Page 77 of Vengeful Princess

“Why are you here?” He dropped his jacket on the chair and stalked over to the bed, sitting on the edge. Close enough for me to smell the woodsy cologne he liked, but not close enough to touch.

Light from the window highlighted the planes of his face, but his eyes were in shadow behind his glasses. I noted he’d dressedall in black, like some creepy night stalker. It should have been a red flag, but because I had mental health issues, it turned me on.

Put me in an office with a psychologist and they would no doubt have a field day. Even I knew I had serious issues. A normal woman would be screaming to the rafters by now.

Not me.

I was more interested in dragging him into my bed and having my wicked way with him. Even the thought of how painful it would be didn’t put me off. Pain was no deterrent.

“You’re usually asleep when I come to watch over you.”

His words took a moment to register. “Wait…what? You’ve been here before in the middle of the night?”

“Yeah. I like to watch you sleep.”

“You know that’s not normal, right?” Even I, Queen of the Damned, knew Milo’s stalkerish behavior wasn’t normal. Potentially illegal, in fact.

He shrugged, apparently not seeing it as an issue. “You sleep better when I’m lying next to you. You don’t have as many nightmares.” He tugged his shoes off and climbed up the bed while being careful not to touch me.

Why isn’t he touching me?He’d kissed me before and liked it. Had he changed his mind about me?

Why was I more concerned about whether heliked me, liked me, than I was about him creeping into my bedroom in the middle of the night? Yet more evidence I had mental problems.

Still, I didn’t like the way his rejection made me feel. Like I was less than. I pushed the gun back under my pillow and tugged the covers up. If he wanted to stay, fine. Maybe he was right. It might help me sleep.

“You’ll get cold lying on top of the quilt,” I pointed out after turning my back on him.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, shuffling closer until his breath warmed the back of my neck. Yet he still didn’t touch me.

It was torture.

I so badly wanted him to put his arms around me and pull me tight against his chest.

41

Milo

Thea was supposed to be asleep. I usually listened outside her door to make sure, but I’d missed her, and the need to be with her was overpowering.

She was my new obsession. A drug I couldn’t live without. I probably should have been concerned, but I wasn’t. Cassian had figured out Thea was my latest obsession and expressed concern. He didn’t want my father to send me away again.

Dad had warned me if I got caught stalking any more girls, he’d lock me up and throw away the key.

I wasn’t sure why my parents even had a baby. They weren’t maternal in the slightest. Dad’s work came first. He rarely acknowledged my presence unless I did something bad enough to provoke his anger.

Mom was the same, which was why she’d handed me over to a nanny the day after she gave birth. I didn’t even realize Mom was my mother until I was five and someone remarked I looked just like her.

These days, I never saw them unless it was a special occasion. They mostly left me to my own devices, which I preferred. Still, Dad’s threat was real.

Thea tugged the quilt higher up her body. The room felt cool, but not cold enough to bother me. I was used to lying on top of her covers, next to her sleeping form. Like always, I wore black sweatpants and a thick sweater, well aware of the need to avoid being caught sneaking around campus in the middle of the night.

There were usually two security guards on patrol, but I knew their routines and how to avoid them. Both were lazy bastards who couldn’t catch a criminal if he threw himself at their feet.

Thea’s breathing evened out as she slipped back into a deep sleep. I’d been right when I said she slept better with me there. She helped me sleep better, too.

Alone in my bed, I struggled to switch my brain off. Here, with her, I had no trouble sleeping.

When I next opened my eyes, the room had lightened. Thea’s body curled against mine, her cheek resting on my chest. For a moment, I froze, fighting the instinctive urge to pull away. But the more I examined how it felt to have her small hand clutching my sweater and her cute little snores vibrating through me, the more I realized I liked it.

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