Snow by Deborah M. Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

through the letters smuggled to Charming and out again by an infatuated chambermaid who fancied herself in a fairy tale with Charming the prince who would rescue her from a life of drudgery and make her his queen.
    Charming’s lip curled in a sneer. The fat cow had had her uses, but she had been disabused of any notion she had that Charming loved her. Charming loved no one but himself. And the man beside him.
    Two years whilst they had laid their plans. Charming would marry the little snow queen and get her with child. He had no doubt as to the potency of his seed. There were bastards enough at home to attest to it. Then, if she unfortunately survived child birth, which so many noble ladies didn’t, she would meet with an accident some other way. It was Rui’s idea that they make it appear as though Snow White had died at her stepmother’s hand. With the old queen put to death and the new one dead, Charming would be left as regent for the child. It mattered not whether the brat was male or female. He would be king here with Rui beside him. Then, when his father died, he would return to claim his own kingdom. The brat could stay here.
    He would have everything he desired, this man most of all.
    His hands had drifted lower again, closing over warm firm flesh that quivered against his questing fingers. Rui’s blue eyes drifted open, hazy with sleep.
    Everything he desired…

The Queen
    Anais studied her stepdaughter’s betrothed as he sat beside Snow White, feeding her titbits from his plate. A perfect opportunity to poison the girl and lay blame at Charming’s door… Her hands fisted with frustration, and she sought out Rui where he sat at one of the lower tables.
    His eyes met hers. Patience .
    They were to bide their time. Let the wedding take place. Let Charming plant a child in Snow White’s belly first, before they made their move. With her new husband accused of her murder and naught but a puling babe left to sit the throne, who else to take control as regent but Snow White’s grieving stepmother?
    “It’s a far better plan,” Rui had murmured to her as they lay entwined in her bed. “Twenty-one years before the child is old enough to rule, assuming it even lives that long. A babe is easier to get rid of than a woman grown. There will be far fewer questions asked.”
    “But to have to wait another year? Or longer?”
    “No more than a year, I promise you. Charming has bastards scattered from one end of his father’s kingdom to the other. He’ll have her with child before the spring thaw.”
    “Not so Charming, then?” said Anais.
    Rui laughed as he moved to cover her body. She stared up into his mirror eyes. He entered her slowly. “You don’t find him charming?” he asked as he began to move inside her.
    She gasped, arching up to meet his thrusts. “There is something about him. He smiles a lot, but the smile never seems to find his eyes.”
    Rui’s long hair fell across his face, hiding it. Hiding his eyes. “Obviously his charm lies elsewhere than in his eyes.” His hands gripped her arms, hard enough to bruise as he began to thrust with a fiercer rhythm. “He wants to fuck you. You should encourage him.”
    “What?” Anais wrapped her legs about his hips, trying to slow him down. “I would never… There is only you.” She whimpered as he pushed deeper inside her. “Would you want me to…to lie with another? Do you…do you fuck other women?” The obscenity felt strange upon her tongue. Her heart stuttered in an uneven beat. Sweat slicked Rui’s chest and belly. He tossed back his damp hair, baring his teeth as he ground his pelvis against hers.
    “No. I don’t fuck other women. Only you. Only you.” His head dropped against her neck as a shudder ran through him. Then another.
    Only you.
    Anais let her hands play across the smooth, wet skin of his back whilst his breath sawed in her ear.
    “Encourage him,” Rui whispered to her. “We need him to trust you, and if that means