by Anna Santos
“Are you going to accept my apology? Or do I have to lock you inside this room until you stop acting like a spoiled brat?” he asked with a velvety, enticing voice that betrayed the implied menace.
He held her tighter, and she could almost feel his lips against her neck, close to her ear. It was too painful how much she wanted him to move them closer and kiss her there. Kiss her all over until their lips were back together, and she didn’t have to miss him.
She bit her tongue, killing the urge of asking if he was going to be locked inside the room with her, because if he would, that would be a different story…
Then she snapped out of her idiotic and pointless fantasy and fought back. “Do you honestly think that there is any door that can hold me in a place that I don’t want to be? I’ve been there, I’ve vanquished that. No one will ever lock me up. Now, get the hell away from me,” she spat venomously, pulling his arm away to free herself. She stumbled in the process.
It was so much nicer within his arms that her body instantly trembled in protest.
“What do you mean by that?” he asked. His voice sounded concerned, even angered, as though maybe he cared about what had happened to her.
Spinning around, she narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you care?”
“Did anyone keep you locked away?”
“That is none of your business.” She pointed at the exit. “Could you just leave my room? I really don’t want you here.”
She turned her back on him, trying to conceal her pain. Some stupid memories had the power to make her sad and break into tears. Remembering the years that she was locked away from the world and forced to forget her past was agonizing. However, she wasn’t going to let him witness her tears. She was too proud.
Crossing her arms, she rubbed her right one. She tried to swallow her grief, waiting for him to obey and leave. He didn’t leave. She could feel his presence behind her back. What more could he possibly want? Why had he taken time out of his day to torment her?
“Jessica,” he said, and his velvet voice made her blood race to her heart. Her cheeks burned and her body trembled. “I’m sorry.”
He sounded genuine. She believed he was sorry, even if she had no idea why.
She dared to ask him, “For what?”
“For everything.”
“You need to be more specific than that.”
She heard him breathing deeply but didn’t dare to turn around.
“I’m sorry for all the things I said to you. I’m sorry for…what happened in your bedroom. I was out of line…Did you tell anyone what happened?”
Jessica shook her head. “Of course not.”
“I hope you don’t think less of me.”
“Why don’t you want others to know that you still crave for blood?”
“It just happens from time to time,” he explained. “I’m in full control of my hunger now. I won’t pose any danger to you anymore.”
Slowly, she turned around to face him. “I’m glad that you are feeling better. I am. Kevin and Anna aren’t prepared to lose you yet. But the next time you call me easy or a slut because of the way I dress or I act, I’ll kick you so hard that you will hallucinate for a good reason,” she menaced as she fisted her hands and narrowed her eyes at him.
A smile tugged at his lips when he bowed. “I’ll never disrespect you like that again. I promise.”
“Good!”
Raising his eyes, he added, “I’ll leave now, but I want you to know that I will continue to help you with your translation and that you are welcome in my library. Your desk is still waiting for you there. Here.” Jessica looked at his hand and saw the letter he was offering her. “I wrote this for you, to apologize for my behavior. As you haven’t been to the palace since I sent you away, I decided to bring it here for you to read. I think I’m better at writing you than speaking to you.”
She took the letter, her hand shaking. So he had actually come there for her. Was he feeling her absence? Was he actually sorry for all he had said to her? Why were so many questions flooding into her head?
She scowled at her own weakness for fantasizing about him. It was bad enough that she had begun dreaming about him. It was distressing for her the terrible nightmares of dying in a fall, calling for someone whose name she couldn’t ever remember. But it was far worse that she had a huge crush on a vampire who couldn't care less about her. Plus, his apologies didn’t soothe the pain she was feeling.
But it wasn’t his fault that she had a crush on him. He loved his wife, his mate. In his tormented moments of missing his Isobel, he had mistaken her. In his bloodlust, he had kissed her. Jessica should have stopped him and herself. It meant nothing to him.
The king loved his wife. Why wouldn’t he? Isobel was his soul-mate. All she ever wanted was someone to love her the way the king loved his late wife.
Her stare softened when she looked at him and saw he had hurt in his eyes. She didn’t like to see him constantly grieving, but there was nothing she could do about it. No matter how much she wished she could.
“Have you been working on the notes I gave you?” he asked softly. She nodded, and he gently smiled at her, making her lose her breath. His genuine smile was unexpected. “Will you come to the palace tomorrow?”
Jessica nodded again, and he continued to grin, as though pleased by her answer. What was it about him that made her feel so fragile and weak? His smile was enough to make her feel better and want to smile back at him.
“I found some of your notes. I revised them,” he continued. “If you come tomorrow morning, I can start working on your drawings. Would you like that?”
“Really?” she asked in surprise.
“Of course, I can use the distraction.”
“Okay.”
“Okay,” he whispered. His eyes burned into hers as he slightly bowed. “So, don’t be late. I hate when people are late,” he added before leaving her alone in her bedroom as if he was running away from her.
