Page 39 of Plug and Tame

Nathaniel would marry the vampiress, Gloria, and he would become king.

And I’ll seduce his father and kill him—if he doesn’t kill me first.

The sky began to lighten.

“Let’s return to the academy,” Nathaniel said.

They returned to camp to bid Mary, Byron, Haley and Ana goodbye.

“Summon us when you need us,” Haley said to Kira.

“We are ready to serve,” Ana added, baring human teeth in a wolfish grin.

Mary nodded at Nathaniel, but Byron gave him a hard stare.

As for Kira, saying goodbye to the couple who had raised her was strange and awkward. She still loved them, and hoped rather than believed that one day, their relationship could return to the way it had been; easy, pleasant, and full of laughter.

Kira and Nathaniel walked down the gentle incline of the foothills and through the woodland until they reached the portal. Nathaniel’s room was visible on the other side, along with the large, ebony bed with its black satin sheets. She stared at it glumly, because it suddenly represented a life she couldn’t have.

The night had been incredible, but its events had taken their toll. The knowledge that the best that life had to offer was now behind them soured her spirits. Over the coming weeks, Nathaniel would train her to become the kind of sex slave his father desired.

It left them no room to be their true selves. No more stolen moments with this mysterious, tender-hearted vampire with his dark secrets. No more dreams of love and passion she would not have dared to imagine before meeting him.

He had so much love to give. And so did she.

Even though the world needed them to set their feelings aside, it felt like a fucking waste.

Kira stared through the portal sullenly. “Aren’t you worried someone will find the portal?”

“Only we can see it,” Nathaniel replied. “It was made with blood magic—yours, and mine. I had Barbara create it after I found you.”

A chilling thought occurred to her. “Can your father see the portal?”

“No. But even if he could, he would never guess its significance. He would see a country lane, nothing more.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because he has a way of noticing everything about a person whilst learning nothing meaningful about them.”

Kira chewed her lip worriedly. It was obvious that he was no longer talking about the portal.

How much abuse had Nathaniel suffered at his father’s hands growing up? One day, she would summon the courage to ask him how someone so pure of heart could survive in the Vampire King’s shadow.

“Ladies first,” Nathaniel said, offering her a hand up as he indicated for her to step through the portal.

Always the gentleman.

The sweet gesture made her feel worse, because it made her love him just that little bit more, pining for him when they were both helpless to do anything about it.

Kira didn’t move, her shoulders stiff and fists clenched as her helplessness culminated in rage and anguish. “No.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I said ‘no’. I don’t want to.”

Nathaniel placed a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off, her facial muscles stiff as she tried not to cry.

Even though she felt closer to him than ever, she also felt rejected and abandoned. She was angry at the world for the taste of happiness it had given her, and angry at herself for choosing to go against her own wants and desires.