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He was looking at me so intensely, I wondered if he’d somehow figured out how to see through the magic disguising me. “You’re dangerously beautiful.” “Dangerous in what way?” “In the way that I can’t stop thinking about you.” A pleasant flush came over me. “I can’t decide if that’s very good or very bad.” He laughed, the sound so rich and dark it was addicting. “Neither can I.”
“I wonder why you’re here with me.” “Where else should I be?” “Curled up in bed with someone who adores you, who’d never be foolish enough to let you go. Who’d spend his days discovering details that bring you pleasure.”
“Until tomorrow, my lady.” Maybe it was a trick of the moonlight or the glamour at play, but I could have sworn his eyes suddenly twinkled like he’d won some secret match. I also couldn’t help but think his innocent tone had sounded a little like a promise. Whatever his silent vow was, I couldn’t begin to guess. But I’d be on guard until I knew.
FOR THE SECOND time, I watched the mysterious Lady Frost slip into the shadows and forced myself to remain where I was. One thing I’d learned by mastering the art of the hunt was that patience won in the end.
I’d been distracted by the prim setting and cursed when I noticed my sister and stepmother were already ascending the gilded stairs at the far edge of the chamber. Not wanting to cause a scene already, I grabbed my skirts and hurried along, hoping to catch up to them without anyone realizing I’d been gone. What I didn’t expect was the door to my right to open so suddenly, or for the prince to come striding out so fast. We collided in the most catastrophic manner. I bounced off his hard chest, falling backward, and the damned prince tumbled with me, hoisting me up at the last moment so my fall
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I went to stand, but his hands shot up and gripped my hips, forcing me to remain where I was. I glared down at him. “I beg your pardon, Your Highness. You’re causing a scene.” Challenge entered his expression. “I can think of more efficient ways to cause a scandal.” Before I could ask what sort of illicit substance he’d been sniffing, he subtly ground his hips upward, his grip on me unyielding. If he’d been trying to stun me into silence, it worked. I realized at once what the issue was. He wasn’t keeping me there to make a scene; he held me there to avoid one. My mouth snapped shut.
“My sister is Eden Everhart. One of your suitors. Now let me up, you heathen.”
He flashed a boyish grin at our audience, earning blushes from almost everyone. “If you’ll excuse us for one moment. Jarvis, please see Miss Everhart and her mother to their suite. Miss Saint Lucent will be there shortly.” The prince didn’t give anyone an opportunity to respond. I shot Eden an apologetic look and caught her hiding a grin behind a gloved hand before I was whisked in the opposite direction. In mere seconds Axton had us in his private study, the door slamming shut to drive home that this wasn’t to be a pleasant chat.
He jerked his chin toward a high-backed chair. “Sit.” “Shall I heel next?” I clapped a hand over my mouth. But it was too late. I’d unleashed the demon. Axton advanced on me, his expression impossible to read as he raked his gaze over me. “Don’t tempt me. I would do unspeakable things for you to obey my every command.”
I glanced down, noting his favorite bits were in the perfect location should my knee suddenly jerk upward. Muscles did spasm on occasion. I had just cause, surely, to get away with it if mine happened to jolt into him. He leaned closer, his gaze full of challenge. “Do it and I promise you’ll be over my knee, Miss Saint Lucent. Though that didn’t feel like such a deterrent to you yesterday, did it?”
I replayed the glorious run-in with the hellion this morning. I’d learned several valuable things from our accident. My spies reported that Adriana had left her home in a rented carriage, and it was heading toward my House of Sin.
“You need to be careful,” Val said, wrenching me from my silent plotting. “Regarding?” “Whatever you’re planning with the reporter. I heard about your little collision.” “Accidents do happen, even to us princes.”
Val went to leave, then paused in the doorframe. “Your Highness?” I glanced over. “What is it?” “When you omit the truth, your eyes narrow right before your jaw tightens. You might want to address that so no one else picks up on it.” “It’s impossible for me to lie. You know that.” She gave me a rueful smile. “Are you certain?”
I shoved my hands through my hair, spared one last look at the dragon I’d raised and loved fiercely, then made my way to the cursed welcome dinner,
I held one dress up in the mirror, admiring how my eyes sparkled from it. The cloak was perhaps the most stunning piece—the material reminded me of a dragon’s hide. It was pure white but had pale blue and silver slivers that curved into scales.
Ryleigh gave me an appreciative once-over, then held the gown up. “I can’t imagine what something like this costs.” “Probably best to not be too curious about it.” Ryleigh raised her brows but didn’t comment. An awkward moment passed between us. Probably the first in our whole friendship. I wasn’t sure where the tension was stemming from but knew Ryleigh had to feel it too.
“Is the prince providing everyone’s wardrobe for tonight?” she asked, her tone indecipherable.
You know how much Axton enjoys showing off. I’m sure this pales in comparison to Eden’s gown.” Ryleigh stared at the dress for another moment, fingering the jewels. “If you say so.”
