Page 43 of Foretold

Her eyes flicker with anger. “Whether you like it or not, we are bound together for life.”

“That doesn’t mean letting you touch me. We aren’t together. And you don’t have any boundaries. You don’t respect my mate, and until you learn how to, you won’t be around either of us.”

She sniffs. “Then Vale won’t be coming around here, either. If you want to see him, you must come to my house.Alone.”

Gritting my teeth, I let go of her wrist. “I’d like to see you try to stop Vale from coming here. If it were up to me, he would be living here.”

“Not going to happen,” she replies, smirking. “Unless you’re moving me back in here, too, that is. And keep your little mate away from him.”

“He likes her,” I say, remembering how he only wanted her to take him fishing and how he broke her out of her damn room. The kid has more loyalty to her than he does his own father. And I’m not even mad about it. Seeing them both interact with each other thaws my cold heart every damn time.

“He likes anyone,” she grumbles, tucking her red hair behind her ear. “Astrid isn’t here, Rave. She doesn’t need to know what happens when she’s away. Just like you don’t know what she’s up to over there. The Incubus Kingdom, isn’t it? I’ve heard people call it the Lust Kingdom…” She bats her eyelashes. “Imagine all the sexy men there with their incubi charm. Hard to resist, don’t you think? They are literally created to draw women in for sex.”

I school my expression so she doesn’t know that her last comment made its mark.

“Listen to me and hear my words, truth-sayer,” I demand with a deadly calm tone. “I’m saying this one more time. You will never touch me again. We are over. We will raise our son together and respect each other for that reason alone, but other than that, we have no other relationship with each other. I’m in love with my mate, and there is no one else I want to be with.”

Her eyes flash with hurt and anger. I don’t want to upset her, but she’s not getting it and has kept trying to get me back into her bed. I’m tired of it, and I’m not tempted in the least. I don’t want Vera in that way. All I want is the fiery succubus with her full, smart mouth and her big, wide eyes. I see no one else. I crave no other. Astrid is the only one with power over me.

“Does she even please you in bed? Does she know what you’re into? That you like to share your women with Soren?” she asks, running her tongue along her lower lip. “We had such fun times, didn’t we? The things we did…” She laughs to herself, then adds, “She doesn’t look like the type. How boring for you.”

“I think that’s what the difference is, Vera,” I say, my jawtightening. “I don’t want to share Astrid. I would kill another man before I did. She’s it for me. She’s the love of my life. And I belong to her. Completely. I will never need another woman.”

I remember when Astrid found out that Soren and I had shared women in the past, and she asked me if that’s what I wanted with her. She even hinted that maybe she was interested, but I knew she was testing me. Pushing me. The woman knows how to get under my skin like no other. The truth is, no one is fucking touching her, and for the first time, that includes Soren. I’m sure he wouldn’t say no if he had the chance, but this is my mate. It’s different. I’m not fucking watching any other cock slide into that sweet, wet cunt.

Vera’s face drops at my admission, her eyes flickering with pain. Despite what most people would think, I don’t relish in it. This woman is my son’s mother, and I’ll always want her to be her best, so she can give the best to our child.

“Please, go home,” I say to her, my voice gentling, then I slide past her.

I find Soren sitting in the gardens with a maid on his lap, his lips trailing down her throat. He lifts his face, wincing when he sees me. “Fuck’s sake.”

Smirking, I nod my head toward the vampire borders. “You coming?”

He murmurs something to the maid, who giggles as she slides off him, and he stares after her longingly before standing up with his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist. “Can’t let you go out alone. The princess is gone then?”

I nod, looking out into the forest, my fingers clenching into fists.

“You still got eyes on her over there?” he asks.

I nod. “Yes.”

I’ll always have eyes on her, and if they can’t be my own, it will be one of my trusted connections. Nothing will ever happento Astrid. I don’t give a fuck if she hates me and continues to torture me for the rest of our lives for my deceit, I will protect that woman with everything I have until my last dying breath. Even with her in another kingdom, I still feel her through the bond, although nowhere near as strongly as when she’s close by. No matter how much she tries to escape me, we are tied together for life, and the sooner she accepts that, the better.

The princess is mine, and I will end anyone who tries to get in the way of that.

Soren’s hand rests on my shoulder. “Let’s go fuck up some vampires and then drink our weight in ale.”

We get our horses and ride off into the night.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Astrid

We’ve just told the others we’re leaving when a group of ten men step inside, the air in the club instantly thickening with tension. The music stops, and people run and hide. The man who stands a step in front pins me with his red eyes. He’s an attractive man, likely half incubus, half demon or vampire, with curly dark hair and fangs. He has a scar that bisects his eyebrow, then trails down the middle of his cheek as if someone tried to cut him with a knife. His leather pants fit like a second skin, showing off thickly muscled thighs spread in a fighting stance. He cracks his neck from side to side before raising his palms, sparks coming off them.

He’s powerful, and I feel it.

“Princess Astrid, come with us, and no one will die tonight.”

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