Page 45 of Princess of Thorns and Ruin

ARIELLE

Slipping quietly inside my bedroom, I close the door behind me and press my forehead to the wood. It’s not even midnight yet, and I’m exhausted. Heavy breaths resonate from the walk-in and tickle my ears, and I investigate the source of the sound. Evangeline is on her knees in front of Leo, her eyes closed as she sucks his…

I inch forward. The male anatomy in its aroused state was detailed in a romance novel my servant had sneaked into my bedroom at my request, but I’ve never seen one before. For better or worse, I no longer have to imagine what Leo’s cock looks like, and judging by her smile, it’s Evangeline’s new favorite toy.

Trousers hang low around his thighs, and the noises he’s making bring a hot flush to my cheeks. He looks enraptured by what the human woman is doing to him, his jaw slack and his hands buried in her blonde curls.

She bobs her head up and down, her cheeks sucked in, and gazes up at him with desire.

My tutors were always quick to skip over male reproductive organs. It’s fascinating how wrong I pictured how it looked, and I can’t help but stare. It’s big, for one thing.

Leo’s shaft throbs. He moans before his green eyes snap open, his throat bobbing as he takes in the sight of me. “Fuck.”

The handmaiden squeaks and scurries to her feet. “Your highness, I’m—”

I hold one hand in front of me in a halting motion. “Don’t stop. I want to watch.”

The words are steady enough, given that I’m bursting with jealousy and doubts. Leo can barely stand the sight of me. How is she so different from me? Maybe if I watch them, I can figure it out, and my beast is simply starving for it.

With her cheeks flushed and pink, Evangeline drops to her knees again, her breasts falling out of her unzipped uniform. A part of me wants to maim her neck and drink from her while Leo tests the feel of her supple flesh.

To my extreme surprise, Leo doesn’t rebel. In fact, his hardened gaze roams over my body, and my skin prickles wherever his gaze lingers too long. My neck, my chest, my hips. I thought we were growing closer yesterday, when he massaged me with tenderness, but clearly, I was wrong. His eyes never leave mine as Evangeline sucks his cock, and he looks ready to murder me.

Blood rushes through his groin, the scent of it maddening, and my canines descend in my mouth, long and deadly.

“Fuck. I’m so close.” A low grunt tears through Leo’s throat, and his hips thrash a few times. Pleasure and rage mingle on his handsome face, and a hot line of jealousy burns through my belly.

Evangeline swallows his seed and licks her lips, her heart beating so fast, I can’t think.

“Leave us,” I dismiss her.

She runs off to the annex and closes the door behind her as Leo pulls up his pants, looking everywhere but at me, as I grip the skirt of my dress. “You prefer her to me. Why?”

“You’re a vampire.” He shrugs—fucking shrugs, like that explains everything.

My throat cramps to the point of being almost unusable. I didn’t want it like this. I wanted us to be close. To be friends. “You can go back to bed. I won’t feed on you tonight.”

“As you wish, your highness.” There’s no false politeness in his voice now. He’s pissed—shaking with rage.

I double back and find Alec in the corridor, a big ball of sorrow stuck in my throat. “Take me to Lord Chastain’s party.”

The feline bodyguard raises his brows, shifting his weight from side to side—the motion quite a big tell coming from him. “Are you sure, Lucky?”

I bite the insides of my cheeks hard not to mirror his uncertainty, my heart in knots. “It’s not your place to ask, Mr. Beaumont.”

If I’m to be sold to a foreign king, I should try to live a little. Use my freedom before it’s ripped away from me. Besides, I can’t trust anyone. Not Victor or Alec or Leo…

Chapter 18

Warm Buffet

ARIELLE

Alec is quick on my heels on our way to the two-story suite Sebastian Chastain commandeered in his father’s wing. The space is filled with intoxicated humans, and a dozen vampires mingle with the crowd, but this is less of a party, and more of a buffet.

Some of the dancers already have bite marks on their necks. Alcohol, sweat, and perfume spice the air. The scent of so many humans in one place, their blood warmed by the booze and the dancing…it steals my breath.

My canines unsheathe instinctively, and I stagger, biting back a snarl, ready to jump at the closest warm body. The urge to pounce is so potent that I dig my nails into my palms hard enough to draw blood. Alec mumbles a series of curses as he steps forward by an inch, probably ready to tackle me down if the need arises, and my beast has got half a mind to test his abilities.

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