by J. E. Taylor
I slowly circled my hips, hoping that it would change his expression.
He closed his eyes and tilted his head back. “Virgin blood,” he whispered, and his breath quickened. “Jesus, why didn’t you tell me?” His voice shook. With need, with something else. I couldn’t tell, but his body responded, swiveling with me in a lover’s dance.
Neither of us stopped our languid motions. His eyes snapped open and the fire within his blue irises blazed inside me. His teeth elongated, and his gaze fell on my throat. His hands tightened.
I cried out and grabbed his wrists, trying to dislodge his grip.
His hands grabbed mine and he flipped us, pinning me under him. His wild eyes were on mine, both horror and lust fighting on his features. His hips drove into mine faster, like it was a race against time.
I met each thrust with force of my own, the pleasure radiated from my belly all the way to my fingers and toes. He nuzzled my neck, growling as his teeth scratched my skin. I knew I should be afraid, but a morbid curiosity gripped me, along with the ethereal bliss his body was creating inside me.
His teeth sank into my shoulder, and I cried out. Pain overshadowed the pleasure. I wrapped my legs around his hips, arching into the tornado of sensations.
I took a handful of hair and yanked his head back. He hadn’t transitioned, hadn’t shifted yet. I pulled him to my mouth, tasting my own blood on his tongue. I sucked his bottom lip between my teeth and bit. His blood flowed, comingling with mine, and he yelped before he smashed our lips harder together.
His tongue danced with mine in a fervor that matched our hips. Both our grips tightened, and we both let out a growling groan that I was sure echoed across the lands.
My body shuddered beneath his, adding to the tremors filling his form. He rolled off me, his chest rising and falling at an alarming rate.
“Run,” he whispered. “Now.”
I was in no condition to run, but as the shift took hold of him, he bellowed, losing himself to the beast. I rolled off the bed and grabbed my torn dress, heading for the door.
The bear slid in front of my path, blocking my escape route. I put my hands out, the dress in one and my other splayed as I backed up. My shoulder ached where he had bitten through the skin.
The bear’s gaze was wild, like just the smell of me was pushing him over the edge. Kyle was nowhere in that gaze. There was no humanity left. The growling fury radiating from the beast clued me in on his intent. If I didn’t think fast, the beast would kill me.
My gaze landed on the dress and snapped back to him as I brought it close, patting it down until I found the pocket I was looking for. I didn’t know if it would work, but I pulled the box of cookies out of my pocket and opened it. Then I pulled one out just as my back hit the wall. With a shaking hand, I offered the cookie to the bear, hoping to stop whatever single-minded obsession was going through his head.
He roared at me.
“It’s the best cookie you will ever taste,” I said, forcing my voice to remain steady and calm, even though I was so far removed from those emotions. Calm was in another stratosphere.
The bear looked at the offering and then at me. He sniffed my sister’s confection, and then he stepped forward, sniffing me. Down there. I wanted to push his snout away, but something inside warned me not to move, to remain still and continue offering the sugary confection.
I didn’t dare breathe.
His nose moved to the blood running down my arm. He licked it off. Still, I didn’t move. I sucked my lower lip between my teeth, and the iron taste of drying blood filled my mouth. I would rather have my sister’s cookie right now. I hoped the bear felt the same.
His snout moved back to the cookie, and he took it between his teeth, narrowly missing my fingers. His gaze softened, and he turned away and sat on his haunches. The shift back to man happened quickly, and Kyle dropped to his knees. He looked at his hands, turning them over twice before he looked around the room.
His reaction was so odd that I remained still against the wall.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
He jerked and spun to his feet. His eyes widened as he stared at me. He wiped his mouth and stared at the crumbs littered on his hand, along with blood from his lip.
“What the...”
“I gave the bear a cookie,” I said, holding the box.
He blinked and stared at my shoulder. “What happened after I said virgin blood?” he bellowed. His entire form shook, and a shadow passed over his face.
I narrowed my gaze and reached down, swiping the discarded dress off the floor. “You don’t have to look so horrified.” I covered my chest. “You were the one who bit me first.” I nodded towards my shoulder.
He closed his eyes and took a deep inhalation, then slowly exhaled before he opened his eyes again. Kyle reached for his pants and slipped them on, then focused on me. “Did we finish what you started?”
I glared at him. “What kind of game are you playing here?”
“Just answer the damn question,” he growled.
“Yes. And then you told me to run, but apparently, I didn’t run fast enough, so I offered the angry bear a damn cookie.”
He stumbled back against the bed with his jaw askew. His stare penetrated right through me, and his gaze was so far from the arrogance he so comfortably wore that my breath locked in my chest.
His mouth snapped closed, and he sucked in his lower lip dropping his gaze to the floor. A crease appeared between his eyes. “You... you should be dead.”
“Why?”
“Because, the bear kills those who lose their virginity to me. It never fails. At least it never did until today. The moment I break their innocence, the bear wakes and takes over completely. I come to with the walls painted with their blood and their bones picked clean and no memory of what happened. Just the sinking feeling that I killed for the fun of it and not out of necessity.” He crossed to the balcony and leaned on the door jamb with his back to me. “My father warned me, but I didn’t listen.” He became silent again. “After the first time, we had to run. Once we found a safe province to settle in, he beat the holy hell out of me.” His hand rubbed the scars on the back of his shoulder.
