Don't forget to comment, vote, and share! Remember, I'm trying to win a Watty here and every vote and share counts. Thanks, guys! I worked extra fast to get this one edited and out because that last cliffhanger was totally unfair.
He looked at me with an intensity I had never seen. Every ounce of bottled lust spilled through his fiery red eyes. I wanted to kiss him so badly but I couldn't. I couldn't deal with the aftermath. I didn't want to see him marry someone else, to see him be happy and have a family with another woman. I wasn't good enough for him but I loved him. Wasn't that enough?
"Anna," he said softly. "I don't know what to say."
I shook my head. "Don't."
"But I love you, Anna. I always have."
"You can't."
"I'll do whatever the hell I want."
He pulled me flush against him and pressed his lips to mine. I had never been kissed that way; it was life altering and all he had done was kiss me. I never could have imagined it feeling that way.
He tightly wove his hands through my hair, deepening the kiss. Everything in me wanted to keep going but I knew if we did I would only fall harder for him and I couldn't afford to be more involved. I wasn't going to risk his throne for this. He said he loved me but I wasn't convinced that it was love. He couldn't possibly love me, not when he had someone like Mariah waiting for him to propose. Besides, he was a king and I was nothing. Even before I had been kidnapped I wouldn't have been good enough for him.
"Stop it," he mumbled against my lips.
I pulled away slightly and rested my forehead on his chest.
"You and I won't go anywhere."
"Yes we will."
"Where? You say you love me but are you going to marry me eventually? Be realistic, Liam."
"I can't marry you. You know that."
"I know. Which is why I can't do this."
"I do love you, Anna. We can be together, I just can't marry you."
"So you just want me to be a servant that plays wife here? Do you have any idea how degrading that is?" I demanded. I was angry that he even thought that was a possibility. I stepped away from him to think. I couldn't think with him that close.
"You would be my wife in every other aspect. Isn't that what's important?"
"No! Are you insane?"
"Anna-"
"No. I'm not having this conversation with you. I'm not going to be a glorified whore, Liam. I can't believe you would even think that's something I would do."
"I can't just change a law that's been in effect for thousands of years."
"You're the king," I said flatly.
"It's my duty to uphold our traditions."
"Then go propose to Mariah."
His jaw was tight and I could tell he was at a loss. I knew he wanted to be with me but he was right. It was his duty as King to lead by example.
"You know she means nothing to me."
"Let me go, Liam," I begged. "I know you're going to marry her whether you want to or not. I can't watch that."
"Let you go where, Anna? You don't have anywhere to go."
"I can go home."
"This is your home."
"We both know it's not."
"You know damn well this is your home. You belong here, with me."
"No. I belong with someone that's willing to be with me publicly. Don't you think I deserve that much?"
"Of course I do. I'm not asking you to be anything less. The only thing we can't have is a certificate."
"Let me just make sure I understand this. You want me to be with a married man?"
"I suppose technically I'll be married. She doesn't have to live here if you don't want her to."
"I haven't abandoned my morals and dignity just because I'm a vampire. I would never be with a married man."
"I would only be married to her legally. I'm yours in every other way."
"No, Liam, you're not. I don't think you even realize what you're asking of me."
"Then tell me what you think I'm asking."
"You said you love me, right?"
"Of course I do."
"So flip our roles. If you were in my shoes and I was going to marry someone else, how would you feel about that?"
"If I got to be with you, I would be fine with it."
"So you would be okay watching me marry another man, to have the world assume you're only being used for sex, and watch me have a family with him?"
"I won't have a family with her."
"Then how are you going to have an heir?"
"With you."
"It won't be legitimate. If you choose to marry her, I know exactly what will happen. We'll lead that god forsaken life for awhile until your council demands an heir then we will be right back here, having this same conversation only it'll be worse."
"I'm not choosing to marry her, Anna."
"Yes, you are. You're making a choice."
"I'm being forced into this."
"Do you think I'm some stupid, naive girl? You're a king. You can change the law if you want to. You're choosing to uphold a tradition."
"I do think you're naive in this. It's not about what I want. This is bigger than us. My kingdom is not something I take lightly."
I felt a lump in my throat and a treacherous tear slip down my cheek. I knew he made his decision and I knew I wouldn't be part of it. I couldn't do that. I wouldn't.
"You're afraid. I get that."
"I'm not afraid," he said tightly.
"It's okay. All that I ask is that you don't force me to stay here."
"I need you, Anna."
"You can't expect me to watch the only man I've ever wanted to be with marry someone else. If you care about me at all, you'll let me leave."
"And go where?"
