The depraved prince, p.32
The Depraved Prince, page 32
He takes my tits in his mouth, practically biting on my nipple, and I moan as I pull on his hair. Up and down my waist goes as I fuck the Depraved King on his throne.
“Fuck. Yes, baby girl. Prove it to me. Prove it, just like that. Jesus Christ, Millie. Just. Like. That!” He slaps my ass and grabs a fistful of my hair, yanks my head to the side, and licks my neck. “Milk my cock with your tight pussy.” He sinks his teeth into me, and the lust overflows, simmers into my veins, and poisons me.
“Use me, take me, fuck me,” I whimper, which intensifies Hayden’s hold. He sucks my blood faster and harder like I’m his favorite last meal. He snakes his hand into my waves of hair. His thick black ring with his family crest is at the base of my scalp as he tugs.
“You’re going to let me fill you up with my cum, aren’t you?” Hayden tells me; his deep voice vibrates against my sore throat, and my hot blood rains down my neck and onto my collarbones.
“Yes,” I moan, and he sucks my blood out faster, greedy and impatiently.
“You’re going to carry all of my babies?” he demands an answer, but I keep quiet. His dick is that good. It stuns my ability to speak; I’m too busy trying not to shatter all over his dick. I want to make this last a bit longer.
“Aren’t you?!” He growls voraciously and starts to take over the pace, making me weak, and he begins to pound away brutal and carnal. Like he’s trying to tattoo my pussy with his cock.
Oh. My. God.
“Yes! Give it to me. Give me all of you,” I concede.
“Baby, you already have all of me,” he exclaims softly and gently. “Look at you bouncing on my cock like the fucking liar that you are. You can’t deny that you love me any longer. Look at your sweet tight cunt taking it all.”
Hayden spills inside me with a growl, his teeth lodged into my flesh. I look up at the ceiling as he gets his fill, staring at the painted murals.
I don’t know when it happened, but I’m dozing off while Hayden clutches me tight and takes us into his bedroom. He carries my drained body through the black halls. He closes the door, locks it, and the next thing I know, we’re both naked in his bedsheets.
“You’re going to die of heart failure when you turn twenty-three.” His voice trembles as he rubs his hand over my naked back in soft circles. I can’t move. I let the words of my future demise sink in, and I try to process the information.
“Have you given it more thought? Will you let me turn you?”
I suck in a breath, hoping it’ll relieve the tension all over. And it does, but only for a split second, but everything feels heavy again.
“I don’t know, Hayden. This life you guys live in is painful, brutal, and full of unpredictable horror. I wouldn’t be tied to you forever but to all the downfalls of being a vampire. A war has started between you and Cole’s family, and I think it’s far from over. Or what if you make more enemies? What if they try and kill me? What if we have children and they try to take them? What if—”
He puts his hand on my mouth, hushing me. His brows pinch together ruthlessly like he’s in pain.
“I will always protect you. No would dare take you from me. And if they do, they’ll wish they hadn’t. Falling in love with you has made me see the world differently. This life, differently. Becoming a vampire was something I welcomed easily. I love life. I love waking up, knowing it’ll never be my last. But now? I’m terrified.” His voice is deep and full of stone. “I’m terrified of waking up and finding out your heart has stopped beating and your soul is no longer trapped inside me. My purpose is you. You are the reason why I want to continue to fall in love with life, but if you leave me for Death, pretty girl…” A black tear falls out of his eye as he tilts my chin up to meet his cold red eyes. He’s surrendering himself to me, letting me see his dark soul behind the shield he hides behind. “I will fight any God who tries to stop me from entering those gates of Heaven where I know you’ll be. And I will find a way to you, like I always did before and like I always pledge to do.” His declaration sends me into a mess. I want to open my mouth, but if I do, I’ll give in to him despite everything we’ve gone through.
“Spare me that misery and stay with me. Here. In this cruel world.” He climbs on top of me, pushing my hair out of my face. He looks at my lips with divine admiration and crashes his lips against mine. He enters me, slow and careful.