The ability to stand up left her body. She searched for the bed to sit down as Anna asked her grandfather if he was leaving. He was; he didn’t even stop to kiss his granddaughter goodbye, because she heard the door open and close.
Moments later, Anna was back in her bedroom.
“Is everything all right?” she asked. “Grandpa left here like he had seen a ghost.”
“All is fine. He apologized, and I’m going to resume my activities in the library,” she whispered, getting up and picking up her lollipop from the floor. She walked into the kitchen to throw it away.
Turning around to face her best friend, she faked a smile to mask her anxiety. “So, what’s for dinner? I’m starving!”
A piece of vegetable hit her head, a bit of carrot. Jessica rubbed the spot, complaining, “What was that for?”
“For being annoying. For having a crush on my grandfather. And for constantly complaining about being hungry but not lifting a finger to help make dinner.”
“God, I’m beginning to miss being at the palace. At least there I have a personal cook. Rose doesn’t complain when I ask her for food.”
“Yes, but here we don’t have cooks. So start peeling the potatoes, your highness.”
Chapter Eleven—Burning Desire
THE KING
The king should have thought things through better before inviting Jessica to stay in a closed space with him. Especially since he had his enhanced senses back, and his bloodlust threatening to get out of control. It had been ages since his powers were so sharp and his senses so keen. He was older and becoming more and more human. Yet, since he’d seen her, smelled her, and recognized her, he began to act like a vampire again. After the fever, his teeth came out and his eyes became purple because of Jessica being around the palace. She smelled like heaven and looked like an angel. She constantly haunted his dreams and even managed to take over his creativity because he found himself drawing her when he had to create a new heroine for the front cover of a commissioned book.
&n
bsp; The worst part was that Isobel was no longer herself. She would transform into Jessica’s shape and tell him that he should move on and accept his new mate. But he didn’t want a new mate. He loved Isobel and would always love her. He had already had a mate. He didn’t want another.
A new mate. The world was upside down. He couldn’t believe it when he’d first looked into her blue eyes. Actually, he’d thought he was crazy, that he had slept too long or was having some kind of inclination with his son’s soul-mate. But she wasn’t Eric’s mate; she was his own. A witch—a tall and feisty witch, a young and full-of-life witch.
Why a witch? Why a new mate? He didn’t even know that it was possible to have a new mate.
He stalked her with his super-hearing, listening to her footsteps in the palace and her talks with Eric. She was lively, which cheered up his son, making him much happier and more talkative. It was really unfair that Jessica wasn’t Eric’s mate. It was unfair for her to be his mate. The king didn’t want a mate. He didn’t need one. He just wanted to die in peace and be taken to wherever his mate and only love was. He wanted to be reunited with Isobel.
But each day it was harder for him to ignore the witch. They had fought; they had made amends. He had missed her scent when she stayed away for two days. He had gone looking for her against his own best judgment. She had come back, her presence only served to torment him. Why couldn’t he resist being next to her during the day, wanting to hear all she had to say? She had a gorgeous smile and her blue eyes made his heart hurt less inside his chest. He liked having her around. He liked to hear her laughter and to smell her scent in his home. But he had to stop all that and set aside the silly dreams and uncontrolled urges that had taken hold of him. He needed to reject her for good and end this unexpected new bond. Isobel was his mate; no one could replace her.
* * *
JESSICA
Chamomile tea. Loads, and loads of chamomile tea. That was Jessica’s secret weapon to endure her attraction around the king, to calm her heart, and to sedate her state of constant arousal. After some research, she found out that she could also use the root of Rehmannia, a Chinese herb, to balance her Chi. Meaning, it was supposed to suppress her libido. She needed lots of it.
Meanwhile, her headaches had returned. Blood wasn’t running out of her nose and that was a good sign. Maybe it was just fatigue. Nevertheless, the torment and the struggle were real. His presence was overwhelming, suffocating. But his absence was worse. It was as if she was empty and nothing else could make her happy unless she knew he was in the same place that she was. Even if they weren’t in the same room or weren’t talking to one another.
The king began working on the sketches for her new grimoire in the library, seated at his desk. Jessica spent her days in the library with him. It was necessary and it was exciting to listen to all that he had to say about the old maps in her grimoire and the old language. She often found herself behind his shoulder, staring at his sketches as he explained to her the old kingdoms that used to exist in those territories. She always enjoyed history and it seemed that he liked to reminisce the past. While he did the drawings, she copied the spells to her computer. But she couldn’t help but peek at him when he wasn’t looking. The memory of their kiss was still imprinted in her mind and on her lips. Despite knowing that he was off limits, her mind liked to fantasize about them together.
On Friday, Jessica glanced from her desk at the king's desk in the library for the tenth time. He was reading and taking notes of a text from the grimoire. The ability he had to be immune to her presence, agitated her.
Suddenly, his voice filled the silence, “This is fascinating. I know this story. Isobel used to tell it to our children before bedtime. Her tutor had been a witch and she had learned it from her.”
Jessica edged closer and peered over his shoulder. “What are you talking about?”
