and walk away, or at least appear somewhat mortified.
He merely tucked a hand into his pants pocket and shrugged before admitting, “A lot.” When I just gaped, he smiled and walked on. “Your father is giving me a lot of gold.”
His nonchalance provided no relief.
It made me doubt that I could say anything to make him reconsider this arrangement, which fanned the flames of my fury. As we left the manor behind and met the plush grass of the rose gardens, I hurried toward the small maze of hedges, hoping to lose him within.
His footsteps crushed the grass behind me. “You have every right to feel betrayed, but the way you’re behaving has me wondering if something more upsets you.”
“In case my behavior hasn’t made it abundantly clear, Majesty, I don’t care about your wonderings.”
“Are you scared?”
I whirled on him, skirts swishing. “Scared?”
He strolled to a stop before me. “Mm.” Tilting his head, he surveyed my anger-reddened face. “Perhaps even terrified.”
I was about to tell him to shove his assumption up his undoubtedly perfect ass when he held the rose he’d picked between us.
I reached for it before I could think clearly. Before I remembered I was surrounded by roses. I could get my own, and it would be far lovelier than this one.
As I clasped it, his finger slid up the stem to touch mine and snagged on a thorn. “I will treat you well.” He ignored the blood spiraling down his finger, a few shades darker than the rose petals. Our eyes collided, and he murmured, “So very well.”
A shuddered breath fled me.
His blood smelled earthy. Utterly divine. Unexpected and intense hunger awakened. As if I were a young woman on the cusp of maturing once more, it created an ache in my lower abdomen. A fire in my chest.
“You’ve cut—”
“Just as I imagined.” His finger stroked my own. “Silk.”
His touch broke through the haze of hunger. He was only touching my finger, yet it felt like a velvet-clad caress down the indent of my spine. It startled me. Annoyed me.
Completely baffled me.
I scowled at him. “You cut yourself to touch me.”
“Lethal,” he purred. “I think I would walk barefoot over miles of thorns just to touch you.” He then placed his finger on his tongue and slowly wrapped his plush lips around it.
And sucked.
That fire in my chest blazed, pushing faster breaths from me.
Before I could recover, he released his finger. “It’s true that I need to marry for the gold and to feed the wards. However, what I want is something else entirely.”
I blinked.
Unmerciful Mother.
Shocked, I laughed bitterly. He was good indeed. He’d almost ensnared me with a few words and a fucking thorn.
“Oh?” I retreated a step. “And what more could a duplicitous king want?” Turning, I walked into the hedges. “A nicer palace? Another lover?” I called, “Just so you know, you’ll need to find the latter elsewhere, Majesty.”
“Love,” he said, apparently wholly undeterred. “Perhaps we might come to—”
Again, I whirled on him. “Excuse me?” When he just stood there, my glower became one of searching disbelief. “Are you of sound mind?”
Maybe losing both parents in such a short span of time had limited his access to common sense. Rarely did born vampires marry for love. We married for survival—for the longevity of our species and our wealth.
Rubbing the back of his neck, the audacious king said, “Sometimes I do wonder.”
“You’ve only had a taste of how horrid I can be,” I warned. “And I’m quite certain nothing will dull the loathing I have for you.”
“Well, I didn’t mean now, of course,” he said. “Rather, one evening. When we’ve—”
“Stop.” I tossed the rose at his feet. “Take your delusions and your chests of gold and return to your dreary palace, Majesty.” Once again, I hurried away from him. “I hope your carriage falls out of the sky and my father’s payment rains down upon the slums of the city. Now that I will love.”
This time, he didn’t follow me.