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“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.”
“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.
He turned to Brayden and gave him a little frown.
“This is our decision. I will see you at the airfield tomorrow night.” The prince’s eyes bore into his, challenging him.
“A great decision it is,” Kate said, smiling. “Hopefully, you will be with us for the ball. It’s a Victorian theme, so we’ll have beautiful gowns and jewels to wear. Oh, how I miss the fashion of that era.”
Brayden let out a little cough. “Yes, well, we were all a little different back then.”
“What’s it in celebration of?” Willow asked boldly despite her fear.
A smile crept to Vincent’s lips. Of course his brother would choose a mate with spirit. He bet once her fear faded, she would be quite the dynamite.
“It’s the annual royal ball held each year on the anniversary of my coronation,” Vincent answered.
Kate laid a hand on his arm. “We host over three hundred guests. Some years it’s held on the great lawn, but this year, the grand ballroom will be decorated in all its glamour. We’re even having a jazz band.”
“For a Victorian-era theme?”
“Oh yes. Jazz began near the end of the Victorian era. We loved it, didn’t we, Brayden?” Kate grinned. “The king isn’t much of a dancer, but he was forced to step up in order to get my attention.”
Vincent shook his head, kissing his mate’s head. “These two will never let me forget it either. I hope you can dance, Willow; your mate is quite famous on the dance floor.”
He watched as Brayden pulled the human closer against his side and glanced down at her possessively. A warmth spread through Vincent as he watched his brother with his mate. The love was front and center, leaving no question as to whether she was the one. That and Brayden now had the solid ring around his iris that confirmed he was mated.
If the human accepted him, she would be loved by that brother of his beyond anything she could ever dream. He would be loyal, strong, passionate, and protective unlike anything she’d seen. The private smile they shared gave him hope.
Kate leaned into him with a sigh. She’d seen it too. He wrapped an arm around her, and they shared a smile. He remembered the moment he realized he loved Kate. He had been such an idiot. When they had finally gotten together, the fireworks had lit up the skies. He felt his pants tighten.
The poison was leaving his system and his strength was returning. While he wasn’t fully recovered, he certainly had enough energy to pleasure his queen. His hand slid down onto her hip, and she laid a hand on his abdomen and let her nails dig into him.
A silent groan rumbled in his chest.
“Let’s just take it one step at a time.” Brayden smirked. “No pun intended.”
Willow grinned, shaking her head, and Vincent hoped, for the sake of their bloodline, it was a positive sign.
“We will see you both on the jet.”
While they could teleport back home, Vincent had decreed they should act as humans when appropriate to fit into the world around them. Appearing in different parts of the country or world without a travel footprint was something they did only when it was an emergency.
Vincent held the door open for Kate and let it close behind them. She began to walk off, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her up against his chest. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“My lord?” She gasped playfully.
Pushing her up against the wall, he nudged his knee between her legs. “We have some lost time to make up for. I want these panties off, and your legs open for me.”
Dude, take your smooth moves elsewhere. I can hear you in here!
He groaned, shook his head, lifted his mate into his arms, and flashed into their rooms.
You might have learned something, brother. He quipped back.
Pfft.
Yeah, he had a point.