Ryleigh let out a low whistle. “Gorgeous. He’s going to regret not making you his, Ad.” “That was ten years ago and I’m sure he’s as relieved as I am it didn’t work.” But I was feeling better about having to attend tonight’s opening event.
“Say what you want, but that gown was designed for you, Adriana. Everything about it is you—the color, the way it looks like your Seven Sins costume.” A bolt of ice flew through my veins, ruining the moment. “Coincidence, I’m sure.” Ryleigh’s gaze ran up and down the dress. “Actually, not the Seven Sins costume. He made you look like a blade. Beautiful, but lethal. People will certainly be talking.”
If Axton wanted to make me into a weapon, he must be anticipating a battle. But the question remained: was the war between us or was some new skirmish about to begin? “Ready to face the gossips?” Ryleigh asked with a wry smile. We were normally the gossips.
Perhaps I was overly sensitive, but once upon a time I had been viciously scorned for the crime of wanting to fall in love. I’d been reminded that I was no one—no title, no wealth, no powerful connections. Just a commoner who was so clearly attempting to rise above my station. And here I was, in a gown that cost more than several years of my salary, feeling that same insecurity from a decade ago creep in.
The dining chamber had been turned into an enchanting forest, complete with real frostberry trees in giant urns, their branches lit with glittering Fae orbs, and wintery flower garlands running down the center of the giant table. I froze mid-step. It wasn’t a forest. It was an interpretation of the Seven Sins rooftop garden. I gave myself a mental shake and hurried along to my seat. I was imagining things.
He started to walk away, then stopped. His hands curled into fists, and after another long pause, he finally turned back to me. “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.
A dark suspicion rose as I glanced back at the ink on her hands. Adriana had accused me and my court of feeding information to her editor, but for once that wasn’t true. There were two other witnesses in her home who had details of the items I’d given her. Eden. And Sophie Everhart. All at once, I understood. Sophie had been spying on her stepdaughter, hoping to sell more information to the gossip sheets. How utterly ruthless. I imagined inside gossip fetched a handsome amount of coin.
“Did you have trouble with my eldest, Your Highness?” she asked. “Adriana is not blood related, thank the gods for that. She’s entirely too high-strung and opinionated to be an Everhart.” I kept my pace slow, my muscles loose. Inside, annoyance ignited in a blaze, and I didn’t bother to stomp it out. “Disowning someone based on the notion of blood and speaking about it so freely to a stranger is a sin I find far more appalling than a woman who speaks her mind.”
“In fact, I find it rather odious and boring when former nobles think of themselves too highly. It reeks of pride, and as you’re aware, that isn’t my sin.” We made our way to the terrace stairs, and I paused at the bottom, finally dropping my arm. Sophie’s jaw was so strained from biting her tongue, it gave me a delightful burst of elation. The only one permitted to needle Adriana was me.
“One last bit of advice, Mrs. Everhart.” This time I didn’t mask my expression. I allowed every bit of the demon to shine through as I held her stare. “It would be unwise for you to sell any more information about me or your daughter to the press again. I would hate to disqualify Eden because you’ve been running interference. Do I make myself perfectly clear?” She swallowed hard, then gave me a deep curtsy. “Yes, Your Highness.” “Wonderful. Good night.”
The fact that he’d called me lovely and seemed to hate that it was true. He was my enemy. Perhaps not in the sword-and-dagger sense, but in the he’d villainously broken my heart and now I’d made it my life’s mission to destroy him back in the press sort of way.
“I see the crowd of admirers are back,” I said. “I’m willing to ignore them if you are.” “I got the impression that you might enjoy an audience, Lady F.” He slowly pivoted to face me, and I swore his breathing all but stopped as he took me in, his attention lingering on my frame for a beat too long. He recovered swiftly, his mouth twisting up on one side. “Or is it the thrill of potentially being caught that you crave?”
What are your secret desires?” “To make your fantasies come true.” I shook my head, unable to stop the grin from spreading across my features. He was a shameless flirt. And a liar. At least that put one lingering fear to rest—there was no way he was the prince. They were incapable of lying. “We are newly acquainted. What were your secret desires before we met?”
“I’ve put a shameful amount of thought into it for far longer than I’d ever admit.” It sounded like an honest confession, but we hadn’t known each other for long so he must have meant his fantasy in general.
“Once our time ends, we part ways,” I added. “No renegotiating. No broken hearts.” “Wonderful.” His smile was practically warm enough to melt the snow. “We’ll swear a blood oath to make it official. Our needs will be mutually met that way.” I hesitated at that, looking him over carefully as I considered the suggestion.
If I wanted to know who he really was, there was only one way to find out. I had a growing suspicion that my first impression of him being a hawk closing in on his prey was the truth. I looked him over again, wondering if I actually wanted to play the part of the mouse, or if I should walk away before it was too late.
