Princes of Ash (Royals of Forsyth University, #8)

by Angel Lawson

I see now how womanhood is gained in Forsyth. It’s not about age or biology or losing one’s virginity. It’s about pain.

“We know,” I say, offering him a cold smile. “Who do you think outbid him?” Remy takes this in with a delighted snort. “Being outplayed by the King of East End. And he calls me the family embarrassment.” I’d be disappointed by his amusement—so hard to get a rise out of this one—but I don’t expect any different. If there’s one thing the Royals have in spades, it’s daddy issues.

“That’s the thing about our girls, you see. They’re red and purple, born to fight.” Remy leans over, slamming his palms on the armrests. “All we gotta do is give them the weapons.”

Lex would sink into her softness. Wicker would seek out the toughness. But I want it all.

“Verity Sinclaire is the best woman in Forsyth. Wanna know why?” He flinches as I lean in, my stare hard. “Because she’s mine.”

Effie’s voice softens. “Gentle, gentle.” I stroke distracted fingers along her back. “Yeah, that’s our girl.”

Verity Sinclaire might not like belonging to me. But she’s about to find out that belonging to Lex is so much worse.

Wicker Ashby is so many terrible things. He’s a liar. A womanizer. A bully. A spoiled brat with knives for words. For all I know, he’s an actual murderer. This is Forsyth, after all. But all that knowledge never prepared me for another horrible facet of him. He’s also a cuddler.

“You were right before. We made a deal. No sex while Wicker gets his shit worked out. But my shit is that you’re under my goddamn skin. I want to be done with it. Done with you. There’s no treatment for this. There’s no group on campus where I can go to talk about the insatiable need I have to fuck my Princess, and that urge is worse than jonesing for a hit of Scratch.”

“This must be why men have testicles. They need somewhere to store all the fucking audacity.”

Maybe I don’t need to break them apart, but instead, figure out a way to tie us all together.

“You were dead the second you touched her.”