The Vampire Prince

by Juliette N Banks

  She dropped her hand and nodded.

  Brayden went into the bathroom and took a quick shower. The warm water flowed over his large naked body as he tipped his head back. Every inch of him felt hard and cold against the world now.

  Sure, he could turn her, and like his mother, she’d eventually accept it. His father wasn’t the first or last to do such a thing. All the humans, men and women, soon came to enjoy their life as a vampire.

  To be the mate of the royal prince was a highly desired position, but Willow had never given him a chance to teach her about his life. She had asked to leave, and he had agreed. He was dreading the darkness which would overcome him the moment she left. Brayden slipped between the sheets and stared at the ceiling.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Willow heard the shower turn off and the rustle of the sheets as Brayden climbed into bed.

  She had so many questions.

  What would she tell her friends? Moving to Hawaii overnight was hardly something she would do without a lot of planning and consultation with at least Brianna.

  She pulled out her phone and stretched out on the couch. There was no way she was going to tell a soul about the vampires and put them in the same position as her, but she could warn Bri off Craig, whatever was going on between them.

  Hey Bri, how’s your day?

  Hey girl. Good. What are you up to?

  Oh, not much, just fighting for my life in a vampire compound, lost the love of my life, and moving to Hawaii. Apparently.

  Been thinking. You’re not into Craig, are you?

  No. What? No.

  Okay. Good. He’s bad news. Stay away from him, okay.

  Totally. His ego can’t fit through my door anyway.

  Oh God, she did like him.

  I mean it, Bri. He’s not what he seems.

  If only she could expand on it without endangering her friend’s life. The thought of anyone else going through what she was right now, even her worst enemies, was incomprehensible. She would never do anything to put someone else in her shoes.

  Gotcha. Running into a meeting. I’ll call you tonight x

  Love ya x

  Who knew if she’d have any recollection of this conversation, or what would happen, but she wanted her friend to know she was loved.

  Aww you too xx

  She looked around the apartment, taking in all of Brayden’s decor. On the coffee table in front of her, she noticed a coaster from the bar they’d visited last week. Willow picked it up and realized it was the one she’d drawn little hearts on the back of. She smiled sadly. Beside it was a little blue box.

  She glanced at the doorway before reaching for it. Its little hinges creaked as it opened. Her mouth opened as she touched the little silver heart locket hanging from the matching chain. She pulled it from the box and let it fall into her palm. As it did, the heart flipped over to expose the engraving.

  My Willow. Yours forever. Love, B.

  Tears sprung to her eyes and began falling down her face. Before she could stop herself, the tears had turned to hiccups. She hugged the piece of jewelry to her chest.

  Wiping her eyes with the back of her arm, she looked up and found Brayden standing in the doorway. Naked.

  She stared.

  He stared.

  “I...” she started to say, but he was in front of her before she could finish, taking it out of her hands.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have opened it.”

  “Shh,” he said, and undid the clasp, placing it around her neck. “It belongs here, even if you never remember where you got it.”

  Willow hiccupped. “I hate this.”

  His eyes were soft with pain as he nodded. They sat in silence as he rubbed his thumb over her hand, the ache to be with him so powerful it began to override her fear.

  She blinked.

  Willow saw the moment he recognized the shift. His pupil slowly decreased and the silver eyes she loved, now with a dark line surrounding it, looked back at her. Determined.

  “Come,” he said softly, no room for disobedience, and stood.

  She let him lead her into the bedroom, undress her, and put her in his bed. They fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  “He’s doing what?!” Vincent boomed.

  Christ in a handbasket, could the guy stop yelling? Since Craig had shown up unannounced, the king had yelled every damn sentence.

  “Maui. Brayden has purchased a house there and is relocating Willow.”

  “You said that.”

  Craig had, in fact, repeated it three times now.

  The king stood with his hands firmly on his hips, looking between him and the queen. She shrugged.

  Brayden would be furious with him for coming to the king and queen with this, but it was his only option. He was concerned. He’d seen how males who lost their mate fell into the darkness. He wasn’t going to sit back passively and let his best friend make a life-changing decision he couldn’t reverse.

  Craig had done what had been asked of him. The flights were booked, the property purchased, and movers were currently packing up Willow’s home. Then he’d hot-tailed it to the royal chambers.

  “If this is Willow’s decision, Brayden will honor it. You know how he feels,” the queen said, her jaw clenched.

  “Ah, if I may, your majesties...”

  “Speak freely, Craig.”

  He usually did, but Vincent appreciated formalities on occasion, and he respected the male greatly.

  “Neither of them is thinking clearly,” he said, crossing his bulky arms. “She’s clearly scared out of her brain...”

  “She is, but she has moxy.” They nodded.

  “You’re right, your majesty. Willow has some sass about her; however, Brayden has reacted to her rejection and withdrawn emotionally. She’s genuinely scared.”

  “Humans naturally are,” Kate added, and they all nodded in agreement once again.

  “Yes, but she also loves the prince a whole fucking lot.” Craig looked between the king and queen. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but here it goes. I think Brayden is scared.”

