He nearly killed my brother.
And the things his family would expect of him once he ascended…
He said he would be different, but what if power changed him? What if one day, he sold our daughter for territory or riches? What if his feelings for me changed, and the man I was falling for disappeared altogether?
My panic overcame me, and I snatched open the door, wondering in the back of my mind whether it was carelessness or cockiness that had persuaded Ocean to leave it unlocked.
I didn’t get a chance to find out because the hallway wasn’t empty.
Abel was standing guard.
Or maybe he was waiting for Ocean. Sentry duty seemed a little below his pay grade. The stoic bodyguard took one look at me and raised a brow.
My breath caught in my throat, and I quickly slammed the door closed, cringing when I realized Ocean would have definitely heard it.
I was on edge by the time he came out of the bathroom, but Ocean paid me no mind as he disappeared inside the closet and reemerged dressed in dark-wash jeans, a plain black shirt, and a long, hooded fur overcoat.
“Is that real?”
He looked down at himself in confusion and then back at me. “What?”
“The fur.”
“It was a gift from Priscilla and Chiara, so…most likely.”
“You do know they breed and force animals to live in horrible conditions and then subject them to even crueler deaths for their pelts, don’t you?”
Ocean raised a brow. “I do now.”
“You can’t wear it, Ocean.” I crossed my arms and held his stare. “Poor baby rabbits were murdered so you could look good.”
“It’s mink, actually, but I see your point.” Ocean shook his head and went back inside the closet. When he returned, he was wearing a different coat without fur. My belly fluttered with warmth as he came to stand before me. “Better, baby girl?”
I nodded, my chin dipping so I could hide the fact that I was blushing. Ocean wasn’t having it, though. He lifted my chin and made me look him in the eye.
Adoration.
That’s what I saw in his eyes.
“I’ll make sure the fur is sold, and the proceeds are donated to an animal rights foundation of your choice.” Ocean brushed his lips across mine before saying fuck it and forcing them to part.
His kiss was just like all the rest.
Demanding.
Drugging.
By the time he let me up for air, all I wanted to do was bend over so he could give me backshots for days.
I really hated his self-control.
1 . We honor the blood.
OCEAN
“Wait, where are you going?” Coby asked in a panic as she followed me to the door. She looked like she’d been run over by a train if that train wasme.
Coby Perry was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, but I liked this look on her too—disheveled, dazed, a little traumatized, and looking like she’d been ridden hard, even though I’d mostly kept my hands to myself.
