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The woman screamed then, a high-pitched wail that sent chills down Rosalie's spine and had the rest of the vampires at the table licking their lips in anticipation. Rosalie found herself looking at Dominick then, and to her surprise, he wasn't hungrily gazing at the woman anymore ... he was watching her.
A shiver trailed up her spine. What was he thinking about so intensely?
And Rosalie couldn't help but stare as a lazy smile crept up Dominick's lips. "What is it, little human? Are you disturbed by this woman's pain? Don't worry." He trailed his fingers along the woman's slender neck, across the bite marks that he'd already left on her throat. "She chose to be here tonight. She was chosen."
Dominick met her eyes, smirked, then bit down on her throat. He drank deeply until she shuddered and let out a final gasp.
Bile rose in the back of Rosalie's throat, and she thought she would be sick. This was far from the first time she'd seen a vampire kill a human, but today, she wasn't as fortified against the madness as she normally would be.
She was too worried about her son.
Then Dominick lifted his head, smacking his lips with a satisfied sigh. "There you go. Rise, newest of my legion."
The woman’s eyes opened at his words, and she turned her head to look at Dominick. Her eyes were black as night, and when she smiled, Rosalie saw that her teeth had sharpened into fangs. She'd heard of how kings and the most ancient vampires could turn a human far more quickly than the average vampire, but she'd never seen it in person before. What had this woman done to earn what to the vampires was considered an incredible prize?
They valued nothing more than their immortality.
The woman sat up then, gracefully climbing off the table and moving closer to Dominick, and he opened his arms so she could climb into his lap. She draped herself all over him, grinding into him suggestively.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," she purred into his ear, quiet enough that Rosalie was the only other one to hear because she was directly beside the king. "Allow me to show you my gratitude ..."
The sickness in Rosalie's stomach clenched and grew. She felt so hot, sweat streaming down her back as she tried to stay composed. Tried to watch as if she didn't care what this heartless man in front of her did.
Because even though she hated him, despised everything he stood for, of course, she cared. She couldn't stop herself, no matter how much she wanted to. That was part of why she'd spent all these years avoiding him.
Avoiding the father of her son.
Dominick inhaled the woman's scent, dragging his tongue over her shoulder. He seemed immersed in her for a moment, uncaring about the rest of the room watching. But then his eyes flickered open, and those unsettling, fiery amber orbs landed on Rosalie.
She could see how he tensed beneath the woman, despite her being pliable and eager to fulfill his desires. For a breathless moment, Rosalie had no idea what Dominick would do. Fuck her right in front of Rosalie just to spite her?
She wouldn't put it past him.
Of all the possibilities, she hadn't expected him to rear away from the woman, all but dismissing her from his presence. "Your thanks are appreciated but unnecessary," he said, finally pulling his gaze away from Rosalie to settle on her. He cupped her cheek possessively before shoving her off his lap. "Tend to the needs of my court, why don't you? You know how I love to watch."
The woman smirked as though she was satisfied with this response, but Rosalie still noticed her disappointment. She must have hoped that she might have a position by his side by giving in to the king's wants and earning herself a coveted position as one of the vampires turned by him. It seems she couldn't have been more wrong.
She went on around the table, letting the vampires around the table feed from her—some biting into her flesh, others licking at the blood running down her neck. The woman made no sound of protest or pain; instead, she seemed almost euphoric as she surrendered herself to their feeding.
And when one of the vampires pushed her over the table and rammed into her, even while the other vampires continued to feet off her, Dominick did indeed watch. But Rosalie couldn't. She tried to look anywhere but at the woman who let herself be used and degraded by the gaggle of vampires of Dominick's court, unable to stop wondering why he'd not taken her for his own pleasure when she was ready and willing.
The sight and smell of the blood made Rosalie nauseous, but the only thing that kept her anchored to the moment and stopped her from falling over in her seat was the sight of Dominick's contemplative stare. He kept his gaze trained on the vampires indulging their various thirsts and desires, but Rosalie could tell he wasn't genuinely immersed in the show.
She knew him well enough, despite all the distance and years between them, to know when his mind was elsewhere.
But where was it if not here and now?
Rosalie's eyes snapped back to the gruesome scene before her just in time for the vampires to finish their feast. They all sat back in their chairs, satisfied, their mouths bloody from the frenzy Rosalie had been forced to watch. Inadvertently, it was a punishment for her late arrival at the party.
"You all may go for the night," Dominick said, breaking out of whatever spell he'd fallen into. "I find myself not in the mood for further festivities tonight."
The vampires pushed their chairs back and offered pleasantries to the king, which he ignored or barely acknowledged. Rosalie threw her chair back without a word and took one step toward the door, but before she could escape, Dominick's powerful hand snagged her wrist and pulled her to a stop.
"Not you, Rosalie," he commanded. "You and I need to talk."
Chapter 2 - Dominick
The room filtered out of the dining hall, some of the females staring back at Dominick longingly over their shoulders as they departed. It came as no surprise to him that they'd hoped for a chance to break through to him and spend a night of pleasure in his bed, as some of them often had before the curse overwhelmed the castle, causing Dominick to become bored of the women who threw themselves at him months ago.
