Blood Prince: A Standalone Fantasy Romance Page 6

  I now knew it had been Priam’s blood she’d poured down my throat. Helen, it seemed, had a plan in place should I fall to Menelaus. She had sought to turn me into an immortal, crown prince of the vampire kingdom.

  She had saved me.

  I had failed her.

  I never saw the Trojan Horse, the fall of my family, the death of my soulmate. I was still in my death sleep, Priam’s blood changing and remaking me into something new. When I awoke, I discovered Priam and all the others of my royal lineage had been snuffed out by the demon hordes at Menelaus’s command. I was the last survivor of the noble vampire house. The deaths of my loved ones haunted me, but it was the loss of her, the one for whom I lived and died, that had made it almost impossible to gather myself from the pool of her heart’s blood and strike out into the cold night. But I had done it. For her and for revenge on the one who took her from me.

  And now she had returned to me. Safe in my arms as she was ever meant to be.

  Daphne had been chatting excitedly about having a guest in the house, though I hadn’t heard a word as I relived my darkest day in my mind.

  Unperturbed, Daphne continued, “We need some more girl time around here. Whenever he sees fit to visit, he’s always brooding around, flat-out moping, or staring at that thing.” She motioned to the white queen. “Come with me. I’ll get you all set up in the prettiest guest room with the prettiest view, unless you’re staying in with Paris?”

  I watched Elena, her cheeks pinking at the suggestion. “I’m, um, I need my own room.”

  I couldn’t help the smile that took hold of me. We’ll see about that.

  Daphne and Elena ate together. The mischievous nymph prepared enough food to feed a small army. When I saw the feast, I raised a brow at the housekeeper.

  She shrugged. “I had some ingredients lying around.”

  After Elena had loaded her plate with Daphne’s bounty, I sat with them and drank blood from a glass. Elena had watched me with interest at first, but then quickly became bored. Perhaps she was expecting some grand show of “vampire of the night”?

  Truth be told, I was far more interested in her, now wearing one of Daphne’s lacy dresses. It skirted the tops of her pale breasts, giving me a tantalizing look at what lay beneath. I’d tasted it and wanted more. Would never stop wanting more.

  Not getting a blood-crazed show from me, Elena turned to Daphne, who was all too happy to have an audience. Elena quickly became enthralled with Daphne’s tales of the Underworld. Like her past self, Elena loved to learn. She ate up Daphne’s explanations about how the “Underworld” was actually a misnomer created by the mortals, for this realm was actually a world separate and apart from earth.

  “They say a powerful mage of the olden times, or maybe even Hades himself, created the Underworld with the help of the Titans—somewhere immortals could be free from the gods and the mortals alike,” Daphne said conspiratorially, as if revealing some great Underworlder secret.

  I wasn’t sure how it was created, but I called it home now, though I spent quite a bit of time on earth. It was safer there for me, easier for me to hide from Desmerada’s cavalcade of spies. I hid in plain sight, melding into the dark culture of clubs and alleys, preying on human women and surviving on their blood and comfort. I cursed myself for touching even a single one of them. Had I known my beloved still drew breath, I would never have done such things. But, as it was, I used the females for blood and allowed them to use me for pleasure. I swallowed, the shame mixing with the iron taste of blood.

  Daphne continued and gave a laundry list of all the different types of creatures that called the Underworld home: nymphs, fairies, demons, vampires, spirits, cyclopes, furies, and any number of other beings. The Underworld was far vaster than earth, with several tribes occupying massive strongholds.

  The vampire fortress, Bloodkeep, was atop a stone crag in the midst of an immense, misty wood. Their neighbors, the demons, occupied the arid lands just beyond the reach of the forest and plains. The demon stronghold, Decanum, was situated at a fabled oasis amid the shifting dunes and punishing suns of the Desert of Thorns.

  I had never seen the walls of my ancestral home, the Bloodkeep, but they were fabled to rival the gates of Troy, shot through with gold and carved with scenes of Underworld lore. I had no desire to claim the throne, no need to live a life at court among the backstabbing nobility that thrived under Desmerada’s rule.

