“I for one think you should wear makeup more often.”
He glowered at me.
I laughed in his face.
It was a bit harder than usual to take him seriously when his face, arms, chest, and legs were powdered so white I could almost see through him. An ivory wreath crowned his head. His white robe wrapped around one shoulder and ended right below his knees, making stellar work of the black, gladiator sandals that laced up his ankles.
I hadn’t been able to convince him to keep carrying the scythe around, but his naturally sharp features and foreboding expression lent themselves to the look anyway.
Ambrose hooked an arm around my waist, tugging me in front of him. I wound up with my hands on the banister, looking down at the rest of the party from the upper level the Tarots had roped off for themselves.
More than a few people glanced up at us, and I tried to offer up a normal smile when I really wanted to moan at the way he felt pressed against my back. The flowers that circled my head were a reflection of his crown, and while my matching robe was longer, it also made it very apparent how little clothing separated us.
His hands found the railing on either side, sealing me in completely. Ambrose nuzzled his nose along the top of my ear before placing his lips against the lobe. “You know,” he whispered, “if we’re supposed to be going for technical accuracy, I should be pretending that I’m Thanatos instead of Hades.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course you know that. I’m not even going to ask why. But no one cares about accuracy, Death. It’s a costume party. You have to be the Hades to my Persephone and that’s final.”
His dick twitched against my ass and I fought a grin. Sometimes, it was the strangest things that got him going. I’d never reveal how much I secretly loved it.
Already, I was plotting out a map of what rooms might be vacant. Then again, it might not matter. If he got much harder and kept pressing against me the way he was, a closet would have to do. My screaming wouldn’t stand out too much given the theme. Hopefully.
“Are you accusing me of kidnapping you and dragging you to the underworld?”
“If the shoe fits...”
He pressed a quick kiss to my neck that made me burn so much hotter than it should have. “And what about the falling in love with me part? Did that prophecy come to pass as well?”
“You know it did. Stop being so damn needy.”
“Maybe I just want to hear you say it again.”
I turned so I could see him over my shoulder. Dark eyes steadily took me in and the wry grin he wore made my heart flutter. I’d been a goner for him from the beginning, but I’d been too stubborn to see it. Now though, I had no reason to deny it.
“I love you,” I told him, pecking his nose with a kiss. “Even though you’re bossy, rude, and completely insatiable. Stop trying to dick me down in the middle of the party.” I shimmied a little against him, savoring the low groan in his chest. “There will be plenty of time for that later.”
His gaze lowered to my lips, and his next words sounded distracted as hell.
“Don’t you still have to finish that presentation for Chef Stone?”
“Presentation is a nice way to say she’s trying to use my baking skills to bribe her daughter into talking to her.”
Ambrose smirked. “Don’t think of it as a bribe. It’s more like a business deal. You get to attend the class and she gets to try and get back on Kaylee’s good side. I doubt it’s going to happen, but that’s not our problem.”
I bit down on my lip, turning my focus to the partiers but not really seeing them anymore. “Speaking of Kaylee, what do you think she’s waiting on? She seemed serious as can be when she made that threat, but she hasn’t done anything else yet either.”
He sighed, tucking his head on my shoulder. “I wish I knew. She’s not answering her phone and she hasn’t been at the apartment either. It’s like she vanished for real this time, and I don’t understand how or why.”
“Really? Not even a trace?”
“Nothing,” he grunted, standing up. “And you know what? Fuck it.” His hands landed on my hips, turning me around to face him. “We can keep worrying about what she’s up to for months or we can just wait and see.” Dark eyes glittered, the presence in them enough to gobble up stars and space and everything in between. “Whatever it is, I’m sure we can face it down together and figure things out.”
“Look at you with the inspiring speech,” I teased. Then I made the mistake of glancing over my shoulder. “But maybe I shouldn’t be the only one hearing it.”
I didn’t have to point. My grin was enough for his brow to furrow.
We both turned to look down as a loud, unintelligible argument went on beneath us.
Renata was covered in enough gold glitter to be almost blinding as she waved her arms around, gesturing at nothing. Erik stood across from her, billowing smoke like a chimney while they went back and forth over...something. I had no idea what, nor did I care too much.
Renata was slowly reintegrating herself with the rest of the Tarots.
Things were smooth sailing with Chrom, touch and go with Baron, and utterly impossible when it came to Erik.
The more time passed, the more like oil and water they became. At this point, I was positive they could argue about the color of the sky and they’d both choose incorrect answers just to avoid being too close in their decisions. It was that kind of petty.
They drifted to the stairs, still arguing as they came close enough for me to make out some of their chatter.
“I told you that dude was a fucking loser,” Erik was saying. “I don’t know when you’ll get it through your head that I know what I’m talking about.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Renata yelled. She snatched a red cup from someone, chugged it, handed it back, then started up the stairs. “You can’t make a character statement about someone just because of what they’re wearing. This isn’t the eighteenth century anymore!”
