"Your magesty, what are you doing here?" His tall, dark figure loomed over me. He said nothing, but his silent steps drew him closer, each one echoing through the dimly lit chamber.
Thud.
My back finally hit the cold stone walls. No where to escape.
"I figured you might need..... company tonight." His tone sounded playful, though his face was livid, emotionless, as usual.
Even without his vampire hearing, I'm sure he would still be able to hear the hurried sound of my beating heart.
"I..I'm fine your highness.... Lady Cara won't be pleased to find out that you are here." I whispered, barely breathing.
His hand shot out, taking hold of my chin, as he tilted my face upward.
"Do I look like I care?" His voice dropped lower, colder. Those dark red eyes locked with mine. "Or perhaps, you are only interested in pleasing my brother." He whispered softly against my ear.
I froze.
His lips brushed my skin. "Or do I have to remind you whose touch....you crave?" Before I could speak, his mouth claimed mine. Fierce, consuming.
"Take it off," he ordered, his breath hot against my ear.
"N–no, Your Highness—"
"Why? Because of him?" His voice hardened, red eyes flickering with a cruel fire as he calmly said. "Don't forget, I am still your king… and I order you to take this dress of."
"N–no, your highness"
I could only stare, trembling. Then—
Shrrrkk.
"Ah!"
I watched in shock as he tore off my dress. I was completely paralyzed. Standing still as he took off what remained of the fabric. I hurriedly placed my hands in front of my body, but that only seemed to amuse him.
"Your m–magesty, t–this is wrong."
"What is right or wrong is left for me to decide." His tone indicating that he was running out of patience. His mouth claimed mine with a fierce, consuming heat, as if he had been waiting to do it all night. I tried to push the rising feeling down, to regain some sense of control, but the attempt died, I felt too weak in his grasp.
He swung my body making me land softly on my bed. I tried scrambling out of the soft fabric but my wrists were caught in one of his hands, pinned above my head effortlessly. The other traced slow, calculated paths along my body, making my resolve unravel strand by strand.
I turned my face away, trying to steady myself, but he simply followed, lips brushing the corner of my mouth with maddening patience. His presence stole the air from the room, leaving me trapped between the sheets and the heat of his body above me.
His gaze swept over me, burning, possessive, as though daring me to challenge him again. Then–
Bang.
"Open this door, you little worm!" Cara's shrill voice sliced through the air, snapping me out of my daze.
My breath hitched.
"Y–your Majesty, you have to go. Cara—"
"No." He said it so calmly it made my stomach churn. He didn't even look concerned. He simply watched me with those unreadable crimson eyes, like his future bride catching us in the act meant nothing.
"Y–your highness, she will have my head" I whispered softly, panic swelling in my chest. My words didn't seem to do much.
I scrambled out from beneath him, heart pounding, and darted toward the couch. My fingers shook as I grabbed the blue nightgown I had left there earlier. Ryder, meanwhile, sat leisurely on my bed, one leg crossed over the other, back against the headboard, observing my panic with the faintest curl of amusement lifting the corner of his lips.
"Your highness, please,"I mouthed desperately as the fabric was finally on me.
Another thunderous bang rattled the door making me jolt in my place.
I sprinted toward it, barely managing to slide the bolt free a second before—
Crash.
Cara shoved the door open.
"Who is in here with you?"