  Daphne persisted with her Underworld 101. “Some demons have horns, and some are odd colors, but some look human. I’ve been with a few, though, that look human up top but have a little extra demon down below, and I’m here to tell you that if you find one like that, you give old Daphne a call, because I’d like to get acquainted.”

  Elena smiled, warmth lighting her cheeks at Daphne’s straightforward talk. I remembered that smile well, having taken joy in eliciting it from her so many times in the past.

  Daphne’s tales continued until Elena’s eyelids began to droop, fatigue weighing on her. “—and that’s why vampires can only teleport on earth, not in the Underworld,” Daphne finished with gusto.

  “I think our guest could use some rest,” I said.

  “No, I’m fine, I just need to—” Elena’s words were interrupted by a yawn.

  “Please, just one night of rest, and then we will make our plans.” I fully intended to set the destruction of Menelaus in motion, and now that she was with me, I knew it was as good as done. But my deep need to keep her safe, to keep her well, overruled even my desire to slay the demon.

  She looked to argue again, but exhaustion seemed to overcome her resolve. “Fine. But just one night, or day, or whatever time it is…” She looked to the firmament in puzzlement. It remained that deep amethyst, the three suns making their way across at a leisurely pace.

  “Night is almost here.” Daphne started collecting plates from the rough-hewn kitchen table.

  “Let me help you.” Elena picked up her plate.

  “Don’t you dare. I have to pretend like I work around here, at least a little.” Daphne winked. “Job security.”

  Elena’s tinkling laugh warmed my heart. She thanked Daphne for the meal and rose to leave.

  “Remember, first right, then third door on your left,” Daphne called.

  The moment Elena was gone, Daphne stopped clearing and watched me with a knowing look. “Well?”

  “Well, what?”

  “It’s her, isn’t it?” Daphne smiled.

  “It’s who?” I played coy, but Daphne knew my story, knew that I burned brightly for only one soul.

  “By the gods, you found her!” Daphne clapped her hands, joy shining in her eyes.

  “But she doesn’t know she’s her.” I drained my glass, itching to follow Elena, to make sure she was safe.

  “Doesn’t matter. It was clear as day the second I saw you together. She’s your white queen, through and through.”

  I rose, gave the beaming Daphne a kiss on the forehead, and strode to my room. Next door to Elena’s. I sat on the bed and couldn’t help but smile. Looking like a fool, sitting there and grinning at a wall, but it didn’t bother me. If my heart could beat, it might have burst from the sheer joy of knowing that she lived and that she was here. I could hear her even now, pulling back the covers and settling into the sheets. What I wouldn’t give to be in there with her. She belonged with me. But I needed to wait until she realized that for herself.

  Did she wear anything to bed? The thought caused my cock to spring to life. The way she’d been with me earlier, allowing me to touch her, needing me to pleasure her. I ran a hand over my mouth, recalling the sweet taste of her on my lips.

  I reined myself in. She needed to rest, and I needed to give her space. I rose resolutely from the bed and stripped down, ignoring my demanding shaft as I tucked it into my boxers. Slipping between my sheets, I listened to her, imagining how she looked in the large bed, the shape her lithe body would make under the covers. She seemed to toss and turn for an i
nordinate amount of time. Restless, perhaps uneasy? I needed her to know she was safe here. Safe with me, always.

  But she’d run from me. The memory was unsettling. I shifted against the pillow. I hadn’t meant to take her down so hard, to prowl on top of her like an animal. But my nature was not the same as it was when we were both mortal. Now a predator lived inside me, one that she’d put there. I would control it, though the memory of her arousal, the smell of desire wafting off her in waves, did nothing to ease the ache between my legs. I let the image of her running, her hair streaming out behind her, leave and refocused on the sounds from the neighboring room.

  After a while her breathing became even and deep, sleep taking her.

  I thrummed my fingers on my chest and stared at the beams of the ceiling, above which the sky had changed to the nighttime dark. A slow eruption of stars dotted the inky blackness. I closed my eyes and tried to will myself to sleep, but even with my eyes shut, she was there, her hair, her eyes, her essence, haunting me as she had these many years.