“Stay with me forever. Tell me you’ll see me next moon, please.”
“Hayden…” I close my eyes and feel them roll back from how magnetic and hypnotizing this man is. He thrusts in and out while he makes his promises. He kisses my neck, trailing kisses down to my collarbone.
“You’re perfect. God-like. You’re an addiction I’ve tried to break, but you won’t let me detox from your toxic possession. I will always see you next moon because fate is in your favor, and I no longer have any fight in me to pull away from you. I’m in love with you. I love you so much it scares me.” I cup his face with my hands and kiss him hard. Fire burns through the both of us. We’re two hurt souls coming together to make each other feel something good. It’s more than euphoric. Our tethered connection is powerfully blinding. I break the kiss, and it kills me not to keep our lips an entangled mess. I love him with all the broken parts of me. He broke me, like he’s been wanting to do, but not in the ways I thought he would. He broke my trauma and healed me in demented, everlasting ways.
“Don’t ever leave me, Hayden. Promise me that I can trust you. Promise me you won’t ever hurt me. Promise me that our love will last forever...and surpass your infinite lively sentence…just please don’t abandon me. Don’t leave me. Everyone in my life has left. Everyone in my life hurts me. But you haven’t. Will it always stay like this?” I whisper, searching for his answer vigorously with watered eyes. He grins that billion-dollar one that always makes me turn into his prisoner willingly.
“Millie…” He smirks. “Until the moon and sun collide and the oceans dry. I will love you infinitely.”
Hayden
She smiles after I made love to her for the third time tonight. We interlock our limbs, and I hold her naked, warm body close to mine. Her hand trails my upper back right behind my neck. It’s the first and only tattoo I’ll ever have.
“When did you get this? It’s my handwriting…from my diary, isn’t it?”
Millie
“I got it a few days after you left.”
She kisses the tattoo and smiles against my tricep.
“Volo unum esse cum morte.”
My eyes circle, and if my heart could sink, it would.
She’s consenting.
She smiles harder and repeats the words.
“Volo unum esse cum morte.”
I palm her mouth with my hand before she can finish.
“Don’t,” I order her, forcing her to stop. Her eyes widen with hurt. Her brown eyes flicker with sadness and confusion. But I just smile and slowly let my hand fall from her mouth. Instead, I kiss her hard. I swear I’ve never felt so fuckin happy to hear those words fall from her mouth.
“But I thought? Why not?”
I trail my vision to her eyes, her lips, her perfectly swollen breasts, and finally, her lower belly. I place my hand on it and kiss her lips again. I wanted to wait to tell her this, but there’s no other perfect moment like this one.
“Because you will carry another heartbeat inside you, and the only way for that to happen is if you stay human. If I turn you, you won’t be able to become a mother, and I know that’s something you want to do in your human lifetime.”
She nods as I palm her stomach.
“Yes. I do,” she admits and holds my hand.
“Tell me…” I stand from the bed and grab her journal that I packed before we left her father’s house. “Why did you write so much?” She grabs her journal from me and opens it. She flips through the pages and then closes it again.
“Because reading and writing saved my life. I haven’t finished writing everything. There’s more. There’s more you don’t know about.” She sighs and places her diary on the nightstand. She crawls on my body and pulls the blankets over us.
There’s more?
“Who do I need to make scream and beg for their life? Whose car do I need to blow up next? Who do I need to torture?” I hiss.
“Hayden!” she scolds. “I’m not a victim. I refuse to be. I can handle my own battles.” She giggles.
She knows I’ll do it, and I always follow through with my threats. If anyone tries to hurt her, they’ll be dead faster than they can blink. She stiffens and stops rubbing her hand over my chest.
“Wait, whose car did you blow up?!” She sits straight in the bed with pulled-in brows.
I smile mischievously. “Santiago’s.”
41
MILLIE
ONE MONTH LATER
Hayden has been adamant and consistent about convincing me we can still do all the normal things I can do with a human boyfriend. It’s been a week at the university near the Cathedral, and so far, I'm living my life like it’s normal to have a vampire fiance who doesn’t give me any other choice but to choose him.
