The Vampire Prince

by Juliette N Banks

  He felt the queen’s eyes on him, but as he turned, she glanced away, smiling at something her mate said.

  “There you are, Brayden!” the king boomed. Truly, the guy only had one volume. “Let’s commence now that the prince has graced us with his presence.”

  Usually he gave some smart-ass comment, but today he simply took his seat and crossed his arms behind his head. Vincent squinted his eyes at him for a moment, then continued with all the kingly stuff.

  Brayden held two positions during these mind-blowingly boring weekly sessions: prince and captain of the Royal Army.

  Craig, his second in command; the king’s secretary, Seraphina; and the king’s advisor, Regan, who had also been their father’s advisor, sat to his left. On the opposite side of the table were the commercial team made up by the communications director, Murphy; the foreign affairs lead, Martin; the head of business, Amelia; and the lead legal counsel, Philip.

  Living in a human world meant they needed to play by their rules to some degree. Their commercial team managed their business dealings and investments, even if it meant manipulating memories and human global records to keep their existence a secret.

  On the wall, a screen lit up, and their Europe, Asia, and Australasian teams appeared on the digital tiles.

  The usual weekly order of business was discussed: activity in the regions, security concerns, commercial and financial updates the king thought the wider team needed to be aware of, exposure concerns, and finally, the event calendar.

  “We need confirmation of the royal ball, your majesty,” Sean, the head of Europe, stated.

  “What is the date?” Vincent looked to Seraphina.

  “It’s five weeks away, so if your majesty is ready to make a decision, we can prepare the ballroom.”

  The king looked around the room. His eyes landed on Brayden’s, who quickly glanced at the queen as his own eyes widened in question. She narrowed her eyes in response, then returned them to her king with a small smile.

  What the hell?

  “We return to Maine in a week. Proceed with plans at the castle.”

  Brayden froze, his stomach dropping. With a dry mouth, he attempted to remain calm, knowing they could all hear his increased heart rate.

  “Wait a minute. When was this decided? I thought we were cancelling this year. I’ll need to rearrange security. I don’t...”

  “Leave us,” Vincent demanded with a quick glance at the screen and room.

  With nods and mutters of your majesty, the video stream disconnected, and the room’s occupants were reduced to the royal inner circle: Regan, Brayden, and the royal couple.

  As the others left the room, including his soldiers, he stood and stretched his legs.

  “Sit down, Brayden.”

  “No, thanks, I asked a question. When was this decided?”

  Kate stood up and placed her hand on his arm. “Just now. We’re all finding out at the same time as you. No one is blindsiding you.”

  He glanced over at his brother. “So, you’re giving up?”

  He nodded.

  Fuck.

  He looked down at Kate, and through gritted teeth, said, “Get into your bedroom and make a fucking baby. Please!”

  She shook her head sadly and walked back to the throne. Yeah, he knew they’d all heard. Regan knew all the family secrets, as he had since his father had been king.

  He was the only outsider trusted.

  “Prince Brayden, if I may, you are well suited for this role if, or when, the time comes. I have absolute faith in you,” the old vamp said.

  He glared at Vincent.

  “I don’t want the damn crown!” he yelled and saw the hurt on the king’s face. “I’m sorry, brother, but between losing you and taking on a life I’ll despise, you cannot expect me to be happy about this!”

  The room went quiet. It was the first time he’d shared his raw feelings. Yes, he hated the idea of being king, but nobody had considered that he was losing his brother. He’d already lost his parents in the most devastating way, and now this.

  He wasn’t a snowflake, for God’s sake, but death was unnatural for vampires. He was losing his entire family.

  He heard Kate catch a sob in her throat.

  “Oh, shit.” The king pulled Kate into his arms and frowned at him. Brayden didn’t begrudge his reaction; any mated vamp would do the same if his female were hurt.

  “Sorry.”

  Vincent shook his head in response, as if to say don’t be. His eyes held his for a moment, acknowledging his pain, neither of them sure how to deal with it.