  I saw her running through a field of the deep lavender that covered the hills just outside of Troy. She was laughing as I chased her then, daring me to catch her and make love to her among the fragrant blooms. She was reclining on our shared bed in the palace of Troy, her skin dewy and glowing after we’d made love.

  My memory moved on to how her emerald gaze would follow me as I sparred with my brothers. Her lilting voice would give me strategy tips after every match. My smile returned as I remembered what an avid student of hers I had been, listening to her lesson and then thanking her with myriad pleasures. These were the memories that eased me, allowing me to drift into dreams of her.

  I was nearly out when a shrill scream of pure terror shattered the stillness.

  Chapter Nine

  Elena

  I was covered in a cold sweat and awoke when I heard someone screaming. As I sat up in the bed, I realized the sound was coming from me. My dream was a terror—Menelaus stood amid the corpses of my sisters, their heads severed, and their souls sent to Hades. He’d made me watch, trapped and bound for him to torture as he pleased. Those eyes, unfathomable and dark, had promised retribution for me daring to run from him again.

  Before I had a chance to rise from the bed, Paris burst through the door. He glared around, looking for intruders. When he found no one, he sat next to me. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?” He felt along my body, gauging for any harm.

  “N-no.” I drew the sheet up. I wore a lace teddy, something Daphne had picked out as pajamas, though I felt it was missing a good bit of fabric. “It was just a dream.”

  Paris relaxed only slightly, still searching my face.

  “It was Menelaus. He had me again. Had m-my sisters.” My voice trembled, the terror of the dream still lingering in my mind. Menelaus’s soulless eyes still seemed to glow at me in the dark. This sort of fear was new. Nothing had ever shaken me like this, and it was the odd déjà vu that made it all the more terrifying.

  Paris reached up and stroked my hair. “Never again.”

  “And my sisters? Are they safe?” The image of my strong warriors lying in a pile of death cut me so deeply that tears sprang to my eyes.

  “He has no reason to invite Artemis’s wrath now that you are out of his reach. He does not hunt them, does not want them. Just you.”

  His words, though they should have chilled me, put me at ease. I could not bear it if my actions resulted in my sisters’ destruction.

  “And are you certain he can’t find me here, even with the mark?”

  “The portal in Pyli is closed. The next nearest portal is in the Bloodkeep, over five-hundred miles away, and he would never dare try to cross there. The vampires and the demons are still at war.” His hand was in my hair, soothing me. He raised the other to catch a tear that rolled down my cheek.

  I shook myself inwardly. I was a warrior maiden, chief of Artemis’s soldiers, not some sniveling girl in thrall to a vampire. Besides, it was only a dream. Still, I couldn’t escape the feeling of dread. The image of my sisters murdered and lying in a heap was seared into my thoughts. It stoked my hatred of the demon who thought he could possess me. I would end him. My mind began whirring, trying to think of ways to get to him without him knowing I was near. How many troops did he command? Where were they stationed? What sort of weaponry would they use? What was the quickest way through the Desert of Thorns and into the demon palace Daphne had spoken of?

  “Hey, hey, Elena, look at me.” Paris lightly tipped my chin up. “Rest now. Your sisters are safe. You are safe.”

  Slowly, the concern in Paris’s eyes made me relax, let go of the fear and the need to strike back at the demon who haunted my dreams. My thoughts eased, no longer coming in a torrent. I took a deep breath and let it out, calming my heartbeat.

  I couldn’t simply fall back asleep, not now. I wasn’t used to sleeping alone, having always bedded down with my sisters. This room, with the huge bed and glass walls, was overwhelming after the terror of the dream. I felt weak and foolish to ask but knew I would not get a moment’s rest unless… “Would you, um, would you stay with me?”

  Paris stilled. He looked at me with that same heat that made me melt for him earlier. This was a mistake.

  “No, that’s a bad idea. I’m—”

  “Of course.” He hesitated only for a second before pulling back the covers, getting in, and propping himself on his elbow next to me. His bare chest was like a golden wall, blocking my view of the door behind him. I caught his scent, masculine and woodsy. Calming. Familiar.