“Don’t even try to spin that bullshit. You’ve reduced a chick to tears because her nail polish didn’t match. Besides, if you’re going to be associated with us for real, I refuse to interact with some loser still wearing his high school letterman jacket.”
Renata reached the top of the stairs and turned, pretending to choke the air. “Keep on fucking with me, Fool. I will cockblock you until the end of time.”
“You can’t.” Erik laughed, taking another drag of his joint. “I could snap my fingers at any girl in a hundred miles and watch them come running.”
“You’re a pig.”
“You’re a bitch.”
“Takes one to know one.”
“Takes two to know—”
Ambrose reached out, plucking the joint from Erik’s fingers and smothering it in his half-finished drink. “That’s enough, children. If you can’t get along, I’m going to put you both in timeout.”
Renata stuck her tongue out. “You’re not the boss anymore, remember? We’re all about democracy these days. And my first democratic venture is to vote Erik off the island.” She raised her hand. “Who’s with me?”
My hand shot up first and I laughed at his glare.
“What?” I asked. “You’re bitchy lately. You need another hobby that doesn’t involve bedrooms and spread legs.”
“I’m in,” Baron said, lifting his hand.
“Same,” Chrom added, focus elsewhere.
They were sitting across from each other, a chess set in play between them. Watching a guy dressed like a wizard—fake, white beard included—and another wearing an old-school strongman outfit duke it out over a board game was one of the more interesting things I’d seen tonight. And I had to give Chrom some extra credit because they were still playing even though he’d lost twice already.
“Wow.” Erik scoffed. “I’m really feeling the love here.” He glanced at Ambrose. “What about you? You didn’t vote?”
Ambrose shrugged, pulling me close again like
he couldn’t bear not to. “Does it matter? You heard Renata. My vote doesn’t carry as much weight as it used to. And even if it did”—he rested his chin on my head—”you know I’m not going against this one.”
“Fucking whipped,” Erik muttered, loud enough for us all to hear.
Ambrose chuckled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Keep beating, heart. You’ve got this. Don’t be swayed by those words. Or at least save the swaying for when you’re not in public.
Swaying would lead to grinding.
Grinding would lead to not-so-discreet humping.
That would lead to both of us disappearing for a while, and we’d promised to be present and accounted for today. As it turned out, our friends didn’t appreciate us spending so much time locked in one room or another.
“Checkmate again!” Chrom yelled, shooting up from his seat. He pointed at the board. “How in the hell are you doing that?”
Baron grabbed his glasses, took them off, and slowly put them back on again. “Magic,” he said, straight-faced as can be.
We all blinked at him like he’d grown a second head.
“What?” He looked around. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Ambrose was the first to recover. He coughed into his fist to cover up what I’m pretty sure was a building laugh. “Did you just make a joke? Careful there, man. Keep on that path and we might think you got some of your circuits crossed during the last software update.”
He flipped us off and focused on resetting the board. “Who wants to get their ass whooped next?”
“Oh, no you don’t.” Chrom sat back down. “I’m not peeling my ass away from this seat until I beat you at least once.”
Renata came up behind him and patted the back of his head. “So you plan on turning into a skeleton, Chromie? You’re hot, but you’re not hot enough to pull that off.”
He pouted. “I can win.”
No one said anything.
He looked back and forth between all of us before his eyes settled on me. “You believe in me right, Em?” His brows bounced. “Maybe you can give me a kiss for good luck.”
Ambrose pointed at him. “I will fucking end you.”
I kissed his cheek. “Chillax. We can at least wait until football season ends. Then no one will notice he’s missing.”
Erik went to lean against the banister beside us. “There’s something wrong with you two, and I’m not just talking about the weird-ass matching outfit thing you’ve got going.”
I looked him up and down. “Because you’re one to talk.”
Erik’s outfit could hardly be considered an outfit at all. He wore dark, ripped jeans, combat boots, and a necklace with a guitar pick.
He tucked another joint in his mouth and went to light it before Ambrose threatened to break the thing apart.
“What can I say, sis? Ladies love musicians.”
“You don’t have a musical bone in your body.”
“I played the guitar a few times,” he said.
“It was Guitar Hero. That doesn’t count.”
He scoffed. “Let’s see you try playing ‘Through the Fire and Flames’ on expert difficulty and acting like it doesn’t count.” His fingers wiggled. “If nothing else, it made me able to do all sorts of things girls love with these babies.”
“First off”—my nose scrunched—”Eww. I never want to think of where your fingers have been. You should submerge them in acid and hope new ones grow. Second off, maybe you should pick up an instrument. Like I said, you need a hobby. You can choose anything as long as it’ll get in the way of you trying to mend shit between us and our parents.”
He grinned. “I’m a professional bullshitter. If making them think all their dumbassery is water under the bridge is the key to getting them to leave us the hell alone for a bit, I’ll do whatever it takes to get there.”
I didn’t have much to say in response. He’d admittedly done a good job of that already. Our family vibe remained strained at best. But the more Erik forced me along to pointless dinners and boat rides and mind-numbingly boring charity events, the more they left us alone. I wasn’t going to complain about that. Not when they’d so far been true to their word about doing better.
