Page 97 of The Forsaken Vampire

“I don’t understand… What happened?”

Huntley propped himself on the pillows next to me, looking across the bedroom. He told me the entire tale.

“Ian…”

“I was disappointed in him too, but she’s not innocent in this either.”

“He must be devastated.”

“He is,” he said quietly. “I tried to talk to her…but accomplished nothing.”

“I’ll speak to her when I have a chance.”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

I sank into the pillows, still in disbelief. “Avice should be working to repair the relationship with Ian and Lila. I’m disappointed in her for allowing this estrangement to continue.”

“I don’t have all the details on that. For all we know, she’s spoken to Lila.”

They were the kind of couple that I assumed would last forever. Knowing their marriage was over was as painful as the idea of my marriage being over.

“If I lost you…” Huntley continued his stare across the room. “I’d be in worse shape than him.”

My eyes softened as I stared at the side of his face, unsure what I’d done to earn the unflinching loyalty of a man who only got sexier as he aged. He could have replaced me with a woman half his age who was just as in love with him, but he continued to look at me like I was the only woman he desired.

I moved into his side and used his hard chest as a pillow.

His thick arm wrapped around me and brought me close, his lips brushing a kiss to my temple. “I love you, baby.”

Puffy, white clouds formed in my chest, and birds sang in my ears. “I love you too.”

25

HUNTLEY

I sat behind my desk and stared while Ivory spoke.

“I’ve sent letters to the stewards, telling them to prepare the armies for battle and asking them to travel to Delacroix so we can have an in-person discussion about current events. I think for something this important, sending letters back and forth doesn’t make sense.”

I listened to every word, but a part of me was distracted by the tightness of her figure in her uniform. I liked it when she wore dresses, because it was easy to pull up the material and fuck her on my desk, but nothing turned me on more than seeing her in a uniform identical to mine, her trousers tight on her toned legs, her tits full in the slender clothing, her sword at her hip, her bow and arrows across her back, a little dagger on the opposite hip.

Her eyes narrowed when she finished speaking, like she suspected I hadn’t been listening.

“I agree.”

Her eyes remained narrowed before a soft smile moved on to her lips. “You weren’t listening, were you?”

“Baby, I always listen to you.”

“Sure…”

She turned around and walked off.

My eyes stared at her ass until she was gone.

A moment later, Harlow walked inside, wearing a long floral dress with her hair in a tight braid. “Father, may I speak to you?”

Ivory was gone from my mind quicker than a blown-out candle. “Of course, sweetheart.” I leaned back in the chair, still surprised that Harlow was a perfect blend of her mother and me, that she and Atticus were my proudest legacy.