  “Sleep now. Nothing will harm you, in dreams or otherwise, while I’m here.”

  He sounded so certain, so intent on protecting me. Just the resolve in his manner was a balm on my troubled spirit. I relaxed back into the bed, staring at the flickering, swirling trail of stars overhead. Paris sank down next to me and rested his palms on his chest. A faint heat radiated from him as if he’d soaked up warmth from his bed and brought it to mine as a gift.

  Instinct urged me to curl up against him, to seek his shelter, but I remained still. I couldn’t start down that path, because with the way he looked at me, I wasn’t sure I would be able to stop. He was only a whisper away, but as far as I was concerned, it was a vast distance, one I would not cross. At least, not again.

  I steadied my breaths, longing for a sleep of oblivion. My eyelids became heavy. Paris’s presence seemed to wick away the horror of the dream. After settling my mind, my heart, I let myself go into the warm dark.

  I awoke in a comfortable fog. My lashes fluttered open to find a dusting of golden curls and the hard chest of Paris beneath me. I was snugged into the crook of his arm. My hand lay on his muscled stomach and my knee was slung over him, resting atop his rock-hard shaft. My breasts were pressed to his side, and my hair fanned out around me. I was mortified and aroused all at once.

  I didn’t move, wondering if I could somehow extricate myself without him noticing. I was afraid to look up at his face, lest the movement wake him. Biting my lip with indecision, I decided to first slowly remove my traitorous leg. Gently, I began lifting my knee, but a deep rumble from Paris’s chest stopped me.

  “Don’t.” He pulled me even closer so that I was almost completely on top of him.

  Heat shot through me, hardening my nipples and wetting my core. My body acted of its own accord, as if it had been longing for this, needing Paris’s touch so desperately. I remembered all Paris told me of our supposed previous life together. I wanted to doubt it, to deny it ever existed. But the way my instincts sought him, the way the very heart of me wanted to feel him inside me…the doubt was shredding away. Could what my instincts had been telling me all along be true? Were we fated?

  I hitched in a breath as he pulled me directly on top of him, my legs straddling him. He let out a hiss as my sex rested on his shaft, only the thin fabric of my lace and his boxers separating them.

  He drew my face up to his. Those eyes watched me so intently. �
��I’ve dreamed of this, of you, for so many years.” His voice broke with emotion and longing, pain flashing across his eyes like a cloud across the sun.

  Before I even knew what I’d done, I brushed his lips with mine. A gentle nudge to bring him back to the present. To take away the pain. But it was so much more than that. It was a bridge, one linking us across an ocean of time, though I couldn’t even begin to tell the depths of that vast sea. When he took my mouth with more passion than I had ever experienced, I knew I was in trouble.

  Chapter Ten

  Paris

  I couldn’t believe the sweetness of her. Waking to her pressed against me was an acute torture. She slumbered, no doubt unaware of how she had molded herself to my side, just as she had in times past. I couldn’t control my need for her, my cock hardening as she placed her calf against it.

  I’d forced my hands to stay put. One rested on her hip and the other at my side, restless to touch her. Her breathing changed, and her eyelashes tickled my chest. Her eyelashes flickered faster, and I couldn’t help my smile, knowing she was surprised at finding herself glued to me. But when she went to move away, I couldn’t let her go.

  Her lips brushed against mine, and I took more, melding our mouths and partaking in the sweet ecstasy of her kiss. She warmed even more under my caresses, and the scent of her desire lengthened my fangs, though I was careful not to harm her.

  I slid my hands down, grabbing her ass and raising her to get a better angle on her mouth. The heat of her against my aching shaft made me hurt, and imagining how much hotter she would be once I was inside her to the hilt sent me precariously close to the edge. She ran her hands in my hair. Her breasts crushed against me, the tight buds of her nipples making my cock pulse with need. She felt me and moved her hips, thin fabric the only thing between me and the sweet bliss I knew lay between her thighs. I pulled her up my body and reached a hand around her, stroking her sex from behind.