Mom hadn’t slung a thinly veiled insult at me in a while, and Dad hadn’t blown a gasket when he showed up at the Tarot’s house in search of Erik one day and instead found me coming downstairs in nothing but one of my boyfriend’s shirts.
And oh boy he’d been close. A vein had bulged in his forehead and everything. Watching him open his mouth and forcibly close it before storming away had given me the first warm feeling I think I’d had for him since he stepped back into my life.
Years of strain were a lot to make up for. I think we all knew it. But we were trying in our own ways. Maybe someday I’d want to be around both of them again. Maybe I’d tell them about my dreams without being worried that they just...wouldn’t get it.
We weren’t there yet.
But we had time, and that was a lot more than some people could say.
Warm lips pressed against my temple. A soft voice floated around me like a happy memory. “What are you thinking?”
I glanced up at him, letting the love I felt show in my eyes. In the arms I wrapped around him. In the kiss I placed on the hollow of his neck. “That whether it was fate or destiny or luck, I’m glad you threw that cupcake in the lake that day. It ended with me standing right in this spot, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
His lips curved. “Even if I still don’t eat cupcakes the right way?”
“Even then, Ambrose LaCroix. You’re mine. Besides, I happen to believe that an old dog can learn new tricks.”
He kissed me to the sound of “Thriller” playing over the speaker, Erik faking a gag beside me, and Chrom somewhere in the background whistling. The noise faded about the same time he cradled my head in both hands while my palms rested above his chest.
I smiled into the deepening kiss as I thought about the artwork resting beneath my right hand. I’d told him he didn’t have to get the tattoo. So, instead of getting it on his neck, he had it on his chest instead, right above his heart. So far, no one but me knew about it and that wasn’t likely to change with the temperature dropping.
Talk about a secret I was having a hell of a lot of fun keeping.
Time passed us by without meaning. Ambrose kissed me until my legs felt like jelly and his hands had to settle around my waist to keep me against him. We very well may have chosen to spend the rest of the evening like that if commotion downstairs hadn’t broken us from each other’s spell.
Erik cursed. “What are they doing here?”
“Don’t ask me,” Baron said.
“She wouldn’t dare,” Chrom growled.
I pulled away from Ambrose in time to see Renata trying and failing to pull Chrom away from the railing.
“Whoa there, big guy,” she told him, yanking at a huge arm that hardly budged. “Let’s take a breather and keep our heads. There has to be a reason for this.”
Ambrose’s fingers flexed on my hip. Together, we looked down to find Lake, Fletcher, and a handful of other Thornwood guys creating a path in the middle of the room.
They circled round and round, threatening looks on their faces, and people moved the hell out of their way to make room for the show. In the middle, standing with her arms wrapped around a tall guy with tanned skin and a mop of brown hair was Megan.
She glanced up.
Made eye contact with each of us before narrowed eyes settled on Chrom.
Then she laid one hell of a kiss on the guy in her arms.
Chrom made a sound that sent a chill down my spine and went barreling down the stairs, pushing through Erik and Baron so quickly it was like they weren’t there.
They traded glances and went after him, but no one could get there before he’d yanked Megan away, tossed her to her brother, and drilled his fist into the random guy’s face.
&n
bsp; All hell broke loose from there as Lake, Fletcher, Baron, and Erik joined into what quickly became a chaotic melee.
I glanced up at Ambrose. His jaw was tight, body tense, and it didn’t take more than a few seconds to realize the only reason he wasn’t down there was because of me.
“What just happened?” I asked him.
He offered up a small smile. “Same old, same old. Declarations of war, secret relationships coming to light, old rivalries bubbling over. Another day in the life.”
This is what you signed up for. It’s not too late to run for the hills.
Except my heart knew that was a lie.
I sighed, then glared down at the scuffle that seemed to grow in size every second. The party was supposed to be downtime for all of us, and now they were ruining it.
“I’ll go back to not supporting violence tomorrow,” I said, shaking my head. “Kick their asses, Ro.”
His grin was dark and terrible. “Anything for you, cupcake girl. Anything.”
He dashed down the steps.
Moved into the brawl.
Delivered an uppercut to some guy who swung for him that left my jaw aching.
Then my man went to work.
And damn if it wasn’t all kinds of fun to watch Death do his thing in a toga.
The End
Acknowledgments
You’ve made it to the end of the book! There’s a round of applause happening right now, you just can’t hear it. Unless you can…
Thank you so much for reading! If you have a minute to leave a review, it goes a long way and is extremely appreciated! I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed slamming my face into my keyboard when I realized how long this was going to be.
If you have a little bit more free time, feel free to stick around while I ramble about this book some more.
Things you may not know about the development of this novel:
In the early drafting stages, this was initially going to be a reverse harem trilogy. Bananas, right? I started working on this whole saga of drama between brother and sister as Emily got closer to Ambrose, Baron, and Chrom, while leaving Erik on the outskirts. Obviously, that idea got scrapped.
Defiant Prince: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Black Rose University Book 1) Page 41