I emailed Hayden from the library computer on campus and wanted to stay longer tonight. I don’t need one of his human bodyguards driving me home tonight as they have been doing since I started my junior year of college. He hasn’t responded, and I don’t expect him to.
I’m keen on perfecting my studying skills. I want to ace my first English literature exam, so I stayed longer on campus. Hayden is asleep during the day, anyway.
There are faint noises of people typing on their computers, light chatter, and books closing. The library is quiet and smells of wood and old books. It’s my favorite scent, and I feel a sense of complacency in my new life. When I registered for college, Hayden insisted he pay for all my classes in full. I fought him on that as best I could, but there’s no winning that battle.
It’s been a breath of fresh air to be able to do things I’ve set out to do before my Valkyrie demise at twenty-three. Hayden will turn me when I consent on my twenty-second birthday. Out of fear of how powerful, ruthless, unremorseful, and unpredictable Hayden has become, the Council doesn’t want to challenge him to turn me. Everyone fears him—every single King and person who breathes fears Hayden.
He killed King Davenport & his sons, leaving only a woman named Eleanor to take reign. No one has been able to do the things he's done, making Hayden the most powerful, heartless Vampire to walk this Earth. Because of his actions to keep me alive and protected, no one wants to challenge him, granting him peace to alter the laws like he wants.
Everyone fears him.
As I close the doors to the library, I look at the ticking clock above it.
9:37 p.m.
Shit!
I lost track of time. Hayden will be worried. I told him I would take a Taxi home. I hold onto my backpack tighter as I jog out of the library. Darkness and crickets greet me with a gust of fresh wind that runs through my wavy hair. I turn the corner of the building toward the parking lot and bump into something hard.
“Oh, ouch!” I yelp as I drop my college textbooks simultaneously. Blinking rough and fast, I search for my three books that I was holding. They landed by my feet…and someone else’s.
A pair of black converse shifts awkwardly. I reach for my books, and their hand brushes with mine accidentally.
“I’m sorry. That’s my bad. I should’ve watched where I was going.” A man apologizes. He takes one book while I grab the rest. I stand back up, and straighten my back. I reposition my backpack on my shoulders and realize I’m face to face with my English classmate.
“Jared Whitlock. Hi.” I stutter as he hands me back my textbook. I take it and decide the best place to put my textbooks is back in my backpack. I unzip and throw them in quickly as he watches me.
He tucks his long sandy blonde hair behind his ears and readjusts his sports bag over his shoulders. Jared Whitlock is the captain of the baseball team. I don’t know him too well, but I know enough. He’s charming and intelligent, with a dashing smile and the brightest green eyes I’ve ever seen. All the girls in our class giggle and blush if he glances at them for one second.
“Hi, Millie Flores.” His pink lips curve but fall back down when he spots the engagement ring on my finger. “Or should I say future Mrs…”
I dart my eyes to my ring and back to his friendly smile.
“Oh, yeah…this.” I wave my ring finger, and it glistens under the moonlight. “Future, Mrs. Drago, I guess you could say.” I roll the r and huff out an awkward laugh. I walk towards the parking lot in front of the administration building, and Jared follows.
“Drago…why does that name sound familiar?” He shrugs his shoulders as he walks. “You’re so young to be getting married. How old are you? Nineteen?” He inquires.
“I’m twenty, actually.” I laugh light-heartedly.
“Nineteen—twenty. Same thing.” He chuckles. “Were you in the library studying?” He points to the building behind us. The sound of crickets and owls sing as we walk.
“Yes. I don’t like failing. I’ll study all night if I have to.”
“You could never. I think you’re the smartest one in class. I’ve seen the grades you get.” His voice lowers shyly as he throws his head back with another chuckle. “And you’re definitely the prettiest girl, too, if I might add.” I almost stop walking when his admission sinks in. His stare blazes the side of my face, but I’m too focused on returning home to respond or meet his eyes.
“Well…thank you. I—”
Jared interrupts me before I can tell him I’ll see him tomorrow and bid my farewell.
