Jasmine arched an eyebrow, then giggled as Theo handed each of us a beautiful cotton candy flower.“You ladies are getting together again in a week?” he asked.“I hope that doesn’t bother you,” I said. “I always try to make sure that I have something to serve for dinner. What would you like?”She tapped her nails together thoughtfully. “I know this might sound really weird, but do you like tacos?”“I love tacos,” I said.“Good. I’d like tacos,” she requested.“Done. I bet I can even make homemade pico de gallo.”Jasmine licked her lips. “Sounds amazing. Thank you.” She pointed down the path. “I should probably be heading out. I’ve got stuff to do this afternoon, and it sounds like you do, too. But I’ll see you again in a week. Thanks for inviting me out. This was fun.”“Thanks for coming out with me. I’m glad I’m making new friends.”She grinned and waved and walked away, nibbling at her cotton candy.I fell into step beside Theo on the way back to our car. “I don’t know if you want t
The next morning, I woke up with a whole new determination blazing through me, pounding in my head—or maybe that was just the after-effects of the alcohol. But whatever the reason, I had decided that I wasn’t going to let Charles get to me.I guess I really had been right. He did need another sort of woman, the kind who could be the alpha wife he needed. And I had my access to the dark web now, so I wasn’t in a horrible place.I was going to double down, and I would personally solve the problems plaguing Packhaven, even if I couldn’t solve the problems plaguing my own life. I threw myself into writing nothing but feel-good articles for my editor while I waited for my next get-together with Jasmine.The night Jasmine came over, Theo excused himself and went into the bedroom, shutting the door. I tiptoed over and put my ear to the wood, pleased when I could hear that he had started up a program.He had been watching some thriller series about espionage. Personally, I thought it sounded
I gasped and pushed Theo away from my body. “What happened?” I asked.My whole body was shaking, adrenaline rushing through me, but nothing seemed wrong anymore. Above us, the shouts of construction workers reached my ears.I looked up and saw loose straps on a crane dangling several stories up, and one of the windows in the tall building was out. They must have been trying to replace the pane when it dropped.I waved up to them and then turned my attention back to Theo. “Are you okay?” I asked.He sucked in a little bit of a breath. “I think so.”Something about his voice said he wasn’t. I turned him around and found his shirt was shredded, and small cuts covered his back, blood oozing from them.“Oh, Theo,” I groaned. “That looks miserable. I’m so sorry.”Hot guilt bubbled in my stomach. I’d known that my bodyguard was there to protect me, but I never thought that he would get hurt for me. And if Theo hadn’t pushed me out of the way, I might not even be here.“Are you okay?” he aske
The door to the elevator slit open, and to my shock, Charles stepped out. All of a sudden, I was so flustered I couldn’t speak. My tongue was tied in knots.The same feeling of strangeness that clung to everything in the apartment also clung to Charles. I loved him, but it was also like he was a bit of a stranger.He froze just outside the doors to the elevator. It wasn’t until David pushed him toward me that he finally woke up, as if in a trance.“Elena,” he said.“Ch-Charles,” I stammered.It wasn’t until he took another nudge from David that he stiffly asked, “Would you like to come in?”That was so weird, hearing an invitation into what had been my own home. And judging by the expression on his face, it was just as awkward for him to say.“I think that would probably be okay,” I said, looking around the hallway nervously. Though, I don’t know what I had to be nervous about.“Right? Yes, come on in.”He opened the door and stepped aside so that I could come in. As soon as I was thr
Charles leaned toward me, resting his weight on one arm on the sofa cushion. His expression stayed just short of fierce.“Did you never think about the fact that there were other ways around my mother’s demands other than creating an argument?”I opened my mouth and shut it quickly. Oh, Goddess. Had I really been stubborn and blind?“Other ways?” I whimpered.What if everything that had gone on was largely my fault?
Charles followed me into the bedroom, keeping so close that I nearly tripped over him. His hands kept skimming their way all over my body, up-and-down my back, through my hair, against my hands and my hips.It was going to be a struggle for him to sit still long enough to hear the most important words that I had to say. But I was positive that once I got them out, his immediate need for sex would get pushed to the back burner, and he would be able to focus on bigger problems.Sure enough, the moment the door closed, he pulled me against him, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my neck. “Are you sure this can’t wait?”
