Page 11

Her words hit me. Fuck. Princess Taelyn is my little sister, and I’ve been thinking about fucking her the entire time I’ve been standing here.

Still trying to hide my thoughts—and grateful no one here has the gift of mind-reading—I offer my arm to the princess.

“Gladly,” I say.

She gives a radiant smile and takes my arm. Together, we step out onto the ballroom floor.

Princess Taelyn is wearing a silver ballgown that’s covered in crystals and glitters as she moves. The bodice is tightly fitted, and the skirts billow out right down to theground. I pull her into me, my hand at the narrow nip of her waist. She gazes up at me, her pale blue eyes so like her mother’s. Her lips are perfect, parted slightly, so I can see the pink of her tongue and a glimpse of small, white teeth.

We dance, holding each other’s eye. I want to ask her if she was the one riding my cock earlier, but I don’t. I’m still unsure what happened. It was most likely a dream, but something tells me it was more.

We move across the floor, fluid and graceful. I’m so conscious of her hand on my back, the heat pressing through the fabric of my shirt and searing my skin. People make way for us as we spin and twirl. I sense them murmuring to one another, perhaps commenting on what a striking couple we make.

But no, we are brother and sister.

We can never be a couple. I see that. Her mother is now queen, and Princess Taelyn will consider herself as a rightful heir to the throne.

Just as I do.

Neither of us will settle for sharing.

The song comes to an end, and we stop moving and face one another. I duck my head in a bow, and she gives me a small curtsey.

“Thank you for the dance, Prince Ruarok.”

“Of course. You dance beautifully.”

She smiles and drops her gaze.

I sense eyes on me and turn to see who is watching.

It’s my father. His expression is as cold as stone. Doesn’t he want me dancing with his new stepdaughter? Or does he know what I’m thinking?

It’s only later that I realize the whole time I’d beendancing with Princess Taelyn, thinking about sex, that I never caught a glimmer of her sexual aura. Why was that? Normally, if I’m thinking about sex, I can project some of that onto the person I’m with, especially when I’m also touching that person, but with her there was nothing.

Is there something different about my new stepsister?

7

TAELYN

When I reach my chambers,I hardly know what to do with myself.

I’m flustered, my body alight in a way it’s never been before, like it has suddenly come to life.

I danced with Prince Ruarok. My stepbrother.

I throw myself onto my back on my bed and cover my face with my hands. I’m glad to be alone for a few moments so I can process what’s just happened.

Never before in my life have I felt so beautiful. Though I’d been aware of all eyes in the Great Hall being on us, every one of them had fallen away apart from him. That he had chosen to dance with me had made me feel as though he’d elevated me to another level.

I see now why everyone was so closed-lipped about what makes up the other fifty percent of his parentage. He is half Incubus. Is that why I feel the way I do around him? Like my heart has forgotten how to beat steadily, and my lungs no longer know how to expel my breath.

He is quite beautiful.

I’ve only ever been around blond, fair-skinned males before. The shock of his black hair, glimmering like raven’s wings, made my hands itch to touch it. And his deep brown eyes were like wells I’d believed I could have fallen into.

My mother and the king had watched us dance, but I don’t believe they’d thought anything untoward was happening—at least my mother hadn’t. Perhaps the king knows his son far better and was more conscious of the prince’s actions.