Dark Possession - Aja James Page 0,52
“and very clever.”
“Queen Anya has issued a Challenge regardless.”
“This is your doing?”
The messenger inclined their head modestly.
“I have some persuasion with her.”
“Indeed. Do tell how you managed to convince a queen who is not known for her battle prowess to issue a Challenge to the death to the most fearsome and enigmatic Dark King that ever ruled.”
“She will invoke the use of a Champion to represent her.”
“Ah. And do we know who this Champion is?”
“Someone who has a vendetta to collect with Ramses, I understand.”
“Have you assessed whether this individual can actually defeat the mighty Ramses?”
A careless shrug.
“They have as good a chance as any. However you look at it, we stand to win from the outcome.”
Beautiful, almond-shaped, thickly-lashed amber eyes blinked in the semi-darkness of the room, indicating that the speaker should continue with their riveting reveal.
“One, the fight itself will show us the extent of Ramses’ strength. Perhaps even the full extent of his Gifts. Two, no matter which side dies in the process, there will be an empty throne for us to exploit. Queen Anya has a weaker personal guard than Ramses, by far, so her throne would be most vulnerable against a takeover from the outside. If Ramses dies, we’d still have to fight his Chosen to take his throne, I am convinced of it.”
“That will not be an easy task, but certainly not impossible.”
The messenger nodded in agreement.
“Three, we can choose to intervene before a death blow is dealt. We can insinuate ourselves as the saviors on either side. If all goes well, the wounds sustained on both sides will be severe, and if we want to deal the final blow while the Champions are weak, it will be a lot easier than a direct, frontal assault.”
Blood-red lips curled slowly in a mesmerizingly gruesome smile.
“You are quite the strategist, my child. I am impressed. But how do you know that Ramses will answer the Challenge himself?”
“Observation. He is not a titular, paper-pushing administrator. He is a warrior-king. He will fight.”
The hauntingly exquisite face shrank back into the shadows, hissing out the last words:
“I am all aquiver to see the match. May it be a Blood Moon tomorrow night.”
“The young queen expanded her empire rapidly, her powerful Elemental by her side. She enslaved his body and blood to her will when he was but a boy. Rumors whisper that he loved her Purely, and died for his love. Reborn as a Dark One when the Dark Goddess offered a second life, he remained loyal and true to his beautiful, heartless queen…”
—From the hidden sections of the Ecliptic Scrolls
Chapter Ten
Eveline walked back to her apartment in a daze, her body tingly and numb, not quite her own.
What just happened?
She could still feel the imprint of his body on hers. His scorching heat, intoxicating musk and steely strength.
She could feel his fingers rubbing deliciously inside her, his thumb playing with her bud, his fangs in her throat. The primal arousal flaring hot and vibrant in the venom he infused into her veins as he took her blood.
But he hadn’t let her “take care” of him. He hadn’t let her have him at all.
She was sated, yet hungry for so much more. Enervated, yet every nerve was like a live wire, humming and crackling with electric lust.
He confused the hell out of her.
She felt like crying, and Eveline never cried. She was too rational to have the irrational emotions that ended in tears.
Wasn’t she?
After entering her chambers, she threw herself face down on the bed and didn’t bother to undress.
All she could think was—
What in Goddess’s name just happened?
The negotiations had been going well, she thought, all things considered. And if she looked only at the outcome of the session, she certainly got a lot, not the least of which were three, increasingly explosive orgasms.
But then he ruined it by pointing out that she hadn’t got anything at all. In fact, she might have gotten less than other females in similar encounters with the Dark King.
It could be inferred that a great number of women had intimate knowledge of Ramses’ body. Eveline had seen the evidence of it in some of their faces at the gathering five days ago. Eveline herself had some knowledge, and she’d been hoping to gain even more given the intimacy of their Blood Contract.
But he’d put a stop to all that.
He’d given her pleasure; he’d taken her blood. But nothing else had exchanged between them. Not even the gift of his unclothed body. The