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If Cinderella considered her prince more wicked than charming at first, and wanted to unravel his darkest secrets and ruin him, this would be their twisted fairy tale…
As mortal poets and playwrights have said: all is fair in love and war. May the old gods have mercy on the Prince of Gluttony. A storm named Adriana is coming and she is merciless. At least where he is concerned.
Unlike most in the realm, who were utterly charmed by Axton, I despised the prince. There was no rule stating that just because I aligned with his sin I needed to like him personally. Which meant at least one of the old, major gods was indeed petty.
I swept from the room before she could reveal one of my most closely guarded secrets. I had a reputation to uphold, and if she blurted out the truth, everything I’d cultivated over the last few years would be ruined.
YOU’RE EITHER GOING to have the most intense hate sex in the history of the realm,” the Prince of Lust drawled from the seat across from me, “or—” “She’s going to castrate him,” Prince Envy said, swirling his signature cocktail, a Dark and Sinful, his expression one of mock contemplation as he sipped his blackberries and bourbon. “My coin’s on the castration.” Lust’s charcoal eyes lit with dark amusement. “Especially after today.”
Failure just means you’re trying and there’s no shame in that. Don’t let anyone tell you who you are. Believe in yourself. It’s your life and you’ve got to live how you see fit. To hells with everything else.
This stranger seemed to get pleasure from enticing me. He wanted me to choose him.
My stranger didn’t push, didn’t attempt to talk me into staying. He simply waited for my choice. And that was the most attractive quality of all.
No one ever mentally sparred with me like the hellcat standing before me. I found myself intrigued by whatever delightful nightmare she’d unleash from her mouth next.
“I didn’t think you’d come.” “A proper gentleman ensures a lady always comes first.” My lips curved. Clever, ridiculous male. “That line is old and tired.” “Thankfully I am not.”
The trouble with indulging one time was it often led to indulging a second time, then a third, still craving more. The next thing you knew, you were addicted. This stranger awakened a hunger in me, and I knew I couldn’t rest until it was sated.
In a time when all I should be focused on was my court’s safety, winning my war with Adriana, and the bridal competition about to be launched, Lady Frost crept beneath my skin, infected my thoughts. I blamed it on the fact that I hadn’t taken someone to my bed in years.
If my hunch proved true… complicated was certainly one word for it, though it might end up solving one of my problems. Even if it created a slew of other issues. I had to be wrong. Adriana Saint Lucent couldn’t be the mysterious Lady F.
My feelings had clouded my view. I saw overindulgence because I wanted to. But, in truth, Axton provided income to countless people, something he seemed passionate about and not duty bound to do.
“Just to be clear, I didn’t so much as kiss any of the suitors tonight. I was too busy thinking of how distractingly beautiful you are in that gods-forsaken dress to indulge anyone else’s desires.” The confession looked like it cost him dearly.
Adriana had gotten under my skin for years; it seemed only right that she’d finally burrowed deep inside and made me feel desire so strongly again. Hate and love were so closely bound—we were fools to think we could ignore whatever this was forever.
My brows rose. Axton was… doting wasn’t quite the right term, but he was certainly fussing. It was a side of him I didn’t know existed. Because he’d kept it hidden. Or maybe he’d just kept this side of himself hidden from me. The prince was full of secrets, it seemed. Axton was an enigma, a tantalizing mystery begging to be solved. Which was dangerous. Or perhaps disastrous for him.
Adriana’s face suddenly emerged in my mind, forever taunting me. The truth I so rarely admitted, even to myself, was that despite my reputation as a rake, I’d spent years turning away lovers, unwilling to pleasure them while I envisioned someone else.
They began to mock my many denials over the years, suddenly claiming they knew—dark magic or not—that we secretly loved each other, and I tuned them out until Sloth taunted me. “Anyone with a modicum of common sense could see you wanted her.”
“I have hungered for you in ways you cannot comprehend. I’ve craved you. More than my sin. You haunt me, Adriana.” I nearly shook from the confession. “My dreams are the only time I get to worship you. Do you have any idea how many careful lies of omission I’ve told over the years? The role I’ve played this last decade. All to hide the truth of how deeply, wholly lost I am to you?”
“The truth is, sweet nemesis”—I lowered my mouth to her ear—“I have not fucked a soul since the All-Sinners Ball. But I have made love to you a thousand times in my dreams. And I have never once yearned for anyone else to visit my bed.”
“I want to give you my royal mark.
“That wicked tongue is only one of the many reasons I love you.”
“I’ve adored you from nearly the first moment I saw you. I loved you when I didn’t like you. I loved you when you bested me. And when I bested you. I love your smart mouth, your clever mind, your darkest fantasies. Your brightest joy. I love that you never let me win, that any victory I have is fleeting but earned. And I will live out the rest of eternity loving you.”
“Marry me, Adriana Marianna Saint Lucent. Fight with me, vex me, love me for the rest of our days. Just as I vow to do to you.” My heart thudded painfully as she slowly shook her head. Just when I thought she’d deny me once more, she gave me a tentative smile. “You truly are abysmal with declarations of love, Axton. But yes. I wish to marry you and irk you for eternity. Because I love you just as foolishly and fiercely.”
“I’ve never petted a dragon before.” I glanced down at my fiancée, smirking as I guided us behind the stables of House Gluttony to where Silvanus waited. “Untrue. You know that’s what I call my cock.” “Heathen.” Adriana lightly punched my arm, and I tugged her close.
Lol
I held her tightly to me. “I’ve got her.” Good, try not to let go. “That, dear dragon, is a vow I intend to keep forever.” You’re finally using that upper head; the pack wasn’t sure it worked.
When you find the one who drives you to the brink of insanity and tests your patience (and who tests your will to not commit a bloody, vengeful murder), then you know it’s time to settle down and settle into your eternal bliss.
