Page 61 of The Ballad of the Vampire Prince

My cheeks flame. I will never admit it to Svenn, but I was—am staring.

“You can touch if you’d like. I’ll allow it.” He sighs as if he’s doing me a favor.

I resist the urge to throw the sponge to his head.

He casts one last heated glance before shaking his head and heading out of the bath-chamber. I think I saw the hint of a smirk.

My face starts to heat up with embarrassment again and I contemplate making the bathtub my new home. Eventually, I get out to dry my hair with the Tluryan elves heating rod. I linger long behind the dressing curtain, not ready to face him.

The lace nightgown Blaire gave me last year calls to me from the dresser.

This could be my revenge…

If he doesn’t play fair, then I won’t either.

The white material is spun from the softest and rarest fae silkworm. It had taken my friend every silver in her savings to buy me this gift. I didn’t want to accept something so expensive after all her hard work. But Blaire’s wrath is not worth invoking, so I took it.

I slide into it in an instant and glance at myself in the mirror. I fight the smile on my face, loving the way the material of the fabric clings to my skin, defining my curves.

My mind pulls me back to the time when I tried to make Arawynn as my Prime God so I could stay in the same teaching as Blaire. The Head Priestess took one look at me and rejected my admission immediately. I hardly remember the details afterwards because Blaire threw her slipper to the lady’s head and almost got expelled herself. But her words remain clear in my head to this day.

‘You simply do not have the body type that fits our requirement.’

The Head Priestess didn’t mean to be harsh. It was just simple fact. The Goddess of Love only receives the fairest and the purest. I’ve matured enough to understand that just because I’m terrible at one thing, doesn’t mean I’ll be bad at everything else.

But the first few years after the words were spoken were hard on me. It had morphed into something cruel, a monster that feasted on my confidence whenever it had the chance.

You are not good enough.

My heart deflates a little at the memory. All of a sudden, my payback seems silly to me now.

I meant to tease Svenn, but I am suddenly hit with a wave of self-consciousness.

“Nel, are you still there?” he calls to me from behind the curtain. His voice is dark, as if pulled from the night itself.

I start to panic.

I’m doing this to save someone. Every life is precious. I take a deep, slow breath and walk out into the room. My gaze immediately locks with the man seated on the bed but only for a brief moment.

Svenn leans back, his eyes skating over me from head to toe. He pauses a beat too long on my chest and his slow perusal becomes almost painful. I watch the muscles in his jaw tic as he grinds his teeth.

I can’t quite catch my breath at the way he’s staring at me. He looks like he’s fighting with himself about whether to devour me from where I stand. It’s clear now he desires me. For some unfathomable reason.

His hand moves to his breeches, adjusting himself.

Heavens above. He’s not even hiding it. Now I have to pretend I didn’t see that. I feel like this stupid plan backfired on me.

“This is just a massage,” I say awkwardly, daring to breathe again. “Like last time.”

He grins, fully aware of the effect he has on me. “If that is what you want.”

“It is.”

“You can always change your mind if you need something more,” he replies, a gentle smile playing on his lips.

“I won’t.”

Walls of bricks, not of straw.

---