Ruthless Empire (Royal Elite #6) by Rina Kent

He’s sitting opposite me with the small table separating us. He’s close enough that I smell his cinnamon scent and inhale it into my lungs.

The way he’s looking at me is so sinister, it’s like he’ll grab me and fuck me on the table right here, right now.

I clear my throat, but my voice comes out breathy anyway. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Why did you just moan?”

“I-I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did. Don’t lie to me.”

“It was because of the croissant.”

“And here I thought you were seducing me.”

“I-I wasn’t.”

“Well, it worked.”

“C-Cole —”

My words die in my throat when he grips my chin with two fingers and pulls me close before his lips claim mine. It’s an open-mouthed kiss, all tongues and teeth and…freedom.

Neither of us worries that we’re in public or that we shouldn’t be doing this or that someone will see.

Fuck them.

Fuck everyone.

Because this thing that beats between us is way stronger than their words and their judgement.

The loss we felt is way deeper than societal standards and forbidden relationships.

It’s us.

As twisted as it is.

We don’t stop kissing that day. We make out in the streets. In the grocery store. Everywhere. We give the people in town a PDA they never signed up for.

I take pictures with a barely-willing Cole who hardly looks at the camera and refuses to pose unless it involves a kiss or me touching him.

I commemorate every moment and every second. I document the time where I get to kiss him anywhere I want.

Because real life will strike again.

Real life will rip us apart.

And the only place I can have him is behind closed doors.





39





Doll Master





Once upon a time, there was a doll.

You thought you could get rid of me because I’m not sending you texts anymore.

I’m close even when I’m far.

I’ll follow like a star.

And that star will eventually become your fate and your only reprieve.

It’ll follow you as you grow. As you fall. As you stand up just so you’ll fall again.

You can’t run. You can’t hide.

Little doll, what have you done?

The fun has only begun.

And soon, you’ll come undone.





40





Silver





In the end, life goes on.

Mum was fine, and in her words, she only needed to clear her head in a place where Papa doesn’t exist. Usually, she makes him appear as the villain every chance she gets, but not this time. Maybe she’s finally moving on? I hope so, at least. I feel so sorry for Lucien.

After that weekend we spent in Nice, Cole and I evolved. I can’t find the words to describe it properly, but we just took it to the next level.

Could be because we shared a loss, or because we became more careful.

Or I did.

The anxiety and stress I felt when I thought I was pregnant was torture. It’s Papa’s election year – the dream he’s worked his entire life for. The one he divorced Mum for because he wanted to focus on his political career.

I can’t be self-immersed and ruin that for him.

Or Mum’s social popularity. Or Helen’s success.

So the only time Cole gets to touch or even be near me is when he sneaks into my room at night. When both our doors are closed and the outside world ceases to exist.

I still pretend I don’t want him there and he fucks me harder each time I do. It’s like he’s punishing me for our screwed-up situation.

Cole likes punishments. The control and the fact that I fall completely at his mercy is his driving force.

Whenever I act like a brat at school, or when he tells me to do something and I don’t, he sends me texts like:

Cole: I’m going to spank your arse so hard, you will remember me every time you sit tomorrow.

Cole: You better be naked and splayed out on the bed when I come in or there will be no orgasms for you tonight.

Cole: What did I say about talking to Aiden? Do you want to be punished, Butterfly? Is that it?

Let’s just say, I did most of those things on purpose so he’d unleash his intensity on me. There’s something so mesmerising about Cole shedding the cool mask and going all out when he’s with me.

I’m the only one who gets to provoke that side of him. The only one who gets him on more than one level.

And he gets me.

He knows when the doubts creep in, when my heart shrinks whenever I see a kid on the streets and recall the loss of what we couldn’t have.

Every time I run to the park, he follows with a Snickers bar and kisses me on the nose.

Last week, I won a piano competition. Well, Cole let me win. I know he could’ve beaten me, but that day, he barely played. When I shoved him, demanding he not take pity on me, he said, “That wasn’t pity. I’ve always wanted to see that spark you get in your eyes when you win.”

“But you’ve made it your job to crush me in everything.”

“That’s because you were with Aiden. Now, you’re not.”

To say Cole gets jealous would be an understatement. He doesn’t like any male in my vicinity, but he’s so subtle about it. Like kicking Aiden down every chance he gets, or plotting Ronan’s demise just because he put an arm around my shoulder.