Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
“I don’t want to get married.” Even when I accepted the DL gig, I knew I wasn’t ready to be anyone’s husband. I’m barely thirty. I’m still a kid. Maybe JT is ready to be someone’s dad, but the thought horrifies me.
My father shrugs and scrubs a hand across his face. “Then I would start looking for a job, son. You have a business degree. I made sure of it.”
My father walks out, leaving me stunned in his wake. On the screen behind me, the women are beginning to shout at each other.
I slump into the first chair I find, utterly shocked at the events of the evening.
This was a stupid idea. I should never have gone on that dumb show. It was a reaction to my cousins’ happiness. I know my father will never believe it, but I’m jealous of what Beck and Ci found with their bondmate. Meg is a hell of a woman. She’s tough and funny, and I genuinely like her as a person. I’ve never met anyone as interesting as Megan Finn. I doubt I ever will. How am I supposed to get married when I’m half in love with my cousins’ wife?
I was looking for a connection. I can lie to everyone, but I know the truth deep down. I didn’t find it. I probably never will. And my father sure as hell can’t force it on me.
Something wicked and angry takes up residence in my gut.
If I can’t have love, I can have the next best thing. I pull out my tablet and dial up my latest mistress. I’m sure my father would disapprove, but I need to let off some steam.
Two hours later, I let my head rest against the back of the chair as Amanda King teases the head of my dick with her talented tongue.
“He seriously expects you to get married?” She emphasizes the “you” part. The question vibrates against the sensitive skin of my cock.
I take a long swallow of Scotch. I know I probably look every bit the decadent, care-for-nothing no-good my father portrayed me as. I’m sitting in my mistress’s suite, which I pay for, drinking and letting her pleasure me. The worst part is the fact that while my cock is engaged, my fangs haven’t popped out yet. I’m distracted. Or getting old.
Maybe I really should think about taking a consort. JT Malone seems happy with his. It would chill my dad out. “I got a lecture about how marriage can settle a man down. He threw the Malones in my face. Again.”
“You know I heard that he married a chick from the Earth plane, but the twist was it was the same girl he grew up with on this plane,” Amanda murmurs against my cock. “It was one of those mirror things. Except the girl he grew up with died when they were teens and then this one showed up and he lost his mind. I wonder if I’m out there somewhere.”
I don’t even want to think about it. Meg told me there is another version of me on the plane she came from. I think about him sometimes. I’m probably living it up on the Earth plane, and no one tells me what to do. It’s probably paradise.
Then Amanda runs her tongue from the base of my balls to the crown of my cock, and I’m not thinking much anymore. She is extremely good at giving head. What right does my father have to tell me I’m useless simply because I like to party and keep a mistress? Welcome to the world of a wealthy royal vampire. Everyone did it. I work hard. Sometimes. Don’t I deserve to play? Besides, I consider myself something of a mentor to my mistress. Amanda is a young woman trying to put herself through school without the aid of family or corporate funds. It’s a given in their society that she find a wealthy patron to help her. If she was born in a royal line, I would never have touched her, but Amanda is a lovely peasant girl. She knows the score. I can never marry a peasant. It will be a royal or a consort for me.
Even if she was a royal, I wouldn’t consider her. Amanda is all right, but I don’t love her. And she sure as hell doesn’t love me. I suspect she doesn’t like royals at all.
My father was born a royal, but one without money. My father pulled his entire family off the surface with willpower and intelligence. I’m never going to live up to my father.
“Have I lost you?” Amanda stares up, her brown eyes questioning. Her hands are on my thighs. I didn’t even notice when she stopped. What’s wrong with me?
I shake my head and stroke her hair. She’s a sweet girl, and she’s good to me in her own way. I don’t want her to feel insecure. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. My mind is on the problem. Don’t stop. I need this tonight.”