I hissed in pain as Seb shoved me roughly back into my cell.
The door clanked shut and sighed before collapsing heavily onto the bench, the chains that held it up rattling.
I looked up. The guards from before weren’t here and I was alone. I tugged at the back of my dress. Now would be the time to change before they came back and started leering at me.
I hauled myself up, tugging again at the back of my dress. I hope I can get this off; it’s too damn tight to stay in. I quickly went over to where those bastards had dumped my clothes in a pile and picked my cardigan up off the top.
Underneath, in a crumpled heap lay my bor
I chuckled into my wine glass. The memory of shoving Adelaide Knox into my dungeons in my castle made me feel powerful. Her face! The almighty Chosen One! Nothing in comparison to me. The True Queen. I didn’t want to have to bring her out, but Magnus was right – we needed to show a united front as far as possible and parading the Chosen One around was a show of strength, such as it was. I relaxed into the throne, absent-mindedly swirling my wine. Maybe I could start work on Magnus again? He still hadn’t let me experience that magnificent moustache.
I’d been glaring at these two bellend guards for so long my eyes hurt. I’d forgotten I wasn’t wearing a top under my cardigan, but they’d noticed straight away. Dickheads. Alive for however long and still don’t know how to be respectful. I leaned back; head resting against the wall and sighed. Now all I can do is wait. *** I startled awake; no idea what had woken me. I blinked the sleep from my eyes and looked around. My two ‘guards’ were fast asleep – mouths wide open – snoring like grumpy old men who’d drunk too much down the pub. I should take this opportunity! I stood up to make my way over to the door and almost tripped over a bottle and pork pie lying on the floor. What? ‘Be ready’ a note on the pie read. This must be Lise? Why didn’t she get me out now?! It seems like the perfect opportunity! Fuck. Is this a trap? I’m not eating or drinking any of this. I sat down on the bench and hid the bottle and pie next to me. It really did look like Lise’s writing. And
Fury.Sheer incendiary fury.How fucking DARE they!?One day! They’d given me one day before those treacherous twunts tried to smoke me out of my own bed!Dethlefsen had turned traitor. The base of the castle had been set alight, from the inside. I snarled at the thought.I suppose I was just meant to think it was a coincidence that the suite I’d given him was the nearest to the ignition point.It was clear my dear cousin had always intended to bring the f
“Ras?” “I don’t know” “What just happened Ras?” “I don’t know” “Your eyes were fucking blue Ras! Sulphur blue! What the fuck does that mean?!” “I. Don’t. Know!” I yelled, slamming the steering wheel for emphasis. “I don’t know what the fuck just happened Lars – I told them to stop, and they did. We needed to escape, and we did. That’s all I know. Doesn’t seem like a bad thing though, does it?”
“HOW did this HAPPEN Magnus?!”“Lyksborg called a retreat My Lady. We are lucky”“But HOW is this lucky? We had everything on our side!”“My Queen; Vestergaard was just one who crossed openly. It would appear that many were playing both sides and ultimately chose the Lille Konge” he spat the last two words.“ARRRGH!” I turned to one of the few remaining servants scattered about the building. “Girl! Fetch me The Chosen One from the dungeon!”She nodded and scampered off quickly. Goo
“Help!”Lars called as we entered the nearest human hospital.I wanted to go to the next one, one borough over, where I have people I can trust, but Lars wasn’t sure Leda would make it, and ultimately that won out.“What’s wrong with her?” a nurse came running toward us“She’s very sick!” Lars answered and the nurse raised an eyebrow"Exactly what is wrong with her?" She turned to me in question."For fucks'
I never wanted children. I just. I guess I just wasn’t interested. Colleagues’ children were lovely. Plus, I got to give them back. I was busy making a name for myself. He was busy...well. Making babies with everyone but me as it turns out. I choked back a sob. Dr Vanum had told me I was potentially perimenopausal. The idea of children hadn’t even crossed my mind; I was just so relieved I wasn’t going insane.