“Come see me play one of these days,” he interrupts me. “I know I’m pushing my luck, but I would love to see the prettiest girl on campus cheer me on.”
The sound of multiple engines breaks through the crisp air and rattles my bones. I whip my head toward the direction. They get louder as multiple lights flash over Jared and me. I look to my left, holding my hand by my eyes, and squint to see what the hell is going on.
Motorcycles.
Millie…
Hayden growls into my head as he talks to me. I still don’t understand how he can whisper into my mind, but it works every time we’re close to each other. And right now, he’s fuming by the way he just said my name.
The engines roar, and the volume almost makes me want to cover my ears. They all stop driving and plant their feet on the ground.
Finally, through the thick fog of the night, I see that it’s my fiance and his friends—Landon, Kolton, Kade, and a few others I don’t recognize.
Hayden and his friends are together on their bikes, surrounding Jared and me like sharks ready to pounce. Hayden has a cigarette between his teeth, black sunglasses on, and a black leather jacket hugging his massive muscles. A silver chain with the bat wrapped in a snake hangs around his neck and rubs against his tattoo of my name.
He takes a drag of his cigarette, hollowing his cheeks as his friends stare at me while grinning wildly and mysteriously. It’s like they’re excited about what’s about to happen. I can’t read Hayden like he can read me, but I know he’s not happy about seeing Jared right next to me. I’m sure he heard everything.
This isn’t good.
Hayden throws his cigarette on the ground and stands tall. He steps on it with his black boot, drops his head back, and faces the sky. He blows the smoke out, and I watch it in slow motion.
“Is this Mr. Drago?” Jared asks hesitantly. Fear is evident in his shaky gulp, and his Adam’s apple bobs up and down slowly as he quivers.
“Yes, I’m going to get going now. I’ll see you in class,” I say fast as I shake. I’ve got to get out of here; Hayden is unpredictable.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What’s the rush, baby? Aren’t you going to introduce me to your new friend?” Hayden rushes over and stops when he’s right in front of Jared and me. He wears a giant devious smirk across his handsome face and I just know he’s staring daggers at Jared behind those dark sunglasses. His intentions are anything but welcoming. I know that sinful smirk all too well. It’s seared into my soul.
He grabs my hand, pulling me to his chest as he throws his arms over my shoulder possessively.
He reaches for Jared’s hand.
“I’m Hayden. Millie’s fiance.” Jared stares at Hayden’s hand like it’s going to bite him. He studies the family crest ring he wears on his middle finger. Jared slowly holds his hand out, and Hayden takes it with confidence.
“Jared.”
“Ahh, Jared…let me guess. Captain of the baseball team, straight A’s, lots of friends.” Hayden scoffs. “Looking for your next baseball bunny to fuck after games?”
My mouth drops open, and I tug on Hayden’s arms.
“Hayden. Don’t.” I pull on his leather jacket harder, urging him to leave Jared alone. He’s being ridiculous.
“Look, man, I think Millie can make her own choices whether she wants to go to one of the games. She did tell me that she’s new here, after all. I’m just being friendly.” Jared straightens his back, puffing out his chest defensively. Still, Hayden is taller and easily towers over Jared’s build.
Hayden glances at me over his shoulder and clenches his jaw tight. It flexes over his sharpened and pointed chin with dark enthusiasm.
“Friendly…huh?” Hayden takes a step toward Jared, closing the distance more, and I swear I feel like the Earth is spinning. Hayden takes off his sunglasses and grins ominously.
“Let me show you how friendly I can be when someone tries to take what’s mine.”
“Hayden!” I shout at him over the sound of engines being revved and all of his friend’s dark laughter behind us like it’s entertainment. They’re egging him on. “Let’s go home,” I plead.
“Yes, my angel. Anything you want…but right after I finish saying goodbye to Jared.” He stares at Jared’s shoes, and I hold my hand over my chest. My heart pounds ruthlessly, skipping beats, but I can’t unglue my eyes to what’s about to unfold in front of me.