I stared at the rest of the scars on his back. Knowing where they came from and why didn’t lessen the ache in my chest.
He chuckled in a cold way that sent a shiver down my back.
“But once the beast gets the taste for blood, it is always on the prowl. Hunters learned this, and they tracked their virgins closely. My next transgression cost my father his life.” He sighed. “It seems my alter ego’s favorite delicacy is broken virginity.”
“I guess my sister’s cookies are now his favorite.”
He turned towards me. I shifted, still holding the torn dress up over my chest and privates, uncomfortable with his candid stare. When his gaze dropped to the box in my hand, he crossed the distance and plucked it from my hand.
He took one out and sampled it. “As good as this is, I doubt it was the cookie that saved you.” He smiled. “You fucked the bear and survived. That, My Queen, is uniquely yours, and yours alone.”
KYLE FOUND ME A SHIRT that I could wear since my dress was a total loss. I used one of his belts to fasten a waistline, and then I stepped back into the bedroom. Kyle sat at the small table in the corner of the bedroom studying Senator Brax’s vile decree.
He glanced up when I entered, and his gaze lingered on my shoulder. Blood had already seeped through the fabric.
He dropped the papers and stood. “I need to patch your wounds.” He crossed, grabbed my good arm, and nearly dragged me into the dressing room.
“I am fine,” I said as he started unbuttoning the shirt. When I knocked his hands away, he grabbed mine.
“You are bleeding,” he said, staring me down.
I couldn’t argue with him, because he was right. The fabric on my shoulder was already tacky. He sat me in the chair and then turned, rummaging through the shelves and grabbi
ng gauze and other items before dumping them next to me. After he took a seat across from me, he raised his eyebrows.
“I can’t very well patch you up through the shirt.”
I rolled my eyes and carefully pulled my arm out of the sleeve, trying to poke my shoulder out of the shirt opening.
“Just take it off,” he said, exasperated.
I was more self-conscious now than when we were ripping each other’s clothing off. I unbuttoned the shirt the rest of the way and slid it off my injured shoulder. Heat filled my cheeks and I glanced at the floor.
“Elsa,” he said softly.
I forced myself to meet his gaze.
“You are beautiful with or without clothes. Even blood-smeared as you are, you are beautiful,” he said. The softness in his voice reflected in his eyes for a brief instant. He shook his head as if to clear his own mind, and then focused on my wounds.
When he poured alcohol on my shoulder, I bit my lip to keep from wincing. His cleaning of the cuts was gentle enough for me to wonder why I thought he was such an ass. When my shoulder was bandaged properly, he handed me a different shirt and left me to get myself put together.
“Did you read the fine print?” he asked when I came in, the question clipped. His lips pressed thin and the fire had returned to his gaze.
“What fine print?”
With a laugh, he looked at the paper again. “Senator Brax has this written so that his vote counts when approving a suitor. That old shit certainly covered all his tracks. Basically, he made sure you would have to marry him. There isn’t even an option for you to concede the throne to him as a more palatable choice.” He dropped the paper onto the table and reached for the box of cookies. He tossed the empty box back on the table, his face a mask of disgust.
“You ate all the cookies?” I asked, staring at the empty box.
“Is that really what you should be focusing on?”
His tone reminded me exactly why I thought he was a jerk, and I glared at him. “My sister made those for me.”
He pointed at me. “You are going to need to learn to share.”
I huffed and waved at our surroundings. “What do you call this?”
His lips twitched into a smile. “You didn’t share this castle willingly.”
I crossed my arms.
He laughed and turned the chair towards me. “If you’re hungry, I have something you can eat.” His eyebrow rose suggestively, and he pointed to his lap.
“You really are an ass.” I headed for the door.
“Thank you for the cookies,” he called after me as I descended the stairs.
When I reached the snow at the bottom of the outside steps, I glanced back at the glistening castle.
He leaned on the balcony, smiling down at me. “When is the wedding?”
I stopped and stared up at him. “Tomorrow at dusk.”
“I’ll be there.”
I turned away. “You better be,” I muttered under my breath.
Chapter 10
It was well past midnight by the time I caught sight of the town. It almost looked like daylight in the town square. I racked my brain, trying to figure out what event I was missing, but my mind came up empty. I hurried towards the gates which now had guards that were awake and on alert.
They eyed my strange attire, but remained quiet as they opened the gates for me.
The moment I stepped across the threshold to my kingdom, I was seized. My hands were covered quicker than I could react and then bound behind my back with a harsh yank.
“Unhand me. I am the queen!”
“Murderess,” one of the guards snarled as they dragged me to the town square.
Almost every citizen of Bryggen was present holding a torch, which explained the lights. Even Anna and Kris were in the crowd, but instead of the angry masks the rest of the crowd wore, their faces reflected horror.
The crowd parted for the guards dragging me, and in the center of the town square stood the frozen bodies of the men I had killed with my ice blast.