  Two blank faces stared back at him.

  “No way.”

  “Nope.”

  “Hear me out. Our boy is trapped in his head between the fear of losing Willow and fear of her resentment should he turn her without her agreement like your father did.”

  Vincent waved him off. “That’s no secret. He’s always felt this way about our mother’s situation repeating. In any case, I gave him a week to integrate Willow into our world, so why the sudden turnaround?”

  “She’s rejected him.”

  “In less than a day?”

  “What happened?” She turned to the king in question.

  Vincent held out his hands in defense. “I didn’t say anything. Okay, I said a lot of things, but they seemed fine when I left.”

  Craig and the queen glanced at each other. Neither believed his last statement. The king had likely had his foot in his mouth right from the get-go. The guy was useless in front of humans; nobody ever left him alone with one.

  “Oh, darling, what did you say? I told you I should have gone with you.”

  The king raised his shoulders and began to explain the conversation.

  “...in any case,” Craig continued. “What I’m trying to point out here is that Brayden is in a position he’s never been in: rejected by his mate. And I saw a change in him that has me concerned.”

  Now he had their attention.

  “He’s trapped in this belief he’ll destroy her life just like your father, our Great King, did to your mother. But as we all know, they enjoyed a great love for many years.”

  A thousand years to be exact.

  “And could have had many more if not for their ridiculous promise,” Vincent added.

  Craig had borne witness to the terrible day both princes had beheaded the king and queen. It had changed them both forever; in fact, i
t had changed the entire vampire race. Shock and surprise had rippled through the vampire kingdom. Vincent had made many changes since his coronation.

  “He knows what life without his mate means. I saw the darkness in his eyes. Frankly, it terrified me, and truly little does.”

  “Hmm,” the king hummed, now with his full attention. “We need to show Willow our world and eliminate her fear. Get them talking.”

  Kate stood. “A small gathering. We’ll invite some former humans, and they can share their stories.”

  Craig nodded. Something had to work, or Brayden would be one dangerous motherfucker to himself, and potentially, the race.

  “I’ll extend the invite.”

  “Best I go with you this time, darling,” Kate said sweetly and gave Craig a wink.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Brayden woke up to find Willow draped over him. One of his arms was tightly wrapped around her, the other flung out across the bed. Her head on his broad chest, one hand wrapped around his bicep, was how they slept most nights. Except this would be the last time. His chest tightened while he stared coldly at the ceiling.

  He’d heard Willow opening the jewelry box and had squeezed his eyes shut. He’d waited for her to throw it across the room in yet another act of rejection. Instead, he’d heard her tears, and they had clawed at his heart. Without thinking, his body had climbed out of bed and gone to her. She hadn’t turned him away.

  For a moment, he thought he’d seen a shift in her beautiful eyes, one that looked like acceptance and love, but he was in too much pain to trust blindly. He would continue with her plans. Any moment now, Craig would alert them, and he would remove her memories.

  His chest heaved, and his little human stirred, eyelids fluttering open while she shifted to look at him. Tears formed and began flowing down her cheeks onto his chest. He ran a hand over her hair and kissed her head. Despite the growing pain and darkness that threatened to overtake him, he still felt the need to comfort her. Even in the face of her painful rejection.

  “I love you.” Her words startled him.

  “Willow.”

  “It’s okay. I understand if you don’t feel the same way after I chose to leave.”

  He sat up, clutching her arms. Did he dare believe?

  “Willow. I love you. Now and always.” His lips pressed against hers. As her hands squeezed his arms in response, he took a risk and plunged his tongue desperately into hers. She opened and welcomed him inside.

  He hardened.

  “I need you,” he said against her lips, and nearly cried when she nodded.

  Reaching down, he placed her legs on either side of his large hips then found her core. His fingers pushed through her delicate flesh, groaning when he felt her wet. Gripping his cock, he wasted no time. He pushed as Willow pressed, and together, they moaned into each other’s mouths.

  “Fuck, Willow, you are mine.”

  Soon they found a smooth rhythm, and Willow began to ride him. She half sat up, giving him access to her breasts. He sucked one nipple and she threw her head back.

  “Bray, fuck me, Bray, please.”

  Hell yes, he would. Flipping them, he placed her under him and pushed her legs up to her shoulders.

  “Take all of me, Willow.” He pressed in balls deep, thrusting again and again while his mate cried out.

  He slid a hand in between them and rubbed her clit, taking her cry to a scream. Her pussy tightened around his cock, and his seed released in a powerful explosion that ran through his entire body.

  Brayden released her legs but stayed inside her while she panted. He took her face in one of his hands and kissed her lips. “Forever, Willow. Even when you no longer remember me, you will always be my only love.”

  She burst into tears.

  He slipped out of her and pulled her into his arms, his cum spilling between them but he couldn’t give a shit.

  “Hey. It’s okay.” It really fucking wasn’t. He shouldn’t have said that, but goddamn, he needed to have his moment to love her one last time and say how he felt. Then, when he knew she was okay, he could let go and slip into the darkness.

