Gleam (The Plated Prisoner, #3)

by Raven Kennedy

It seems I’ve developed a taste for freedom. Every time I take another bite, I want more. My spirit is ravenous for rampancy. Starving for wander. I want to go everywhere, see everything.

“Though, it seems to me that trying and failing is better than giving up.” Her eyes scour mine like a soundless lecture. “Shove down weakness, and strength will rise. You can’t be strong without conquering those weaknesses first.

Men ruin all of women’s best laid plans.

I’ve taken it personally, and I probably shouldn’t have, but you can’t reason with feelings. They do what they want, forcing you to endure. All you can do is grit your teeth and take it, hoping that time will dull it down.

He’s a scary, terrifying king. But bright side? He can sure wear a pair of pants.

I creep inside the dark space, just as a familiar smell hits my nose, and my eyes widen as I look around and realize where I am. The royal library. The smell of books, old parchment and ink bound in leather, makes a smile spread across my face.

He acts like my mere presence was a blot on the entire library, like I would’ve dog-eared a page or cracked a spine.

“You’re very floppy.” I rest my head against his firm, muscled chest. “You’re very hard,” I counter. A rich, dark laugh slips from his mouth. “You’ve no idea.”

I’d actually rather chew iron nails and shit them back out, but the life of a king isn’t easy.

Slade's inner thoughts on seeing Midas

You’ve challenged me and pissed me off and lied, but it’s nothing I didn’t do right back. You’re not the villain in my story.” “I am,” he says without remorse, his sharp jaw tight with tension. “But I’ll be the villain for you. Not to you.”

“Are you going to say anything? I just admitted that I want you, and you’re just standing there.” Slade blinks. “I was processing.” “You process really slowly.”

“I’ve wanted you since the moment I laid eyes on you, Goldfinch. I was just waiting for you to catch up.”

“I want all of you,” he tells me, a newfound hunger in the depths of his green eyes that stirs heat beneath my skin. “Every piece, every memory, every minute, every inch. This isn’t going to be some casual dalliance. This isn’t going to be temporary. I want you soul, mind, and body. I want your trust and your thoughts. I want your past, your present, your future. So make very certain that you want me for the right reasons. Be certain that you’re choosing this, because once you do, there’s no turning back.”

“Love happens in all kinds of ways. Fast. Slow. In bits and pieces, or immediate. Filled with lust, one-sided longing, a snap realization never noticed before. Deeply. Thoroughly. Love is a whisper we didn’t hear or a sound that drums in our ears and drowns out everything else.”

There comes a point in your life when you have to choose between having regrets and the possibility of making mistakes.

I also may have taken a little bit of extra time on my appearance for a certain king, so I chose my dress with care and only snapped two of the boning inlays in the corset. The things you do for the males you sleep with.

Sometimes, you look at the silver lining so much that you drift into denial about the clouds.

If only we could stop competing, stop the petty jealousies, stop letting men pit us against one another. Imagine what women could do if we started being loyal to each other?

Gold is just a four-letter word for greed.

That’s the thing about escapism. In whatever form, it always ends, and then we’re forced back into a reality that’s not nearly as satisfying.