Page 70 of Sold to the Dark Vampire Prince

“You seem to cast the blame at your sister’s feet when it was your father’s doing.”

“I don’t,” he said softly, reaching over to cup her cheek. “My father is a monster. I have hated and feared him since I was a small boy. And yet, I tell you this only so that you will understand why the media has branded me Cruel Prince Alexander, why I have allowed no one to get close to me. It isn’t safe for me to care for anyone, to form attachments, to have friendships. Not when anyone I become close to will only become a pawn for the king to use against me. I won’t be responsible for the death of someone I care for, not after seeing the way Micah’s loss has destroyed my sisters’ relationship.”

“And if Judas were gone?” Tears shimmered in her eyes.

“Surely you must know the answer to that question.” Alex brushed them away with the pads of his thumbs, bending to kiss her lips. “You have stolen my heart, bewitched me entirely. If I had been lucky enough to have been born a man and not a cursed prince, I would have asked for your hand at our first meeting.”

“Which would have been utterly ridiculous.” Smiling, Dani poked his chest.

“Our second meeting, then.”

“When I hit you with my frying pan?”

“You were just warming up to me.” He tucked her hair over one shoulder, kissing up her jaw until she sighed and lifted her chin. “I knew then that there was no stopping what was building between us. That I would have done anything to protect you. That I couldn’t breathe for constantly thinking about the next time I would be able to see you.”

He traced her cheekbones, and Daniela closed her eyes. “That I was falling hopelessly in love with you.”

“Alexander,” she whispered, starting to cry again. “We both know how this ends. Why did I have to fall in love with you, only to lose you?”

“You never asked to be sentenced to my fate. I was born a prince. I may not be able to be with you, not without risking your safety and that of your sisters, but I swear to you, Daniela, I will fight every day of my life until this kingdom is rid of corruption. I will remake this sector into a place where children are not starving, and where we are no longer divided between the rich who hold their money and power over the workers who can barely afford to buy bread. Somehow, I will find a way to end my father’s reign of tyranny.”

“I’m so proud of you, Alexander.” She pressed a hand to his heart.

“Daniela,” he whispered, and she lifted her chin, drawing his mouth down to hers. He pushed her up onto the counter, wrapping her legs around his hips. She nipped at his bottom lip, and he growled.

“Your sister—”

“Evan already thinks you’re fucking me,” she breathed. “I need you to bite me. Quickly. Before she comes back in.”

Alex ran his hands up the length of her thighs, his long fingers warm through the worn denim of her jeans. “You think about me fucking you, Dani?”

He whispered it against her throat, a dark promise as he pulled her forward on the counter, grinding into her center.

“You know it will be my first time.” Her fingers dug into the soft fabric of his shirt. “And I don’t want it to be with anyone but you.”

Even as she said it, the inevitability of what they were hurtling towards made her stomach hurt. A single night together might be more than they could hope for. They were on borrowed time, even now.

Just as her tears began to fall, Alex’s teeth sank into her vein.

Dani’s vision grew hazy as he began to suck, taking from her in rough pulls. She sighed, fingers slipping under his shirt to feel his warm, bare skin. A needy ache began between her legs where he held her pressed up to the counter. Whimpering, she rotated her hips.

Alex gripped her thighs, pulling her to the edge of the counter so she had to wrap her legs around his waist to keep from falling. His thumb slid between them, finding the wet spot on the front of her jeans as she tried unsuccessfully to muffle her cries in his hoodie.

When she came with a shudder, he withdrew his still elongated fangs, thrusting between her legs one final time and holding her in place. He lowered his mouth to hers so she could taste her blood on his tongue. Dragging her fingers hungrily through his hair, she licked his fangs clean. Alex vibrated softly as she did it, fingers tightening at her hips, and she knew he was aroused by the show of submissiveness when he’d just fed. That she would not only beg for his fangs in her throat every time, but worship them with her tongue when he was done with her.

“Good girl.” Alex bent to kiss her forehead. “I am going to make love to you, Daniela, and very soon. But it will be somewhere that I can take my time and focus on your pleasure. Somewhere that I can feed from you, and make sure you’re ready to take all of me inside of you.”

“I’m ready.”

He laughed softly, kissing the tip of her nose. “I do not doubt your willingness. But I want the first time we’re together to be as dark and decadent for you as when I suck at your throat. An experience you’ll find so deeply pleasurable you’ll think of nothing else until the next time I come to your bed.” He kissed the fresh puncture marks he’d left at her neck, and she trembled. “Soon.”

Dani had never traveled out of the capital city, much less the sector, and was desperately curious to see the faerie lands.

Everyone had heard the rumors when it came to dealing with the fae.

Reportedly, they could not lie.

It was best not to make any bargains, lest you found yourself magically ensnared in a trap you could not escape.