  If only he could keep her here in his arms forever. Yes, he could, but he loved her too much to take away her choice. He would never do what his father had done. He would never watch his mate stare upon him with disgust. He’d seen enough of it today. It was as bad as he’d imagined.

  “I don’t think I can do it,” Willow said.

  “You don’t have to do anything, sweetheart. You’ll be home soon, in your new home in Hawaii, and remember nothing.”

  She pulled away from him. “No. I mean I don’t think I can leave you!”

  Oh.

  What the fuck.

  “Please don’t play with me, Willow. This is killing me.”

  She gripped his face in her hands. “Brayden, I’m not playing games. I love you. I want you in my life, but I’m so fucking terrified.”

  He could hear her heart thumping loudly inside her chest while his own head was trying to make sense of her words.

  What was she saying?

  The only way he could take the fear away from her was to remove her memories. Or she had to face it.

  He wanted to ask her to stay, but if she said no, his heart would tear in half. Again.

  The darkness within him was sitting in his mental waiting room just tapping its feet, grinning sadistically at him. Brayden wasn’t a pussy; he would hold back that motherfucker until he’d gotten his brother and the queen home safely. Then with his newfound fury, he’d take his vengeance out on the Russos, who had infiltrated his family and poisoned his brother.

  He stared at the glistening green eyes waiting for him to respond.

  Fuck, Brayden, get your shit together.

  He needed to man up. He was a goddam alpha vampire. Was he not capable of growing a bigger pair of balls and risk breaking the rest of his shattered heart? Was she not worth it? The fuck she wasn’t! If he lost this female because he didn’t have the resilience or strength to ask her one more goddamn time, then he’d regret it for the rest of his life.

  And it would be a long fucking life.

  “Come home with me, Willow. Give me a week, another damn week, to show you who I truly am. To show you my life, what an immortal world could mean for you, and then you can decide.”

  She stared at him, eyes still dripping tears, fear pouring from them.

  “I promise you, on my life, you will be safe. Nothing will happen to you, and if you still want to return to your human life, I will take you home.”

  “All right. I’ll go. I’m so scared, Brayden.” She gulped through the tears.

  His eyes burst open in surprise, then pulled her into his arms and squeezed his eyes shut.

  “Thank you, sweetheart. My God, thank you. I know you are and I’m going to do everything in my power to support you through this.”

  Now he had the biggest job of his life: convincing her to accept his world and become a vampire.

  Shit.

  He released her, kissed her nose, and stared into those beautiful green eyes. “Get dressed. We’re going to have company in thirty seconds.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  “That was barely a knock,” Kate admonished as Vincent let himself into Brayden’s apartment after he half-heartedly rapped on the double doors.

  He shrugged. Brayden would have heard them approaching. “Tough.”

  Vincent was running out of patience. To be fair, he wasn’t a patient male by nature, and if you added the fact he’d been being poisoned for the past few months, yeah, he was out of patience.

  “Bray!”

  “Yeah, I heard you.”

  His brother walked out of the bedroom knotting the strings on a pair of sweatpants. He ran a hand through his dark hair. The leaning against the doorjamb coupled with a calmness which hadn’t been there before was interesting.

  “Brayden, I’ve come to speak with Willow,” his queen said. “An invite.”
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br />   “There’s no need,” Brayden replied, lifting his arm to accommodate his mate as she appeared beside him in the doorway.

  Had Craig been mistaken? They looked almost happy, though the lines of their faces showed it had been a long day.

  “Kate, meet Willow,” Brayden introduced. “Baby, this is our queen. Vincent’s mate.”

  The human smiled kindly, though her widened eyes were alert, proving she was still not comfortable. “Nice to meet you. Um, your majesty.”

  “Kate will do fine when we’re in private. After all we are—will...er...hopefully will be family. Oh damn. Darling, I’m sorry. I’m as useless as you.”

  Vincent frowned at his mate and shook his head. “If we could all stop calling the king useless, it would be super great,” he said, ignoring Brayden’s smirk.

  “Willow has agreed to return to Maine with me and spend a week learning our ways. Afterward, she’ll make her decision.”

  Vincent could see the strain in the prince’s face. His half smile showed relief but didn’t reach his eyes. He could only imagine the pain his brother was going through.

  Well, he had some experience with that. Mating was not always straightforward and without its challenges. He turned to his queen and they shared a knowing look.

  “It will be wonderful having you at Castle Moretti, Willow. I can introduce you to many of our former humans who can answer any questions you have,” Kate said gently. “I was going to host a cocktail party this evening to get started.”

  Willow peered up at the prince, who shook his head. “Let’s wait until we get back east. Willow needs to pack, and we want some time together as she adjusts.”

  “Thank you for the nice offer, though.”

  The king smiled at the polite human who was nervously wringing her hands and giving his queen another kind smile.

  The poor girl was terrified; Craig was right. This was why, in his opinion, it was better to simply enforce the change and deal with the aftermath. The mating bond was strong enough to overcome the breach in trust. Too much time, and worry created unreasonable fear and suffering.