"I don't know. I don't care. Anywhere away from you."
"That's what you want?"
"No. That's what I need."
"Fine." His voice was so quiet I almost didn't hear him. "Go."
I quickly wiped my cheeks and turned towards the door. It hurt so much to leave him but I couldn't be what he wanted. I wouldn't do that because I knew how it would end. It was painful to leave him now. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to actually be with him, to know what that felt like, then have him drop another bomb on me.
"Anna," he called softly.
I turned back to him but I knew there was no point in hiding my tear-streaked face.
"I have to know...do you love me?"
I looked at the ground for a moment before I met his eyes.
"Do you remember when you turned me?"
He nodded.
"I remember, right before I died, you grabbed my hand and I knew right then that I would fall in love with you, no matter how hard I tried to fight it. There hasn't been a time in our history together that I didn't love you, Liam. I don't even think it's possible for me to stop."
He reached out and pulled me closer. His fingers brushed my cheeks, wiping my tears away. He leaned down and lightly pressed his lips to mine. I wanted to stop him but I wanted him more. He was my entire world and I wanted to be with him once, just to have that memory with him.
His hands slipped around my waist as I gripped his shirt. I wasn't sure how to show him I wanted more but I did want more. I needed this time with him because it would never happen again. He would go on to marry Mariah and I would go back to the normal world only I would be different. I wasn't sure how easy it would be to be amongst humans but it was a risk I was willing to take.
He pushed me against the post of his bed, his hands more tightly gripped on my dress. I slowly worked my way to the buttons on his shirt and undid each one. He let me pull it away from his chest and he tossed it on the ground. Touching his bare chest and stomach was only something I had dreamed of and my imagination hadn't done him any justice. His muscular frame was encased by smooth, firm skin. I hadn't thought about his skin being soft but it was. He was truly magnificent and everything I had wanted. When I was human, I knew Liam was the type of man I wanted but I never found. Only then did it occur to me that I never found someone when I was human because there was no one like Liam in the world. He was unbearably unique, in that, he could make me fall completely in love with him and completely hate him at the same time. There was no gray area. I loved him so much that it was painful but I hated him with the same intensity because he wouldn't stand up for me.
A knock on the door shocked me back to reality. I jumped slightly and realized what I was doing. I was going to give my virginity to a man that had no intention of being with me. If he couldn't stand up for me then he didn't respect me the way I deserved.
"Your Majesty, there's an urgent call for you downstairs," a servant called.
He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled roughly. "Fine."
I stepped away from him and crossed my arms. I felt empty without him. It killed me to know I would never be with him. I would never know what kind of life we would have had because he wanted to hold on to old traditions. He wasn't only hurting me; he was hurting himself, too.
"I'll take you to the airport after this."
I nodded a little. "Can I at least say goodbye to Bridget?"
"If you want to deal with that mess," he trailed.
He was right. She was going to be furious and inconsolable but I owed her an explanation. I couldn't just leave her. I had grown as attached to her as she was to me.
"I think it's only right that I do."
He nodded absently. "There's nothing I can do to change your mind?"
"There's plenty you can do. You're just not willing to do it."
With that, I left his room and quickly made my way downstairs to Bridget.
I could hear her playing inside her room and I hated myself for doing this. I didn't want to leave her. I loved her like she was my own sister. Leaving her was almost as hard as leaving Liam. He might have thought he was crushed with me leaving but he was only losing one person while I was losing everyone I had come to know. I was losing Lisette and Richard and Donny on top of losing Bridget, and, most importantly, Liam. For the second time, in under a year, my entire life was being flipped and ripped from me with very little to stop it.
I pushed open her door and watched as her smile lit up upon my arrival.
"Anna! Wanna play with me?"
I half smiled and tried to hold back from crying. I knew it was a lost cause but I wanted to hold off as long as possible.
"I can't. I came to talk to you."
"'Bout what?"
"I'm going home, Bridget."
"But this is your home."
"No. I'm going back to my parents."
"But why?"
If that wasn't a loaded question, I didn't know what was.
"Liam said I could."
"Oh," she said with a smile. "When are you coming back?"
Oh, God. She thought I was only going for a visit.
"I'm not. I can't come back."
Her smile fell as she finally understood what I was saying.
"But...I don't want you to go."
"I know. I don't want to leave either but it's the right thing to do."
"But Liam's gonna be sad."
"He'll be okay. He's going to have Mariah."
"No!" she yelled at me. I was caught off guard by her outburst but I should have expected it. "He loves you! He's gonna marry you!"
"He can't marry me. You know that, Bridget."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm not royalty. He needs to lead this kingdom by example and what kind of example would he be setting if he married me?"