He grabbed the book and swiveled his chair to face her. “A bedtime story called 'The Tale of the Cursed Prince'.”
“I'm familiar with the tale. My mom used to tell me before going to bed.”
“Do you see this page after the tale?” Jessica nodded and the king proceeded, “It appears that this story may have really happened and your ancestors left us a map to find this enchanted prince's kingdom and release him from his curse.”
Jessica arched an eyebrow. “The tale is just a bedtime story with a moral to it. It's beautiful and sad, but it's not real and it didn't happen.”
“According to your ancestors, it happened, and the prince is still waiting for someone to kiss him and break his curse.”
Straightening up, she faced him. “Like Sleeping Beauty?”
“Yes. It's similar, isn't it?” The king smirked and then said, excited, “Wouldn't it be grand if the map gave us the precise location to his kingdom?”
“Are you serious?”
“Where is your sense of adventure?”
Jessica arched her eyebrow, unsure if she had heard him correctly. Holding her tongue, she skipped the part about his self-imposed seclusion inside the palace, only to ask, “Do you think we have time for this?”
“Do you have somewhere else to go tonight?”
“Do you mean you are planning to do this today?” Frowning, she added as she walked to her desk and sat down, “I still have a lot to copy before I can think about searching for old maps.”
“According to this book, the prince is your ancestor. I have already browsed the entire grimoire and I didn't see any mention to the curse being lifted. So, he's still cursed and waiting for someone to save him.”
Jessica clasped her hands over the desk and nibbled her lip. “Suppose that we find where his kingdom is, then what? Are we going to place an ad in the newspaper requesting for young maidens to agree to kiss a statue that may be a prince charming sleeping for millenniums?”
“I wouldn't do something so extreme, but imagine all the amazing secrets that lie buried in his kingdom. The works of art, the books...”
“The treasures,” Jessica added.
“That too.” The king smiled. “Isobel was always fascinated by fairy tales and old legends. I'm sure that I can find clues in the old maps and possibly pinpoint the geographic area in this old plan.”
“Or you can copy it and use a program to find the geographical landscape that resembles the most in the world. But it's probably a waste of your time.”
“I'll keep translating it to look for more clues. I'll draw it tonight, and tomorrow we'll look for a program to do this. Since you seem to have something better to do this evening.” The king faced the book and began writing.
“I had promised Eric that I would go to the movie with him,” Jessica explained. “So, yes, I have plans for tonight.”
“That's fine. I'll do this on my own. I hope you have fun.”
Somehow his words didn't ring true to her.
“I'm going to the kitchen,” she informed, raising up with both hands on her desk.
His head rose to face her as his lips curved into a smile. “Are you going to get more tea?”
“Yes. I'm going to get more tea,” she said as she picked her mug from the desk. “Do you want something?”
“Just coffee if you don't mind.”
She didn't. She liked to bring him his coffee in the morning and add blood. It was their little secret.
“I'll be right back.” Jessica strolled her way out of the room to take a breather.
* * *
For the rest of the day, Jessica witnessed the king's commitment in translating the story from its original language to English. She even hovered over his shoulder a couple of times, listening to him read in the old tongue and explain some of the clues that pinpointed the location of the kingdom.
He seemed cheerful since the original written version had details that the mainstream version didn't. The old map was also fascinating, and the king looked like a kid with a treasure map.
When the translation was over, Jessica followed the king around the sh
elves of the library while he looked for old parchments with the ancient maps of civilizations long gone. But nothing seemed to match even slightly to the constructions and the landscapes of the map in the grimoire.
“They could have been more specific about the name of the city or the kingdom,” the king complained after closing a heavy book over Jessica's desk. He had leaned over her shoulder, his hands on the desk, and arms braced on either side of her, close enough that if she tilted her head, she would touch him. And she really wanted to touch him.
“If there's so much sand, it must be near a desert. Somewhere in the Mediterranean,” she said, reaching for another book.
“It could have been submerged.” His breathing feathered against the sensitive skin at the side of her neck, sending tiny shivers down her spine.
“Or covered by sand.” She made an effort to open the new book and skim the pages, not really paying attention to what was written.
“It's more difficult to find anything in the desert. For all we know, there are hundreds of tombs under the sand in Egypt and even with the new technology, there are too many secrets to discover. If this kingdom is in the desert, then all the geographical clues in this map are pointless. At least, for the satellites to compare to existing landscapes. We will need to look in all the books of the ‘Old Memoirs’ to see if there's any mention of this old kingdom and its location.”
She nodded as she thought about all the work that awaited them.
“Where are we going to find copies of the ‘Old Memoirs’? They are extremely rare.”
“I have copies of them stored on the lower floor. They are too precious to be here in the open.”
Jessica tilted her head and their eyes met. “Is there a book that you don't have?”
His smile sent crazy butterflies crashing against her stomach. “Not really.”
Jessica grabbed her hands to the desk. “I need tea,” she breathed as her body burned in desire, and the closeness was too much to bear.
