Chapter 90 Tricking The King
Kira’s POV
Again?!
The heat crashed into me harder this time, a full-body sucker punch that stole my breath and turned my knees to water.
It wasn’t just warm.
It was molten.
Every nerve lit up at once, pleasure and raw, clawing need twisting low in my belly like someone had flipped a switch and cranked the voltage to maximum. My skin felt too tight, too sensitive, like even the brush of my own clothes was torture.
I fanned my face with one shaky hand, the cold Alaskan wind doing absolutely nothing to help.
“Is it… hot out here?” I blurted, voice cracking. “It’s literally freezing. Snow. Wind. Why am I so damn hot?”
My cheeks were on fire. I pressed my palms to them…flaming, scorching, like I’d stuck my face in an oven. Adrian’s eyes narrowed, that predatory gleam sharpening as he watched me unravel right in front of him.
He reached for my hand again, slowly and deliberate…like he could sense what was happening inside me.
The second his fingers closed around mine…bam! Electric. A jagged bolt shot straight up my arm, down my spine, and exploded somewhere deep and embarrassing. My whole body jerked like I’d been tasered, a helpless little gasp slipping out before I could stop it.
Adrian’s grin was slow. Dangerous and sly…like he knew it was going to happen and did it anyway.
“What favor are you asking for, Princess?” he murmured, voice dropping so low it vibrated against my skin.
His gaze raked over me…hungry, shameless, lingering on my mouth, my throat, lower…like he already knew exactly what my traitor body was begging for. “Could it be…?”
I yanked my hand free so fast I nearly stumbled backward, shaking my head like I could physically slam a door on the images flashing through my brain. Naked skin. His hands. My legs wrapped around him. Teeth on my neck. Oh God, no.
Not again. What is wrong with this body?!
It was just earlier today. Literally hours ago. Why was this happening again? So soon? So strong?
Then it hit me…Liana. The little substance she’d pressed into my palm before everything went to hell tonight. The one I was supposed to take to “take the edge off.” The one currently sitting uselessly inside Adrian’s room because I was preoccupied with crashing their dinner.
I cursed myself six ways to Sunday inside my head. Great job, Kira. Real genius move. Now what? You can’t let him touch you again. You can’t. You’ll melt into a puddle and forget your own name, let alone your escape plan.
And the sacrifice thingy Liana warned me about… I shouldn’t.
Adrian stepped closer anyway, ignoring the conflicted look on my face. He caught me by the waist this time…gentle but unbreakable…and leaned in until his lips brushed the shell of my ear.
“What favor does my queen want?” he whispered, breath hot against my freezing skin. “I don’t mind doing it right here. Right now.”
A full-body shiver ripped through me. Dirty, steamy flashes exploded behind my eyes…him pinning me against the nearest wall, snow swirling around us, my legs hooked over his hips, his growling voice in my ear telling me to let go—
Nope. Nope nope nope.
I started singing in my head…loud, desperate, off-key.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me…
Because I must be a fucking wretch to be feeling all these again, and I need saving… but not Adrian’s kind of saving.
Adrian chuckled, low and dark, like he could hear every filthy thought I was trying to drown out. His hand slid up my side, thumb grazing the underside of my breast through the coat which he had swung over me before we left the palace, and I swear my brain short-circuited for two full seconds.
I stumbled back, throwing up both hands like a stop sign.
“Wait. Wait…wait…wait.”
He froze, head cocked, still smiling like a wolf who’d already cornered dinner.
“You need me,” he said, matter-of-fact. “It’s strange that you’re having another wave of heat. I can feel it rolling off you. I can smell it.” His voice dropped even lower. “I can help you, mate. Even if you hate me for it later… even if I hate myself. But if I don’t do this, you’ll have to endure a lot of pain throughout the night. Don’t be shy. Come here, baby. Come to Daddy.”
My stomach flipped…half horrified, half something way worse. But I didn’t pay attention to that.
If he won’t let me talk to Dominic… I will have to devise another means.
