Page 81 of Vengeful Princess

I was mostly OK now, but nothing I said to that effect made one iota of difference. He texted me morning and night, and if our paths crossed on campus, he was there. Checking if I needed anything. Making sure I wasn’t in pain. Trying to feed me.

A small part of me loved the attention. Adored how cared-for he made me feel. And I positively melted when he looked at me like I mattered. But then I reminded myself this place was temporary. Soon, I’d be leaving.

Verity was more important than some fleeting crush on a pretty boy like Landon Rothmore. He’d forget about me once I left. They all would.

“Hey, future wife.” Landon’s flirty smile warmed my cold, dead heart.

“Did you look up mariticide?” I asked sweetly.

“Baby, you’ll be way too satisfied to think about murdering me in my sleep,” he purred, sliding an arm around my shoulder.

“Dear Lord, spare me the disgusting PDA. I need more booze to listen to your shit, Landon,” Eden grumbled, guzzling her wine.

Landon ignored her. “Wanna dance, wifey?”

“Not really.” What I wanted was to eat and then go back to my room, but Eden had insisted I come with her. She pointed out if she came alone, she’d look like a sad bitch. I mean, she had a point. Everyone here was hanging around in small groups.

The bitchy girls, with Olivia as their evil queen, stood close to the fire, gossiping like old crones. I caught her watching Landon and me, her lip curled up in a sneer. She’d mostly steered clear of me since she’d lost her shit over Cassian, which I was grateful for.

From what Eden had told me, Olivia had finally accepted Cassian’s engagement and backed off. Unfortunately, she’d switched her attention to Landon. Presumably because he was the next eligible bachelor on her list.

Landon shrugged. “OK, no dancing then.” He leaned in and tucked me under his arm like a girlfriend. Had I missed a memo saying we were in a relationship? Eden looked at him and then me with awhat the actual fuckexpression.

“Are you two, like, dating now?”

“Yes.”

“No!”

“We are, but she refuses to admit it,” Landon told Eden. “Thea has commitment issues,” he added. “This is me losing patience and officially hard launching our relationship.”

Eden took one look at my angry face and smirked. “Um, I think perhaps you guys need to have a chat, so I’ll, um, go grab more wine.” I glared at her as she backed off, but she just laughed.

“We are not in a relationship, Landon!” I whisper-shouted.

“It’s OK, wifey.” He patted my arm and smiled down at me. “I’ve been reading about commitment issues on Psych Central. I have a secure attachment style, so we can work through your issues. It might take a while, but ChatGPT says I should be patient, give you space, and not be all judgy about it.” He boopedmy nose playfully while I considered the merits of stabbing him in the dick.

Then I remembered he had a very nice dick and it would be a shame to disfigure it.

“I have no words,” I muttered eventually. Were we even on the same planet?

“My littlegadyuka,” a growly voice purred in my left ear before someone yanked me away from Landon. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

“No, I haven’t,” I grumbled. Being caught between the two of them was too much. My hormones had gone into overdrive and my pussy throbbed, desperate for attention. Even though it was well below freezing out here, sweat trickled down between my breasts.

I yanked down the zipper on my thick jacket for relief from the hot guy furnace pressing into me. Only that was a mistake because the sweater I wore underneath was skintight and my nipples were harder than bullets.

Kyril’s large hand rested on my stomach, his fingers brushing against the waistband of my jeans. “Kotenok, you’re cold.”

“I think she’s hot,” Landon smirked as he tugged me forward, causing Kyril to growl like someone had stolen his favorite toy. “But all in favor of warming her up some more say Aye. AYE!”

“How about you both fuck off and die? I’m here with my friend!” I looked around and then spotted Eden chatting animatedly with a tall guy in a red jacket and beanie hat.

“Eden’s fine. Michael will take care of her.” Michael looked our way and nodded before hooking an arm around Eden’s waist. She wobbled and then giggled. OK, so she wasn’t in danger. Good. I didn’t need another body to dispose of. It was way too cold to be digging a grave tonight.

I tried to shove Landon out of my way, but between Kyril’s arm anchoring me to the spot and Landon’s wall of muscle, I had nochance. Not without hurting my ribs, anyway. And I wasn’t in the mood to try taking them both down.

My body still ached and if I was being truly honest with myself, I kinda liked being the filling in their sandwich.

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