Cruel Prince(Royal Hearts Academy #1) - A. Jade Page 0,100

of a snowstorm. Keeping me safe and warm.

“It’s just thunder,” he whispers against my temple.

Turning in bed, I face him. “How long was I asleep?”

“Three hours and seventeen minutes.”

“Wow, that’s…precise.”

The edge of his thumb traces my jaw. “How are you?”

He’s looking at me with so much concern, I fear my heart might burst right out of my chest.

“Better.”

Because of him.

After I ran over here like a psycho during a meltdown, Jace took care of me.

No, more than that.

He listened without judgment as I unleashed everything I’ve been keeping inside.

My problems. My fears. My pain.

And then he held me while I cried myself to sleep.

His eyes search my face. “You should get some more rest.”

I’m about to concede, because the exhaustion coursing through my body makes me feel like I could sleep for weeks and it still wouldn’t be enough, but then I remember.

I bolt up. “Oh my God, Sawyer. We were—”

“Relax.” He nods to my phone on his nightstand. “Your phone kept ringing, so I answered it. I told Sawyer you were going through shit and spending the night here.”

Oh. “How did that conversation go?”

Amusement lines his face. “After asking for photographic evidence proving you were safe, she threatened to take a chainsaw to my nuts and my brother’s if I didn’t return you in one piece.”

That’s my girl. “I’ll give her a call in the morning.” Nausea barrels into me. “I should probably tell my cheating, cradle robbing aunt I’m here.”

Slinging an arm over my waist, he eases me back on his bed. “Don’t have to. I told Oak to cover for you and say you’re spending the night at Sawyer’s house.”

“Oh.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask if he told Oakley what I walked in on, but I can’t without bile rising up my esophagus.

“I…uh…” My voice trembles with the threat of tears and I clear it. “I don’t know why I’m being so dramatic about this. It’s just…”

“Someone you loved made a mistake.” I feel the muscles in his body knot up. “One that permanently changed who they were in your eyes.”

That’s exactly it. “I don’t know how to get past this. Between her and my father…”

“I know. I get it.” He rises up on his elbow and stares down at me. “At least I thought I did.”

Lifting my hand, I trace the curve of his eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Maybe everything isn’t so absolute, you know?” He exhales sharply. “I used to believe everything was black and white…right and wrong. But now I’m starting to think people might not be the sum of their greatest achievements…or their worst mistakes.” He swallows thickly. “Maybe someone can do the cruelest thing imaginable…and somehow…still be a good person underneath.”

I think about this for a moment and realize he has a point. My aunt did something awful, but she’s still my aunt.

She’s still the one who drove four hours to see me when I got my period for the first time, and then whisked me away to my first concert to celebrate. The woman who took me shopping for my first bra. The person who didn’t even hesitate to take me in when my dad ended up in jail.

“The bad doesn’t always erase the good,” I whisper.

“No.” His eyes cut to mine. “I think it just blends.”

Kind of like the sky. The clouds are in the way, but it doesn’t make the blue any less beautiful.

Unfortunately, Jace’s concept doesn’t apply to everyone.

“I might be able to salvage the relationship with my aunt, but I can’t say the same for my father. It hurts too much.” The tears welling in my eyes spill down the sides of my face. “He doesn’t want me, Jace. He stopped loving me the day she died.”

I force myself to breathe and try to calm down, but it’s no use. I’ve unearthed the underbelly of the beast.

The cold, hard realization that you’re unloved by the one person who’s supposed to love you the most is the worst feeling in the world.

My chest heaves and it becomes a struggle to breathe. “Sometimes I’m not sure if anyone loves—”

His mouth is on mine so fast, I’m breathless.

The possession in his kiss is absolute…as if he has a point to prove.

And my heart is so tattered and needy for him, I soak it up like a sponge. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull him closer.

I part my thighs and he settles between them. Instantly, the feeling in my chest kicks up a notch, going from