I broke our kiss and stepped back. “I want to continue this, but we need to finish our conversation first.”Charles looked frustrated but didn’t say anything to stop me.“I’ve hidden the laptop in my bag.”“The one that I brought in here with us?” Charles asked.“I don’t think Theo will rummage through my stuff.”“Do you really trust him that much?&
“Charles!” I gasped. “Since when did you get so pervy?”He chuckled, leaning in and kissing at my ear. “I’m a man. We may not say it, but we’re all perverts in our own heads.”I sighed and let my knees fall apart so that he could get easier access to my lady parts. “The time I overheard them, they were trying to be kept quiet in the second bed in the single bedroom. But I kept hearing him slap against her.”“Did it turn you on?” Charles whispered in my ear.
For one moment after I arrived in the garden, the sun blinded me, and then my eyes cleared. Before me spread an amazing event: the wedding of our country's princess.It still hadn't fully sunken that I was that princess.The guests sat in orderly rows of brilliantly white chairs festooned in lovely shades of blue and lavender. I had chosen them because they most reminded me of the moon, and I wanted to honor the goddess at this event, as well. Without her, I would not only not have been at this wedding, but I wouldn't have been alive. She had done so much for me. The least I could do was throw a little recognition her way.I clutched the bouquet in my hand, and Theo hooked his arm through my elbow. “Are you ready?” he asked.“I'm ready.”We took a step toward the altar on the red carpet spread out in front of me, and the music swelled. The quartet played a beautiful melody full of promise and love.I didn't see the people looking at me, specifically, only that all eyes were on me. My
I signed and kept my head tipped back, inviting him to kiss my neck. Charles obliged, working himself inside me with the magic he always seemed to conjure up, driving my excitement higher. My heels fumbled for a place to rest, and finally, I settled for wrapping my legs around him, gripping his hips with my thighs and locking us together.Charles groaned and pulled us as tightly together as possible. And I wouldn't let him go. This left his movements small but the pleasure intense.His rubbing quickly brought me to orgasm, and I tried not to make too much noise and call attention to what we were doing. I really didn't want to be held in contempt for defiling the judge's bench or some such.A moment later, Charles got his release. He stepped back and tided himself, allowing me to do the same.“Now,” he asked with a grin, “Are you ready to go outside and face your adoring public, my princess?”“As long as you're by my side, I can face anything,” I agreed, hopping off the judge's bench.
“Of course,” Queen Yarrow said, “details like training successors aren't left to chance. The king and I already had arrangements made for a royal tutor, assuming that I would get pregnant one day. I'll connect you both with him. Hopefully, you can get started right away.”“So?” I asked the judge. How exactly does this work? What do you mean? She asked, looking quizzically at me. “I mean, what do I do with myself? Where do I go from here? When does all of this happen now?”She said, “The king will be escorted out of Orlune. They're probably already helping him pack. From there, he'll be on the next flight off the vampire kingdom. You get to move straight into the castle if you wish. It's essentially your house now.”“There's no, there's no legal paperwork or anything like that?” I babbled. “It just seems so abrupt.”The judge grinned. “I'll have all of that taken care of taken care of for you. So you don't have to worry about it, your majesty.”“Come, my dear,” Queen Yarrow said, putti
By now, the king’s lawyer had a hand on his shoulder, whispering furiously in his ear. The king gripped the arms of his chair so hard his knuckles were white. And if he could have turned people to stone with a look like a gorgon, the judge and I would already be statues.Still, the judge spoke as if unafraid. “The former king will serve out his sentence off the shifter continent, in the vampire countries,” she announced.A murmur went up from everyone in the gallery at that, but the judge held up her hands. “I chose that location specifically. It has been a standing tradition for generations upon generations that vampires and werewolves do not get involved in one another's politics.”“I would imagine he will find it very difficult to sway anyone into doing his dirty work for him in a country that holds itself neutral. Thereby providing anyone in Orlune that the king feels has wronged him in the safest position that I am able to leave them in.”Further murmurs rose up from the crowd, a