Where the fuck is that infernal thing?! Why is someone calling me at two in the morning?! Who is calling me?! I didn’t recognise the number. Odd. “Hello?” “Is this – Is this, er, Rasmus?” a woman asked “Yes. Who is this?” “Oh!” she sniffed; was she upset? “Mr Rasmus – I – It's Ms Kirk!” “Leda?!” I interjected “What’s happened? Is she all right?!” I hauled myself out of bed and started throwing clothes on. “It’s Stefanie – the, er – the nurse from the hospital. I heard screaming. I heard Leda screaming.” She started to sob. Fuck. “Stefanie? Stefanie? Can you tell me why she was screaming? Why have you called me? Is everything all right?” I tried to keep my tone calm and even, but no one calls someone crying in the middle of the night because everything is fine. I should have installed someone there! “I thought – I thought she was having a nightmare. I – I called you because she asked me to. I went in to see what was happening. T- to see if I could wake her. But-"
(THIS CHAPTER TAKES PLACE TWELVE YEARS AFTER CHAPTER 61) LEDA POV Rasmus calmly walks through the door to the suite, and I look at him, annoyed. “Why do I let you do this to me?!” I huff, as I bounce on a medicine ball. He grins “Mmm.” He pretends to consider the question as he stalks over to me “Because you love me” he announces confidently. He places his hands on my cheeks and turns my head up towards him; pecking me gently on the lips. I narrow my eyes at him, as he saunters back over to the other side of the room. He looks back at me, notices the look on my face, and gives me a smug, triumphant grin. “Less and less by the second” I tell him, bouncing harder He laughs “Funny. I seem to remember you saying something awfully similar last time.” he settles on the armchair’s arm. I flinch as a pang hits me and I grip hold of the back of the dresser chair next to me. “Breathe, min lille tærtebund, breathe.” Rasmus looks worried, but I grin – well, probably more gr
RASMUS POV Ten years. It passed in the blink of an eye. Leda took to the role of queen like a duck to water, not that anyone but her ever had any doubt. She still hasn't opened her own bakery and she's still got an unhealthy obsession with Greggs pastries. She took her knowledge and skills from the university and got a degree in psychology. She's been helping with those vampires who struggle with their rebirth. She's still the most perfect creature in existence. The biggest obstacle we've had to overcome has been the 'council'. Because Leda was right, of course. Some of the council ‘men’ – I sneer at the thought – seemed to assume that Leda would be a queen similar to Carlotta. It started with inappropriate comments. I thought I’d shut them down well enough but then Orm decided to corner Leda after a meeting. I grit my teeth as I walk along.
The two of us remain silent. A hush descends over the crowd. “King Rasmus.” Harald addresses me directly before turning to Leda “Adelaide” he smiles indulgently as she scrunches her nose up. “Will you take Adelaide to be your wife? Will you take King Rasmus to be your husband? Will you love each other, comfort each other honour and protect each other, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to each other as long as you both shall live?” “We will” Leda and I respond simultaneously. I catch Leda smile at me from the corner of my eye and I reach out to squeeze her hand. Harald coughs and I retract my hand quickly. He nods. The crowd titters. “I understand you have your own vows? King Rasmus if you would like to read yours first?” I take a deep breath and turn to look at Leda. She smiles at me and reaches out to hold my hand. Harald coughs and she tuts at him, shooting him a glare. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head with a smile; giving up, just like that! “Leda” I whisper. She squ
I wanted to surprise Leda. I’m not sure if the new law was the way to go about it. She just looks... confused. “Come.” I tell her “I have one more surprise for you.” I just hope she’s less confused about this next surprise. I lead her through the castle corridors to the royal suite – it's been completely redone since Carlotta’s death. It was one of the first things I did – try to rid the place of any and all Danneskiold stains. “Did you... did you enact that law for me?” Leda suddenly asks. “I did. Well, with you in mind. Nothing will ever take away what I did to you, Leda.” I sigh “But also, Carlotta forced people to turn – I can’t conscience that. I don’t know what I was thinking when I did it to you, but I –” “Thank you” she interrupts and takes my hand. I smile down at her, squeezing her hand gently. We reach the suite and I open the door and step aside, so Leda can enter first. She steps in and I hear her short intake of breath as she looks around. Ca
