Ties That Bind: The Bellum Sisters 3 (paranormal erotic romance) by T. A. Grey Read Free Book Online

From the corner of her eyes, she could see the royalty and aristocrats watching the scene with curious gazes. She stopped before the king and dropped to both knees, her breathing unsteady with fear.
    “Your highness.” Her eyes stayed trained on the gold and copper tiled floor below his booted feet.
    “Look at me,” he said in a low voice.
    She had to tighten the muscles in her body to keep from visibly shaking as she looked up at him. His eyes never used to be so dark. Once they were a deep brown but now black as tar. His skin, once golden like sunshine, now was darker—almost the color of coal. She had no doubt that years from now everything about him would be black, like his heart. His hair used to be a lovely auburn, red with a hint of brown that shined like polished copper in the light, but even that had turned over the years to the color of his mother's hair—black.
    “Yes, your highness?”
    He looked at her for what felt like a year. “You still have not taken a man?”
    Of all the questions he could have asked her, in front of the entire audience, she never thought he'd ask that. “No, I have not.”
    “Are you waiting on someone...particular?”
    Where was he going with this?
    “Yes,” she answered.
    His eyes swept over her body. The look didn't linger, yet she felt the need to cover herself up with a heavy blanket. “Perhaps it's time for you to stop waiting and move on.” He paused to let that sink in. “He isn't coming back to claim you.”
    She couldn't stifle her gasp. He was wrong. He would come back. But she kept her lips sealed, the last thing she wanted was to incur his wrath.
    “I want you to dine with me tomorrow.”
    She looked back down at the stone floor so he wouldn't see the panic in her eyes. “Anything you wish, your highness.”
    She could hear the smirk in his voice. “Anything I wish....” He stood, every tall, terrifying inch of him. “Tomorrow then.” He stalked away, knee-high leather boots crunching on the stone floors.
    Arianna stood, keeping her eyes averted from the Queen as she went back to Celine who looked as though she could barely contain her eyes from popping out of her skull.
    “What was that all about?” she hissed in a low voice.
    Arianna glanced around to make sure no one watched them, then snatched Celine's hand and pulled her behind the royal red curtain and down an empty hallway away from the throne room.
    “He wants me to have dinner with him.” Her voice stayed controlled but her heart raced frantically in her chest. Sweat formed at her temples and a single drop slid down her face. She wiped at it with the back of her hand. Strange she was sweating because she felt decisively cold, almost freezing.
    “What could he want?”
    “I...I don't know.”
    Celine pulled her into a tight embrace. Suddenly, Arianna found herself fighting back tears.
    Don't be silly , she told herself. It's just dinner. Yeah, even she couldn't fool herself.
     
     

CHAPTER 7
     
    Medina's was a little shop squished between two other small buildings on a narrow brick street. On one side sat a coffee shop that always made Medina's smell like freshly brewed coffee and on the other side sat an antique shop that always had a ‘closed’ sign in the window. Lily told the driver to wait for her and went into Medina's.
    A bell that sounded like a wind chime rang as she entered. Bright chandeliers and wall sconces lit the shop. Old rugs, discolored from age, covered the floor and a variety of bookshelves and glass cabinets lined the room. Lily gingerly passed through the bookshelves and smelled a mixture of herbs and coffee. Soft instrumental music played from the back of the store. A soft voice hummed along to the tune and made Lily smile.
    She passed the cases of books and came into the main room where an island sat with plastic drawers filled with fresh dried herbs, plants, and little bottles of oils plugged with a small cork.
    “Rosa?” The humming stopped and then the