Ascension Saga: 5. Grace Goodwin
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been wrapped in when I arrived lay in a crumpled heap by the bedpost in my sister’s royal bedchamber. Seeing it was a reminder. Of him.
I kicked it in frustration, narrowly missed stubbing my bare toes on the large wooden frame of the bed. The fabric smelled like Lord Thordis Jax, the sex-on-a-stick, sexy as hell, too damn good looking for his own good, male claiming to be my mate. The Aleran rotting in my sister’s dungeon—well, technically, it was my dungeon too—right now for trying to have her kidnapped and killed. The male Trinity believed had betrayed the entire family.
And I wanted him again anyway. I felt achy. Needy.
Empty. My pussy. My chest. My skin. I needed him to touch me in a way I’d never needed anyone.
This Ardor was serious fucking business.
“Look on the bright side, Faith, at least it wasn’t Zach Richardson.” My sister, Her Royal Highness, Princess Trinity Herakles, had the good graces to look sympathetic. She had her mate. Her Ardor was over. And she was so blissfully in love, every time I saw her and Leo together my heart hurt.
Jesus. I had it bad. For a traitor.
Despite the rambling nature of my thoughts, I couldn’t believe what she’d just said.
“What?” I stared at her, thought of Zach, the total loser from high school, then burst out laughing, which only added to my emotional roller coaster. Sad, mad, angry and now laughing like a lunatic.
I’d been quiet on the ride to the palace. Was quiet still—which was very unlike me. I talked smack as a general rule. But then, the last few days of sneaking around, lying low, and cleaning a traitor’s house, had taken the proverbial wind right out of my sails. I felt as if I’d been stunned by an ion blaster. Again.
Only this time they’d aimed right for my heart and somehow skipped the rest of me.
When the guards had burst into the bedroom in Thor’s apartment, I’d been confused. When I saw the assassin who had tried to kill us—no, who I’d tried to kill us the night we arrived on Alera—I’d been terrified.
But finding out Trinity was there to save me from a traitor?
That had broken me somehow. Seeing Thor standing there naked, willing to defend me, had made me love him, just a little. But then those eyes had darkened with betrayal when he realized who I was. When we’d shared so much and I hadn’t told him I was a princess.
It was as if I’d betrayed him.
The man had balls of steel. I’d give him that.
But then, he was a spoiled lordling, raised in a fancy mansion. A traitor. Was it any surprise he believed the same way an entitled rich kid would back home on Earth? Thinking the world owed him everything? Believing he had the right to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted?
I kicked the sheet again. He’d taken what he wanted from me as well.
And I’d let him.
No. I’d begged him for more. Begged. And whimpered. And let him take me over and over and over.
Fuck. I was an idiot.
“Stop trying to kill the sheet. It didn’t do anything.” Trinity’s words were meant to lighten the mood, but they were too soft. She knew. Somehow, she knew exactly how this was tearing me in half.
Her mate, Leo, had escorted us up through dark secret passages—which would have been pretty darn cool if I wasn’t such a hot mess. They’d ushered me into their private quarters on the second floor, and I’d promptly burst into tears. I had no idea how long I’d cried, but when the crying jag had stopped, Trinity and I were alone.
No doubt Leo had taken one look at me, a sobbing mess, and run for his life.
Trin had given me a robe, and I’d dropped the sheet like it burned.
Thor’s scent, of hours of sex, still clung to me. Even without the sheet, I could smell him.
I needed a fucking shower. With a power washer strong enough to take off my skin. Maybe then I could get him out of my head. Maybe then my body would stop screaming at me to go crawl into his arms and ask for more.
At least all my tears had run out. When that happened, I’d switched to being mad, pacing the sitting area in her suite with a furious fervor that would surely wear a path in the sumptuous carpet. I’d muttered to myself, swore that all men were assholes and not worth anything. How dare Thor fuck me, all the while being a traitor! How could he be a murderer and get hard at the sight of me? It made no sense. How could one be so evil and then be so intent on giving me pleasure when he got between my thighs?
None of it made sense and probably, to Trinity, neither did I. Thankfully, she’d remained silent, just letting me vent. Between me, Trinity and Destiny, one of us was always having some kind of meltdown. At least once a week back home. We’d agreed when Destiny and I were thirteen, and Trinity sixteen, that only one of us could lose our shit at any given time. Clearly, it was soooo my turn.
Trinity had Leo. She was known and recognized as the princess. Not working as a maid, arrested and accused of being an informant or traitor. Clearly, I was off the hook for that. I wanted to give Lord Wyse and his scar-faced friend in the Optimus unit a middle finger salute, the asshole.
No luck there either. Which was fine. But instead of a fancy entrance with a gorgeous gown and tons of press—like Trinity had during her grand entrance into public life on the front steps of the palace—I’d been sneaked in so only a few knew I was here, and the rest didn’t know who I was, that there was another princess.
I was the naked woman in the sheet. For now, that was it. The crazy naked woman in the sheet, because not only did I not exist, I had a mate who was a traitor. Who had helped kidnap my mother. Had he been in on the plot to kill Trinity’s biological father, the king of Alera, as well?
No. He would have been about three or four years old at the time. Like a mad super-genius villain from a comic book.
Even if he were a traitor, he was still better than Zach Richardson. That jerk had called his penis “Big Z” and talked to it like it was his best friend. Shit. I hadn’t thought of that in years…
I laughed again until tears rolled down my cheeks. It wasn’t really that funny, but I couldn’t throw myself on the ground and have a tantrum like the wounded little girl inside of me wanted to do, so I laughed instead.
“I can’t believe you would compare Zach to Thor. They’re like… light years apart.” And not just literally, but in every possible way. I wondered if Aleran men named their dicks like human men did. Thor’s would need a better name than “Big T.” Maybe something like, miraculous-fucking-machine. Or, make-me-forget-my-name-and-betray-my-sisters.
Trinity tapped her chin, then grinned. “I am the princess now. I can order guards to go to Earth and transport Zach here for round two if you want.”
I smiled, sighed. God, I loved my sister. She could spin humor from nothing. Thor vs. Zach, the guy I’d slept with the summer after graduation? No contest. Except…
“So you think having sex with Zach in the bathroom at Ty Konwinski’s party an hour before I find him getting head from Sarah Moore in the back of his car is worse than fucking a traitor who tried to have you murdered?”
Trinity shrugged. “When you put it that way… Tell me this—who was better?”
As if there was any comparison. Zach had been a nineteen-year-old asshole who thought his dick was God’s gift to women. Thor was an attentive, protective, possessive alien whose cock had awakened for me and who had claimed me as his mate. Who also, even as a virgin, had given me more pleasure than I ever imagined. And yet…
And yet my pussy didn’t care that he might be evil. My pussy needed him. Craved him.
“Stupid Ardor,” I muttered.
“Welcome