It’s been eighteen months and Rasmus has finally given in. Today he will officially be crowned king in a big ceremony with loads of droning ‘councilmen’ who think they know best because they voted him in. Even though he was born to the role and has been doing a better job of it than anyone else for almost three hundred years. I told him to let them have their time and then pass a law disbanding them. He looked at me like I had six heads. I still think it’s a good idea considering how much stress they’ve caused him. I’m about to knock on the door, I know he’s practising some speech but... I just want to see him. “Are you sure about this Ras?” “Yes. I have to make a stand. Leda suggested I just disband them all; I think this is better.” I swear I hear Torstein shrug. “Maybe you should ask Leda?” Lise is in there too!? “Huh?” I choose that moment to push open the door “Ask Leda what?” “We’ll let Rasmus explain!” Lise quickly squeaks, then grabs hold of Torstein
She impales herself on my cock.Fuck. She’s intense – I need to keep it together.Leda places her knees either side of my thighs and hooks her feet back over my legs. Proceeding to rock back and forth, my eyes roll back in my head.Fuck! I sit forward, taking a nipple into my mouth and nipping it gently. She moans in pleasure which spurs me on; I take the second nipple into my mouth as I grip her hips, holding her against me as she rocks.
I pull on his hair, tugging him back up toward me. He obliges, and our lips meet in another fiery kiss. This time, I manage to hook my toes over his waistband and tug down his trousers and boxers in one go. His cock bounces free. I look down in anticipation and am momentarily stunned. A good 1.5 inches thick, his cock is oozing precum already. Standing to attention, it’s about seven inches long – verging on too big. I swallow. This is mine now. I grin and lick my lips. Rasmus smiles at me indulgently, as he reaches over to the bedside table. “What are you doing?” “Uh... I put these here a while back...” he mutters sheepishly as he pulls out some condoms. “Condoms?” He looks at me, eyebrow raised “I know I admitted to being a prick, Leda, but I’m not completely irresponsible.” “I - I guess I never thought about it.” I mutter. Suddenly feeling a bit ill about all the unprotected sex I had with Sebastien. Rasmus notices my change in mood “Leda? Are you OK? Would
I broke the kiss. We were both breathing heavily. As soon as I broke away from him, I wanted, no, I needed his lips back on mine. Where they belonged. Instead, I opened my stupid mouth. “I’ve got an idea.” “Mmm?” Rasmus moved back slightly; giving me space to speak and again, I wondered why I’d broken the kiss. Neither of us need to breathe now. We could have just stayed like that forever. “Maybe you could use that vampire super power of yours and take off all my clothes?” I whispered to him, reaching out to take hold of the collar of his top and pull his face back to mine. I thought I was being coquettish, but it doesn’t have the desired effect. Rasmus takes a step away from me. Definitely not what I was going for. “My vampire superpower? I... I don’t understand?” “I thought you could... y’know... use it to, er, spice things up?” I try again “Maybe? No?” He just looks so utterly confused. It’s kind of adorable but that’s not what I’m looking for right now
I’m enjoying the back and forth between us. It feels like this is how it’s supposed to be. I force myself to ask her on a date whilst we’re both stuck in the car – I have to ask and she has to answer. “You want to get food?” she asks “There’s a place I found; I want to see what you think of it.” “OK” she shrugs “I could eat.” I turn off the main road toward the manor and circle back on ourselves, back into London. “Where are we going?” “Surprise” I grin She arches an eyebrow “A good surprise?” “Yes Leda, a good one.” I sigh. I probably deserve that. She sticks her tongue out at me and I resist the urge to turn and bite it. *** I pull up on the side of a little street. Leda looks around confused “Are we still in London?” “Yep.” I smile at her. “It’s a little off the beaten path...” “You're not taking me to a local place for local people, are you?” I laughed and got out of the car. Before I’d gotten round to her side to open the door, she was a