Dark Possession - Aja James Page 0,44

and narrowed.

She didn’t like the sound of that.

“Devlin, I think I left something in the throne room from the, uh, the other night. Can you please let me in to retrieve it?”

“You want to interrupt Ramses’ negotiations to retrieve something,” Devlin clarified.

“It’s terribly important.”

“Indeed?” The Hunter arched a golden brow. “Perhaps I can get it for you, save you the trouble.”

“Oh no,” Eveline demurred, “I don’t mind the trouble.”

“You know, temporary Keeper,” Devlin leaned in to speak in a lowered voice, “there’s a reason why the doors are closed. The negotiations could turn quite…heated.”

Eveline let her own brows elevate.

“All the more reason for me to slip inside and retrieve my, uh, important something before things get out of control.”

“He’s going to have my head for letting you in.”

Eveline stretched on tiptoe and patted Devlin’s gorgeous blond hair.

“It’s such a pretty head. Not to worry, I promise I won’t let you lose it.”

He quirked a corner of his mouth and turned to the guards, indicating with a tilt of his pretty head that they should open one of the double doors.

“Hold on to your own lovely head, Lady Eveline,” he said, gesturing with a bow that she could enter the throne room.

“We have a tendency to lose our Keepers in that gruesome manner.”

How wonderful, Eveline thought with an internal shudder.

But she pressed on.

Squaring her shoulders like the Greek demi-god Heracles embarking upon the first of his twelve daunting labors, she entered the mighty lion’s den.

*** *** *** ***

Ramses tried to concentrate on the task at hand—seducing the beautiful Thirteen Stars Queen, Valentina.

Or being seduced, rather.

He hadn’t had much interaction with her since he’d taken the throne, focusing most of his time on quelling the murmurs (now earthquakes) of unrest in the northern and western territories that surrounded the New England hive.

Valentina held jurisdiction over the original Confederate southern states of the U.S. She’d come into power before the Civil War, and she’d supported the secession plans during that time. Slavery, regardless of Kind, was something she never had an issue with.

However, as Ramses was quickly learning through this private interview, Valentina was a business woman first and foremost. Slavery back in the day had been good for business. She had no ideological biases one way or the other. And now, as she witnessed the brewing tensions between hives, amongst Dark nobles, and between races, all she cared about was continued economic prosperity and stability.

In particular her own.

“Munitions, armies, logistical networks, and of course my own influence, you can have it all at your disposal, Ramses. I shall travel to the Western Frontier hive myself to speak with Queen Valeria. She and I have a sisterly bond that harkens back hundreds of years. I am also a favorite with Queen Aurelia of the West Coast hive. Together, the three of us, with your allies in Canada, can more than subdue would-be usurpers north of the Mexican border. As to our friends down south, they are too preoccupied with civil affairs to interfere or take sides.”

While he appeared to be considering Queen Valentina’s words, Ramses wondered what Eveline was doing at the moment.

Probably nose deep in some ancient text in the library. Without fail, he found her there every night, and well into the morning, passed out over scripts. Everyday, he carried her to his chambers and slept with her in his bed. He, naked; she, fully clothed.

Since the first time he slept with her, he couldn’t resist the need to hold her again. Since the first time he lost control with her, he did resist the desire to do it again.

And again. And again. And again.

But the effort of avoiding her while she was conscious was taking a toll.

He watched her often on video surveillance. Wherever she was, whoever she was with, he knew. He watched her get absorbed into research, roll up her sleeves to organize the library. He saw her interact with other members of the Cove, how her warm, inner beauty was slowly revealed like a rose unfurling its protective petals. He watched her chat, smile, laugh, and make all kinds of expressions she never made with him. She was no longer guarded with the Chosen and their women.

He couldn’t stop looking at her when she was herself. Like a pyromaniac mesmerized by flames.

He had to stop this obsession. It was getting out of hand.

“What do you say, Ramses,” the beautiful vampire queen purred as she came to stand between his open thighs, while he sat back in a