Darkly Wed (Darkly Devoted Series, Book 3)

Chapter 4 - To Love and Hold

Chapter 4

IT WASN'T BLAKE'S nature to oversleep. He had spent the better part of the night lying awake in bed thinking about what Gabriel had revealed to him. If what the older man said was true, then Blake had much more on his plate than simple revenge. In discovering the truth about the conspiracy against his father, he lost everything he knew to be true about himself. Unknowingly, his father had left him the impossible task of restoring a deposed line to the throne. Now, Blake had the added task of raising an infant son to a role that he, himself, didn't understand.

Blake considered approaching Lichtus and asking the loyal butler if he knew anything regarding a miscarriage prior to his father Sebastian's birth, but whether Lichtus confirmed or denied it, it no longer mattered. What mattered was that Gabriel believed it and after what happened when Blake touched the Royal Scepter, the rest of the families would too.

Gabriel now had the additional card of revealing this information to the rest of the families. As the minutes of the night dragged on, Blake finally saw the beauty in Gabriel's plan to target him with Melody Balan. Gabriel had always intended to place a puppet on the throne.

After Blake finally managed to nod off momentarily, Lichtus knocked on his door to inform him that Melody Balan was here to see him. He could barely believe that the sun was already up. As Blake hurriedly threw a shirt on, he saw a young man in the mirror that looked nothing like Sebastian Thorne. In appearance and his conniving nature, he was always more of a Winther. There was a period when he was a naive teenager when he dyed his hair red to look more like his father. Now, his hair was ash-blond again, like his late mother's.

As Blake took notice of the gold Griffin Ring on his finger, he supposed he was past the point of wishing he took more after his father's family. It was time to forget the past. Although he was only twenty-six, he felt as though he was at an age now that he was able to reflect on and regret the past. He was so distracted by his own thoughts, that Blake stepped outside his bedroom with his shirt barely buttoned up. Apparently, Lichtus had invited their guest inside to wait in the sitting room. Vivienne lifted an eyebrow to see his hair tousled and cuff buttons open.

"Did I wake you?" She asked, a wistful smile appearing on her lips. "You were always an early riser. I wanted to catch you before you left."

This was not at all how he imagined their meeting would go. Blake felt vulnerable in his state of half-dress. Over the past year, he had often imagined what he would say to her when he finally saw her again. There were the times that Blake imagined screaming at her, walking away from her, strangling her. Somehow, he always knew that when he really stood before her again, he would do none of the above. He just stood there and blankly stared at her like an idiot.

"No, Melody," he said, coldly.

"Don't call me Melody," she said as she walked past him and removed her coat. Underneath, she was wearing a skimpy black silk dress that hugged her curves. So, she had come to seduce him. He wouldn't expect anything less from Melody Balan. She handed the coat to one of his servants and approached him with a lustful saunter. "Call me Vivienne."

"Why?" He asked, feeling a smirk appearing on his lips even though fury raged inside him. How dare she ask him to call her by that name, it was like she was driving a dagger into his heart.

"Because," she said as she moved closer, close enough for him to smell the familiar scent of her. Her skin gave off notes of absinthe, jasmine, and hints of the morning forest. She peered at him shyly with her chin tilted downward, in a way that always made him forget everything else. "That's who I am."

"Stop it," he whispered under his breath. Vivienne moved even closer, pressing her body against his, her leg stroking the side of his thigh. Her soft lips brushed against his. Before he could stop her, she began to kiss him, inhaling him, her mouth sucking at his tongue with the force of her desire. Clearly, his barely restrained fury didn't frighten her. In fact, he was starting to wonder if his rage was arousing her.