  Brayden kicked the floor with his large black Nike.

  “Seven days, Bray. We leave in seven days.” Vincent released his mate and sat back in his throne, running a hand through his short brown hair. “Go play with your human, have your fill, then we return to Maine and begin your training.”

  Brayden died a little inside.

  He turned and walked out of the room.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “All good, captain?” Craig pressed off the wall and strode alongside him.

  The sun was now high in the sky, so they took the internal route back to their rooms. It was the longer way, but meant they didn’t turn to ash, which was helpful.

  If the cloud cover was thick enough, vampires could go outside during the beginning and end of the day. It was the direct sunlight that fried them. Literally.

  And like the circadian rhythm in humans, where they rose and slept with the sun, the opposite was true for vampires. The moonlight gave them energy and the sun brought on lethargy.

  “Besides having a fuckton of work to do now?”

  “Yeah, there’s that. I’ll rally the team.”

  Brayden pressed his hand on the security panel to open his apartment door, then shoved his foot into the gap.

  “It’s getting late. Give the SLCs a heads up, and get some sleep. I’ll do a full briefing with them later.”

  Craig reported directly to him and had a team of four senior lieutenant commanders—the SLCs—who they’d both personally trained over six hundred years ago when he’d offered the guy the top job. He trusted every single one of them with his and the king’s life.

  Craig gave him a mock salute. “Roger that.”

  “And commander”—he held his friend’s stare for a long moment—“don’t ask me questions about her again. She’s off limits. You got it?”

  The guy swore and shook his head. “Brayden, you—”

  “No. I’m pulling the prince card.”

  Craig went still, then nodded. There was a clear and formal structure to the Royal Army, but Craig and Brayden were friends. As close as brothers in many ways. They had been through some major shit together.

  The guy was dark and dangerous, one of the reasons why Brayden had chosen him for the role of commander. Speaking as a prince and silencing the guy was a dick move, but well within his rights as sovereign. He knew it would raise suspicion, but he was out of patience after that damn meeting.

  Spending time with Willow before they departed was now a priority. Second to the king’s protection, but a priority nevertheless. And fuck the one-week agreement. Brayden intended to spend every minute he could with her. He’d question his motives later. Much later.

  “The security won’t be a problem,” Craig said, his lips tight.

  No. It wouldn’t. Craig and his team could pull it together with their eyes closed.

  “I know.” He laid a solid hand on Craig’s shoulder and bade him good day.

  Yeah, he heard the muttered curses as he closed the door. Turns out it was possible to frown and smirk at the same time.

  Craig was right to be suspicious. Brayden wasn’t a shack-up-with-a-female-for-a-mini-relationship kind of vamp.

  Occasionally one came along who he enjoyed on a more frequent basis, but his role as prince and captain always came first. The time he was spending with Willow was being noticed, he realized that.

  And setting those b
oundaries with the king and Craig? Yeah, that was drawing attention.

  As commander of the army, it was Craig’s job to protect the prince. He fully expected Craig to ignore his warning, not out of insubordination but from loyalty and commitment to his job.

  He’d do the same to him.

  Still, he’d said it all the same, and knew Craig would balance his request as a friend and his need to do his job.

  He didn’t envy the guy.

  He pulled his phone out of his pocket. It had been burning a hole in his pants all morning as he thought about Willow messaging him. Eagerly turning it on, he watched the screen. Nothing.

  Oh.

  Brayden glanced at the clock on the wall. Eight thirty. He smiled. She was likely sleeping in after their active night.

  Or was she?

  He lay down on his enormous bed, after downing a pouch of blood, and stared at the ceiling. He looked around the room and took in the custom-made blinds which were fitted throughout the property to keep the light out while they slept. Voice-activated lights lit the corners of the room, giving a hazy, calm ambience upon his instruction.