I hadn't even caught my breath when Charles scooped me up in the hardest hug I'd ever gotten from him. It was so hard that it almost drove the remaining air from my lungs.The rest of that morning flew by as Charles and Gwen helped me to avoid questions I couldn't answer from the press while Theo, David, and the other four guards pushed a path through the paparazzi so we could navigate our way back to the safehouse.We decided it was better to stay there than go back to our apartment, yet, at least until we made sure that any of the king's remaining supporters were under control.Gwen wore a mysterious smile on her face for the rest of that night and into the following morning. But I couldn't get her to confess to what she was up to. We'd barely finished breakfast when someone knocked on the door.Gwen hurried to answer it and admitted two people who took my breath away. One of them was Cathy!Since I didn't know the other, I ran straight to Cathy, hugging her as tightly as I could. T
It took me a long time to fall asleep that night, plagued both by worry and growing apprehension over how the next day was going to play out. It could end up being the longest, most brutal day of my life, if I had to spend it waiting and wondering what the jury was going to decide.Worse, what if they took weeks? Months? I’d go crazy before I found myself free from this mess.When we woke in the morning, Charles distracted me by teasing me in every possible way before bringing me to yet another overwhelmingly intense orgasm. I would never have thought that pleasure and pain could be such close neighbors, but he managed. However Charles and I were connecting in bed right now, it was certainly coming very close to more than I could handle.Theo must have told the chef what my favorite foods were because when Charles and I left the bedroom, breakfast was waiting for us. And it was one of my favorites. Belgian waffles with lots of fresh strawberries and whipped cream.I sat down and ate r
I kissed Charles, and he pulled back, eyeing me. “Should we be careful or anything?” he asked. “You know, for the baby.”I shrugged. “It's not like I've been pregnant before, but I would guess not. The doctor didn't say anything about that.”“And you haven't even searched things like that online yet?”I shook my head. “How could I? I've been so busy, not to mention the fact that I'm trying to keep certain people from finding out.”“Then we'll go slow and be careful,” he said.His kisses came soft and gentle, and his caresses all over my body were the same. Keeping secrets from him had been a bad idea. Now that they were out in the open, just these small touches made the connection between us feel so much more real as if I had closed some invisible distance between the two of us.This drove me to smash our lips together, desperately seeking the rest of the connection that I hadn't even realized I'd been missing.He chuckled and pushed me back. “What happened to taking it easy?” he teas
All of a sudden, a whisper of a breeze rippled through the courtroom and around my head, whispering reassurance in my ear. This breeze wrapped itself around me and then swirled out into the courtroom, where it produced an answering wind of murmuring whispers. Suddenly, everyone was shaking their heads, turning toward one another. Members of the jury shook their heads as if trying to clear them.Again, I heard a whisper in my ear, and I recognized the voice of the moon goddess. “Don't fear,” was all she said. And then her presence was gone. But the entire courtroom, everybody in the gallery, the jury, the judge, the lawyers, and even the king had all relaxed.The judge brought her gavel down and dismissed the jury to go deliberate. But this time, I wasn't frightened. The goddess had never steered me wrong yet. And she told me not to fear, that I needed to trust her and the fate surrounding her and me.I scurried out of the witness stand and back to my spot beside Mr. Wilcox. “What was
When I exited the bathroom, the importance of the day hit me in full measure. Today I was going to court. What and God's name was I supposed to wear?Someone knocked on the door, and I wrapped my towel tighter. “In a few minutes,” I called.“Elena?” I recognized Gwen's voice. “I brought you a suit for today. May I come in?”“Yes,” I said.She opened the door and entered the bedroom.“I'm just fresh out of the shower.” I bit my lip, feeling foolish. As if she couldn't gather that by my wet hair. But I seem to need something to fill the silence.She held up a garment bag. “You'll want to look your best today,” she said.I let Gwen dress me, taking comfort in the fact that she knew her way around important functions as a luna. When she finished, she grabbed my face and gave my forehead a kiss.“Do exactly what the lawyers, Charles, and I tell you to,” she said. “I don't want you to leave my son a widower before he's even officially married.”I patted her hands, which still rested on my c