Kissed by the King

I never meant to catch the attention of the Vampire King. But the night he walked into my quiet southern bar, the shadows bowed, the air stilled… and his eyes locked on mine like he’d been hunting me for centuries. I should’ve run. Instead, I watched him—tall, ancient, devastating in his power—as an illegal vampire nest attacked. My own hidden magic erupted in a blinding surge, saving my life… and exposing the truth I’ve spent years burying. Now the King wants answers. About my blood. About my power. About why I can hear his thoughts for a split second when no human should. He takes me to his court, a place of velvet darkness and political teeth, swearing it’s for my protection. But his gaze lingers too long, his voice coils around me like a promise, and every step I take pulls me deeper into a world where desire is as dangerous as any blade. The King says I belong to him. Not as prey— but as something far more impossible. As factions rise against his throne and my power spirals out of control, I’m faced with a truth more terrifying than his fangs: I’m not afraid of the monster. I’m afraid of how badly I want him. And when a prophecy whispers that only together can we survive the coming darkness… I have to decide whether to run from the Vampire King— —or step willingly into his arms and become the flame that could burn his kingdom to ash.