  Brayden suddenly wished Willow was there, tucked against his body, or ideally, under his body. Hell, even over his body. His cock twitched.

  Why hadn’t she messaged him? Had she changed her mind? He picked up the phone again.

  “Lights on,” he instructed before he dialed her number. Explaining a moody bedroom scene would be a little hard at this time of the morning.

  “Hello.” Her face appeared on the screen, and his chest relaxed about fifty percent.

  “Good morning, gorgeous,” he said, his voice husky.

  “Oh, hey!” She grinned. “Are you at home?”

  He nodded and wished like hell he could kiss those beautiful lips.

  “Did you see my note?”

  She nodded and blushed. He may have added some details about what he was going to do to her body tonight.

  “I meant the phone number.” He smirked.

  More blushing.

  “Yes. I was going to message you in a few hours. I didn’t want to come across as too eager, but you beat me to it.”

  Yeah, he had, hadn’t he? Too fucking bad. Did he feel desperate? No. She needed to know how he felt.

  “Oh, baby, you know I’m eager. There’s no hiding how much I want you. All of you.”

  She shook her head in faux exasperation.

  “All right, before this becomes video sex, I have to prepare for a meeting at nine.”

  He smiled, loving how his words impacted her. She would be thinking about him during her meeting and all day.

  “See you tonight.”

  “Shall I come to your place?” she asked hopefully.

  Shit, no. As he imagined all the chaos her showing up in his world would cause, an idea came to him.

  “I’ll pick you up. I’m taking you to the ballet.”

  It had been well publicized that the New York City Ballet was in town, and he had tickets. Well, he didn’t have them yet, but he would in a few hours. He had a feeling it was the sort of thing his pretty human would love.

  “You do? For the Nutcracker?” Willow’s face lit up. His instincts had been spot-on.

  “Mm-hmm.” He nodded, feeling like he’d just taken down superman—which, had the guy been real, he totally could.

  He smiled at his skill in sidestepping her request to see his home while enchanting her.

  “And can we go back to your place afterward?”

  Fuck.

  “One step at a time, princess,” he replied, inwardly groaning. “I’ve got to go. See you tonight.”

  Turning the lights off, he lay back down and let out an enormous sigh.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Willow changed into a third outfit—or was it forth?—and finally landed on her emerald-green dress.

  She loved the ballet. It had been years since she’d been, and had spent far too much time during her day looking up reviews and images of the show.

  A quick spray of perfume, a giddy twirl in the mirror, and she went into the kitchen.

  It had been radio silence all day from Brayden. After his FaceTime call this morning, she had wondered if he was going to be one of those stalker boyfriends.

  However, he wasn’t her boyfriend.

  Boyfriend for a week.

  Lover for a week?

  Whatever she called him, he filled her tummy with butterflies, like the seven million having a dance party in there right now.

  Just the thought of opening the door to see the gorgeous silver-eyed Adonis standing there sent shivers down her spine. The sudden knock made her jump, and her heart missed a beat.

  “Willow?” he called out loudly, sounding panicked. She opened the door and he stepped in, grabbing her arms. “What’s wrong?”

  Startled, she looked up at him. “Nothing, why?”

  He scanned her face and body.

  “What?” she repeated just as his lips landed on hers. He pulled her against him. God, he felt incredible. She steadied herself, gripping his shoulders and relaxing, melting into his powerful hold. She moaned, the kind you let out without meaning to when you sank into a hot bath.

  He released her lips and looked longingly at her. “Yeah, that.” Taking a step further into the house, he closed the door.

  “Why did you think something was wrong?”

  Brayden shook his head and waved her off. “My bad. I thought I heard something. So, are you ready? My God, you look beautiful.”

  She smiled as warmth hit her cheeks. They did that every time he complimented her. Hand in the small of her back, he guided her outside.

  He’d hired a limousine for the evening. Willow climbed in the back and accepted the glass of champagne Brayden had poured. While she took a sip, he ran a hand up her thigh, into dangerous territory.