“Queen Elsa, please tell us you have a valid explanation for the murder of these innocent men,” Senator Brax bellowed over the din from his perch on the gallows.
I straightened my back. “They were far from innocent. They attempted to kill the man I have chosen to stand by me as my husband.” I stared the senator down as a hush fell over the kingdom.
The senator’s eyes narrowed. The flush grew in his cheeks. The bastard didn’t expect my response. He studied me, his gaze lingering on my clothing, and his head cocked to the side.
“Where is this man?” he asked, looking around at the crowd and then back at me, challenging my station.
“He is not here.”
“Does he have a name?” he asked.
“Kyle.”
“Kyle from what house?”
“From the house of Bryggen.”
Silence fell over the kingdom. Shocked stares fell on me. I wasn’t the only one who studied the kingdom’s heritage. It was taught in every home and in every school across the land. Murmurs started in the crowd, like a hissing whisper that grew.
“Are we supposed to believe the long-dead king of the Hanseatic League is your betrothed?” He laughed and opened the pillory next to him on the podium. “Until you impart the truth, you will remain in the stocks, and if you haven’t confessed your sins by the time the sun breaks the horizon, the people will decide your fate.”
The guards dragged me on stage and forced my neck into the space just before the top of the pillory came down with a bang, locking my head between the wood. My hands were still covered and bound behind me, leaving me helpless.
I blinked, wondering what the hell had just happened.
“Let me out!” I snarled, and cloth was shoved between my teeth, gagging me.
Senator Brax crouched in front of me. “You should have accepted your fate,” he whispered and then looked behind me at the gallows. “Because now you are facing death instead of a comfortable existence by my side.”
I glared at him as he walked away, leaving me bent over with my hands bound behind my back. “You bastard,” I muttered into the rag.
He produced a knife, and my heart jumped into my throat. The last person relegated to the stocks had been stripped and humiliated before his sentence was passed. It seemed the good senator was going to follow the stockade rule book, despite the fact I was still reigning queen.
I struggled to free my hands as the belt I was wearing was yanked from my waist. The fabric of my shirt fell next, leaving me in boots and the gauze covering my shoulder. My only companions were the dead, propped close enough in proximity for the stench of decay to fill my nostrils.
Senator Brax grabbed my shoulder, squeezing the wounds Kyle had stitched up. Pain radiated down my arm, but I refused to cry out. I would not give the senator the satisfaction, no matter what he had in mind.
I looked beyond the dead to meet my sister’s horrified gaze in the back of the crowd.
She struggled in Kris’s arms, her cries drowned by the hostile crowd’s vile cat calls. I slowly shook my head at her. I didn’t want her to become collateral damage of Senator Brax’s grand plan. She needed to calm down. Hell, she needed to go get my one and only chance for survival.
I flicked my gaze towards the hills where my ice castle hid and then back to her. Her struggles slowed as I willed her to understand my meaning.
I needed the man-beast. I needed Kyle to stand witness for me, and I needed the bear to tear Senator Brax’s head clean off.
Senator Brax stepped into my sight again and waved a metal pear for all the crowd to see. I cringed at the thought of where he intended to put that thing. The crowd went wild. Their blood-lust was as palpable as the senator’s.
Anna stilled, and her eyes widened before she turned into Kris’s chest. Even from this distance, I could see her shoulders shaking. Her husband held her with his lips pressed into a thin line. I didn’t think I had ever seen a look of pure murder on my br
other-in-law before, but it was there now, as clear as the hatred brewing in my own heart.
Kris tilted his head so his ear was closer to Anna. He blinked and glanced down at her before returning his gaze to mine. He turned with her, escorting her back towards the castle and their quarters beyond the interior gates so she did not have to witness my torture.
“Maybe this will draw a confession out of you.” The Senator smirked and disappeared behind me.
I hoped Anna got my message, because if word didn’t get to Kyle, I wouldn’t survive to see tomorrow’s sunset.
“She is still the queen,” someone behind me snarled.
“Step aside or you will be exiled once she has been sentenced for her crimes,” Senator Brax said.
“My family will gladly leave this kingdom far behind if you dare to harm my sister in any way. Until judgement has been rendered, she is still the queen, and you will treat her as such. Torture is reserved for common criminals and spies, not royalty. The humiliation of being locked in the stocks until morning is enough until her trial commences.” Kris’s voice boomed.
Kris had somehow managed to get onto the podium before that bastard had a chance to skewer me with that torture contraption. And in doing so, created the perfect diversion that would allow my sister to slip out of the kingdom.
“She is not your sister,” Senator Brax hissed.
“She is family, and you are treading on dangerous ground,” Kris spat back.
Kris was a large man and usually as docile as a puppy. But the edge in his voice must have matched that of his stance because the senator paused.
“This isn’t over,” the senator said, then stomped off to the edge of the platform and sent a searing glare my way.
I presumed Kris blocked access to me as no one else attempted to dole out their own justice as so many had in past situations like this. I was so thankful someone stood up for what was left of my honor, because if the senator had his way, I would be as close to dead as possible when they slipped the rope over my head to steal my last breath.