Adriana was clever, her look guarded as she weighed her options, signaling that she suspected a trap and was testing to see where it lay. Adriana. It had taken every ounce of my willpower to keep any surprise from showing when I realized I had been correct: my rival was my paramour. I couldn’t say I was disappointed by the discovery.
It was clear that she didn’t trust me. And she shouldn’t. I was up to very wicked things.
Her smile was back in force, lighting up her whole face. She liked when I flirted shamelessly. How ironic since that was the one quality that she took me to task for in the papers. My rival was full of delicious surprises. I could only hope she liked them just as much as I did; she was certainly about to have quite a shocking discovery.
I pricked my finger before handing her the pin to do the same. She punctured the tip of her finger then held it to mine. “By blood and by choice, I bind thee to me, for six weeks hence. My wants are your wants, my desires, your desires. I will not act against your best interests, and you won’t act against mine. In this, we are united. Bound by honor, or death do us part.”
Adriana swore and staggered back a step, one hand pressed against her chest as if she’d physically felt the blow. I reached out to steady her, fingers brushing against her bare skin. A spark ignited between us in a blaze, setting off a chain of emotions that had me gasping for breath. And then, all the tension, all the temptation, detonated as if it had been held back for years instead of days and had finally been set free. I took one look at her, at the ravenous hunger in her gaze as she dragged it over me and came completely undone.
His entire chest was quite literally a work of art—a tattoo of two silver dragons entwined, facing each other, took up nearly every inch of his skin. The way the dragons were positioned made it look like two halves creating a heart. Near the bottom of their serpentine bodies a banner bound them, a Latin phrase inked onto it. Nitimur in vetitum. We strive for the forbidden.
I DIDN’T THINK. I acted. I dove over the edge of the roof after Adriana, plummeting as hard and fast as I could, willing my body to break any laws of nature daring to stand in my way. The old gods were smiling down on a sinner like me for once. My arms banded around her, catching her up against my body seconds before she crashed to the ground. Once I had her, my wings erupted from their magical tether, tearing from my back in a thunderous clap that rent the air, silencing the merriment of the patrons drinking outside. The sudden intensity of my wingbeats displaced snow from the ground in a
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It would have been sufficient enough for anyone. Aside from me. Fate was a twisted prick, but I owed him another debt.
“How positively infuriating. You’ve gone through so many lovers that you don’t even recall the time we shared, do you?” He studied me like maybe I’d gone into some hypothermic state after all. “You and I have never been… intimately acquainted before tonight.” His gaze narrowed. “Unless you know something I don’t.” “You have no recollection of the All-Sinners Ball?” I stared at him, wondering if it was possible to suddenly incinerate him on the spot.
He stood and rummaged in a small trunk on the far wall I hadn’t noticed, returning with an oversized shirt and a thick pair of socks. “They’ll be big but will keep you warm.” 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.
Without warning, he pulled his trousers off, his muscles flexing with the movement, making the tattoos on his shoulders seem to take flight. I had no memory of the ink from our previous time together and wondered when he’d gotten them done. Or maybe I simply had forgotten them over the years, more focused on how horridly our night had gone.
THERE’S SOMETHING DIFFERENT about you.” Lust looked me over, sweat dotting his brow as he dropped to the mat and kicked out, attempting to swipe my legs out from under me.
“You mean my godlike definition?” I lifted my brows. “I’ve been spending extra time training to impress my suitors. I’m flattered you noticed.” “Definitely not it.” Lust sprang to his feet, circling me, eyes narrowed. Dark hair stuck to his forehead. He needed a haircut and shave. Which meant he’d spent the last few days feeding his sin.
He feigned an uppercut, then swung with his opposite fist, catching me in the abdomen. I took the hit, then swung back, clocking him in the jaw. He spit golden blood on the ground, eyes glinting. “Distracted, brother?” I landed another quick jab. “My spies report that Envy’s scheming. Care to enlighten me why?” “Does anyone ever truly know why he does what he does?” Lust bounced on the balls of his feet, throwing a punch that would have done serious damage if I hadn’t avoided it at the last second. “Wrath said you didn’t patrol the border last night.”
“You were with that ice goddess from the Seven Sins, weren’t you?” He closed his eyes. “Gods. That dress. I might damn the whole realm for her too. Think she’ll be there again tonight? I’ll happily keep her company for you while you play doting husband.” I struck him in the center of his abdomen, unable to land the second jab as he reared back, laughing. I stalked a small circle around him. “Stop thinking about her.” “She didn’t seem to mind me thinking about her when I caught you together.”
The damned blood oath was making me feel… territorial. I kept my jaws locked together, refusing to take my brother’s bait. Which only encouraged him to keep up his taunts. “Probably because you were dry-humping her leg like a fiend, Gabriellis. Imagine if I unleashed my power on her? She wouldn’t be looking for thrills elsewhere. I can promise you that. She’d be on her knees, choking on—” I landed my next blow, hard, and Lust staggered back. Amusement flared in his eyes. “So sensitive.”