  She turned to look at him, her eyes hooding. He dipped his head and kissed her long and passionately.

  “I missed you today,” he said, voice low.

  Her hand landed on his six pack, and she glanced at his lap before looking back up at him. Silver dilated eyes captured hers, unreadable in the moment.

  She grinned, and he suddenly grabbed her hand. “Hey, I wasn’t going to do anything.”

  “Perhaps not, but if you did, we’d miss the ballet,” he said gruffly. “I have no control around you.”

  She glanced down at her hand and raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t know; you’re doing pretty well.”

  He moved her hand away from his body and sighed. “Only because I promised you more than just sex. If I had my way, my face would be between your legs, and you’d be coated in this champagne.”

  Her body flushed instantly with desire, moisture pooling between her legs. She wanted him; she had wanted him all day. Now the thought of him licking the golden bubbles from her pussy tipped her over the edge. She needed it like her next breath. In fact, she couldn’t breathe.

  Mouth open, she licked her lips and looked longingly at his strong jaw, dark bristles, and full red lips.

  “Breathe, baby.” He took her chin. “I’ll make sure you’re pleasured tonight. First, we see the ballet.”

  The limousine pulled up outside the venue as he kissed her harshly. She didn’t want to leave his arms; she needed him now. He was like a drug. Her body craved his touch, his ability to coax the delicious pleasure from her core.

  “I need...”

  “I have a surprise for you. Come.” Brayden held out his hand, guiding her into the building and along a hallway. In her haze of lust, she suddenly found herself in a private box looking down onto a most beautiful stage.

  “Push this button here if you’d like service, sir.”

  “Thank you. That’s all for now,” Brayden said as he stood looking at her, not taking his eyes off her.

  Willow turned and looked around their box. There were four seats at the front, elevated on platforms, for viewing the ballet. Around them were two sofas and a small
table with another bottle of champagne and two flutes.

  Brayden stepped up to her and gripped her hips. “We have fifteen minutes before the show starts.” The music was already loud around them. “You decide how we use them, Willow.”

  Brayden poured them glasses of champagne and waited patiently for her to decide. Willow took in his strong, solid frame, and peered out toward the theater. She felt like she was in a fog.

  Fifteen minutes? Idle conversation or...

  She dropped her bag onto the table, sat down on the sofa, and slipped off her panties. Brayden silently watched her, his eyes dark with desire as he took sips of champagne.

  “Lift your dress around your waist and spread your legs,” he commanded.

  Feeling deliciously naughty, she did as he asked. He tipped his glass to his lips again and adjusted his pants.

  “Touch yourself, Willow.”

  A groan slipped from her lips. She ran her fingers over her thigh and down over the wet flesh. She tried to coax him to her with her eyes, but he simply stood there watching her, those silver eyes burning.

  Her finger circled her clit, the pleasure blazing from her body. Willow sucked in a breath as he kneeled in front of her and grabbed one of her legs, nudging it wider, and gently poured the golden liquid over her. Leaning in, he ran his tongue along her inner thigh, gripping her hips to pull her closer to his face.

  As he plunged his tongue through her folds, sucking and flicking her clit with his thumb, she whimpered. “OhGodohGod, fuuuck.”

  “Wait, Willow. You’ll come when I tell you.”

  Two fingers pressed inside her as she fisted Brayden’s dark curls, his rough face rubbing on the inside of her legs. Those fingers fucked her as he sucked her clit, his tongue doing magical things to her most sensitive area.

  She couldn’t last much longer.

  “Now, baby.”

  Suddenly her mind went blank, and ecstasy flowed through every cell in her body, stars filling her eyes. She swallowed her scream as his mouth covered hers, the taste of champagne and her juices on his lips extending her pleasure.

  A few hours later, the ballet finished, and they walked through the glamorous foyer of the theater. Willow felt like she was in a dream as Brayden held her close, his hand in the small of her back.