Page 95 of The Prince and His Stolen Throne

I stared at him dumbly, then looked down at my hand. The fabric I’d grabbed was the front of his shirt. One of his hands lay curled near my chest and his fingers twitched with a desire for payback.

“Sorry.” I released the shirt and smoothed out the wrinkles.

“Bad dream?”

I opened my mouth to tell him about his master—myfather’s—visit, but what came out was, “I’m sorry the others were kind of jackasses to you.”Goddamn geas.

Confusion furrowed Wilde’s brow. He pulled his hand away from me and sat up. He raised one knee to rest his chin on while he looked down at me. The bundled sheets separating us were only a few inches thick, but the barrier suddenly felt a mile wide. “Did you think their words hurt my feelings?”

Laying down made me feel vulnerable, so I sat up as well and leaned against the headboard. “I don’t know. Maybe?”

“Trey.”

I flinched, hating that he had changed how he addressed me just because of Maximus’ comments. Usually, when people called me ‘Treasure’, it reminded me of the way my old man said it, like I was something to be coveted and owned. Wilde said my name like I was the only ‘Treasure’ that existed, and the word had no other definition.

“I know I’m a fair actor, but do I have to remind you that I am actually evil? Implying I have bad intentions isn’t an insult, it’s an annoyingly astute observation.” He placed his hand over mine and gently rubbed his thumb back and forth. The soft gesture certainly didn’t feel evil. “I thought you were too, because you work for the master.”

Shit, he really has no idea that I’m his master’s son.

“I’m going to be an evil mage one day—soon, if all goes as planned.”

I sat quietly for a moment, then whispered, “Why does it have to be anevilmage?”

“Because it’s the only way to get what I want.”

I looked deep into his mirror eyes, trying to understand. “What’s so important?”

His black eyes usually reflected the world, but now all I could see was a dark desire. He raised my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss first to my palm, then in a feather-light trail down my arm. My pulse raced faster with every caress, and I wondered if he could count each beat. His trail led him to my neck, the sensitive corner of my jaw.

Without needing a command, I slowly lay back on the bed, head rolling to expose my throat to him. If he was a beast, he could have ripped it open. As if he had the same tempting thought, his tongue peeked out, followed by his teeth. He bit down firmly, startling a cry from me, and sucked hard. It was an odd sensation, painful but not entirely unpleasant. Marking his territory.

I should have protested. Pushed him away. Brought us back to the important discussion he’d derailed. All I could do was close my eyes and bite my lip to suppress an embarrassing moan.

He grasped the back of my knee and spread my legs so he could position himself between them. It was harder to resist his orders when he didn’t give them verbally—not that I had any mind to fight him now. His erection pressed against me as he thrust his hips forward, a promise anda threat.

One of my hands gripped the sheets, the other the back of his head, pulling on his hair. I couldn’t decide if I wanted him to bite me harder or let me go. When he finally pulled his mouth away from my neck, it ached from his absence.

He pressed his wet mouth to mine and whispered, “Everything.”

It sounded like an answer, but I’d long forgotten the question.

He captured my lips in another kiss, stealing away the last of my rationality with a skilled tongue. The sheets ripped under my hand, and I released him, searching for something more solid to hold onto as his thrusting hips picked up speed, like he was fucking me with our clothes still on.

Suddenly, his mouth pulled away and his weight disappeared from on top of me. My leg dropped like a deadweight onto the bed.

Eyes squeezed too tightly shut to open, my hands gripped the bedposts, practically welded to the frame. I shifted my hips, seeking him but finding only empty air.

He wouldn’t …

I forced my eyes open and turned my head to the side, the only movement I could manage with the rest of me still waiting to climax. The room was empty. Even his things were gone.

It took my dazed mind a moment to come to terms with the fact that he had really left.

And the bastard had absolutely chosen his timing on purpose.

He couldn’t have found a less agonizing way to prove he was evil?!

Chapter Twenty-Eight