Page 41 of Eternal Captive

Most of all, I hated how well she played me. I wanted her.Badlyand more than I had anyone else in my short, miserable life.

But my job was to kill her, not indulge in either of our fucked-up fantasies.

“Just my job,” I murmured, letting my thumbs brush across her nipples. I brought one of my hands up, my fingers stopping to caress her collarbone.

And then, just as I was about to put my hand around her neck, she did something I never expected from the princess.

She flinched.

It was one quick shudder of her body as she instinctively tried to move her throat away from my grasp.

Her face gave her away before she could get a lock on her expression.Fear mixed with pain.The princess was afraid and hurt?

I looked her over once more before stepping away.No, that couldn’t be it.But whatever it was, it shocked me enough to get me away from her. Only then did I realize just how much my body had given away.

My heart was pounding in my chest. My underwear was damp, and not because of the fountain. Andfuckdid I want her to sink her teeth into me.

But I couldn’t get the way she looked out of my mind. I wasn’t supposed to see it, but even as she sat there, watching me retreat, I knew there was something that had caused her to act like she did that night. And I was afraid to find out what it was.

“Good night, princess. Don’t call me for something so foolish again.”

Aurelia

And Father was worried I’d embarrass myself.

It was a laughable notion. He and I both knew no matter what happened the night before, I would be dolled up in the finest jewels and clothes to meet guests.

It was a given in our family. There would never be a time where it was acceptable to show up with even a hair out of place. If I could dream, I would surely have nightmares about the one time I embarrassed him in front of his guests.

The memory of my parched throat and sore wrists from being bound and starved was pushed far into the recesses of my mind and buried under the rubble.Where it belonged.

I never made that mistake again. I was young then. Naïve. I knew better now.

The prince, on the other hand, and his lack of trust had been annoying. He came into this palace, not knowing anything about our customs, and still had the audacity to doubt me. Even if it was his fault.

I gave him a side glance as he shifted next to me, his hand coming to touch my thigh under the table. His touch left a slimy feeling on my skin. I jerked my leg away from him and sent him an innocent smile when he turned to glare.

The place where he all but ripped open my neck the night before still ached.Phantom pain. My venom should have taken care of even the worst of the damage sometime this morning, but that didn’t mean the mental pain was gone.

I can’t wait to pay him back for it one day.

If he thought I was just going to sit here and take it for long, he was wrong. I didn’t care about what my father would do. I would get out of it one way or another.

“From France, princess, age twenty-two,” said a human to my right. His wrist was facing up, and there was a stark white towel under it. I grabbed my glass and held it near his wrist, smiling as he removed the towel and brought forth a golden knife to slash his wrist open.

“Thank you,” I said once there was just enough blood in my cup for a few sips. He took his dismissal with a light bow, going right to Prince Icas after me.

He didn’t use his glass and opted to sink his teeth right into the man’s wrist like the animal he was. The man’s bright red blood leaked out the sides of his mouth and stained the white towel below. I didn’t avert my gaze fast enough to avoid seeing the blood seep into the towel and spread across its surface. It reminded me too much of a blossoming flower.

I tried to ignore the pained intake of breath from the young man.

I pulled my gaze away from the violent act and looked across the table at our guests. Some royals from across the country. I didn’t remember ever seeing them in my life, but the man and his wife were somehow important to my father.

They had three children, all of them over the age of fifty, and making quite a mess of their clothes as they too opted to take a bite out of the human tasters instead of using their cups.

I glanced behind me to see Vesper in all her glory standing right between my and the prince’s chairs. The sun from thewindows hit her just right, her silver hair glowing in the light. Her gaze was on me, and she was as serious as ever. Her scars were highlighted against her skin, all except for the one that went through her eye and was interrupted by a purplish bruise under her eyes. The dark circles were a prominent reminder of our night.

I can’t believe the little mouse rejected me.It was impossible to believe that she could annoy me even more than she had. But somehow, she still kept surprising me.

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