“No,” I choked out. “That’s not the favor. You think I would use my talent to talk them into giving your kingdom another chance just to get laid?! I want to leave. That’s the favor I worked for.”
Everything playful vanished from his face in an instant. Gray eyes went flat, dangerous.
“What the hell does that mean?”
I cleared my throat, forcing the words past the lump that felt like it was made of broken glass.
“I mean exactly what I said. I want to leave tomorrow.”
Another wave slammed into me right then…brutal, relentless. Sweat broke out across my forehead, my upper lip, the small of my back. My legs shook so bad I thought they might give out. I gasped, pressing a hand to my stomach like I could physically hold the fire inside.
“Oh God…”
Adrian’s nostrils flared, as an unreadable expression crossed his feature. “This is the favor? The one you made me promise to fulfill no matter what?”
I nodded, short and jerky.
He smirked…slow, cruel and victorious.
“Too bad. Null and void. I never agreed to let you leave me. You stay by my side. Whether you like it or not. You remain mine.”
“No—listen to me first.”
He was already moving, anger rolling off him in waves, stalking toward me like a storm cloud. I backed up fast, boots slipping on the thin layer of ice.
“Stop moving,” he growled.
“Then stop coming toward me!”
He didn’t listen. He just kept coming.
“Listen,” I pleaded, voice cracking. “I want to go to my friend’s funeral. That’s why I want to leave.”
He stopped dead.
Curious now… but I could still see the embers of suspicion in his eyes. “What friend?”
Okay. Showtime, Kira.
I didn’t take drama classes just to fumble in front of a werewolf. I needed to sell this. Full drama. Pitiful eyes. Trembling lips. The work and all that comes with it.
I sucked in a breath and let my shoulders slump.
“Back home…in my father’s palace,” I started, voice small. “I had this friend. A girl. We met on Instagram.”
Adrian blinked. “Instagram?”
“Yeah… Instagram. She commented on one of my poetry posts…something sappy about stars and longing…and I replied, and then we just…kept talking. DMs turned into late-night voice notes, sharing lines we loved, stupid memes about writers’ block. We clicked. Hard. Over poetry, mostly.”
He tilted his head. “You like poetry?”
I don’t even know any single poet or any line whatsoever.
I had no idea where that even came from…it was literally the first thing that popped into my head…but I rolled with it.
“Yeah. Absolutely passionate about it.” Total lie. I could barely remember the difference between a haiku and a limerick. “Anyway…since I came here. To be your… slave bride…”
His fists clenched so tight I heard the knuckles pop. I could see his teeth ground together in barely restrained pain. But he didn’t interrupt.
That’s it Kira. Keep going. Blackmail is the answer.
I pushed harder, piling on the pain. The more guilt, the better.
“I lost touch with her since you didn’t let me use any phone in your kingdom. No way to reach out. I kept thinking one day I’d get to meet her in person, hug her for real. Then today… I finally got a phone, and I checked. She’s dead.”
My voice broke on the last word. And this time the tears weren’t fake.
Because it was me. I was the girl who “died.” The one left behind. The one nobody came for. The one that was killed on her birthday.
The tears spilled hot down my cheeks before I could stop them.
Adrian’s whole demeanor shifted. He closed the distance in two strides, big hands cupping my face, thumbs brushing away the tears.
“Where?” he asked, voice softer than I’d ever heard it. “Where’s the funeral happening?”
I sobbed harder, letting it shake my whole body.
“LA,” I managed. “It’s in two days. I have to leave tomorrow to make it.”
He searched my eyes for a long second. Then he exhaled, pulling me against his chest like I was something precious.
This was way too easy. Why didn’t I think of this before now?
“If you need to be in LA, then you’ll be in LA,” he said quietly. “I don’t ever want to see you cry like this. Or sad. I’m sorry about your friend, Princess. Truly. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get everything you need ready.”
I buried my face in his shirt so he wouldn’t see the sudden, wild grin splitting my face.
Gotcha.
LA here I come!