Liam knocked lightly on the door and poked his head in. "Ready?"
"I hate you, Liam!" Bridget yelled and threw herself on my lap.
I knew he was expecting it but it couldn't have felt great to hear it.
"Don't be so hard on him," I said as I stroked her hair. "He's doing what's best for everyone."
"But I want you to stay," she cried.
The lump in my throat was back and made it difficult to talk. It was so thick, it nearly hurt.
"I want to stay, too, but I can't."
"But he loves you!"
"Sometimes, that isn't enough. He has to do what's right."
"I wanna come with you," she begged.
"You can't. You need to stay here and make sure Liam is okay."
"You said he'll be fine because he'll have Mariah."
I sighed. "He needs you too."
She shook her head. "I wanna go with you. I don't wanna be here."
"If I promise you can visit Anna, will that make it better?" he asked.
My eyes shot to him. If he was going to make that promise to her, he better keep it. I didn't want him lying to her just to stop the fit.
"I can?"
"Yes. Not all the time, though."
"But I wanna see her every day! She's the only one that loves me."
"I love you, Bridget," he said.
"Not like Anna."
"I'm your brother."
"Why can't you just marry Anna and be happy?" she demanded.
"I have to marry a royal."
"But you created her. That makes her royal."
"I wish it did but it doesn't work that way. As much as I love Anna too, I can't be with her."
"But you're King."
"I know and with that comes responsibility to our people. I am responsible for leading them the best way I know how."
"Don't go, Anna," she cried.
It broke my heart to hear her beg me like that. I wasn't sure how much more I could take before I caved and stayed with her, even though it would kill me to stick around.
"I have to. You heard Liam. You can still come visit me and I can show you Zeus and my house and where I grew up."
"I can meet Zeus?"
I nodded. "Yep. I'm sure he'll like you."
She glanced skeptically from me to Liam but I could feel his eyes on me as well. I wouldn't dare make eye contact with him for fear my carefully composed mask would slip.
"We need to go," he said gently.
"Give me a hug," I said. Bridget wrapped her small arms around me and held on tightly. I knew I would miss her more than anyone.
Liam and I left her crying softly in her room and continued downstairs. I wiped away the silent tears, praying that he didn't see.
We got in the car, a rare time that he actually drove. It was odd to be alone with him, to not have someone waiting on him or a servant hanging around.
Silence engulfed the car, suffocating me with its weight. I stared out the window and watched the german countryside fly by. I felt his tension as if it was my own and to be honest, most of it probably was mine.
The drive to the airport felt much shorter than I remembered. My chest ached at the realization that this would be the last time I ever saw Liam. I glanced over at him but he was stone-faced, stoic as ever.
He slowly pulled to a stop near the same plane I came here in. I didn't know what to say or if I should say anything. I glanced over at him one last time and opened the car door.
Standing outside in the crisp night air cleared my mind a little. I wanted him to choose me but I knew his loyalties were with his kingdom as they should be.
I started towards the plane, my arms tightly crossed. I was happy to see my family again. I tried to see the silver lining with this.
"Stop," Liam called out. He jumped out of the car and jogged over to me.
He pulled me close and caught me completely off guard. He pressed his lips to mine, exploding every feel-good sensation.
As much as I hated to, I pulled away from him. "Please, Liam, don't."
"I can't let you go. Stay with me, Anna."
"I can't."
"I won't marry her. I won't marry anyone else aside from you."
"You can't marry me."
"I can't be without you. I'll do whatever I have to. Just stay with me."
"What happens if your council refuses?"
"I'll denounce my throne."
"Liam I..."
"Please, Anna. I love you to the point that it's making me insane. I need you, Bridget needs you."
"I can't offer you anything."
"You're all I need. I know you love me, Anna. I know you want to stay."
"I want to be with you but I don't think you respect me."
"I respect you."
"Not really. You asked me to be a home wrecker, to give up my morals and commit adultery. I need you to respect me, Liam, and respect my decisions."
"I didn't think about it that way. I thought I was just asking you to be with me."
"You weren't. You were asking me to give up who I am."
"It was stupid and I was desperate. I'm still desperate."
"I know."
"I won't make you stay. If you do, it needs to be because you want to."
"I don't want to leave you."
"I'll always take care of you, Anna. I'll send you back to your family if that's what will make you happy."
I bit my lip and thought about it. I could finally go back to my normal life. I seemed to have overlooked the fact that I had been kidnapped and sold. I had been living in servitude for a year. Either this was the most extreme case of Stockholm syndrome or I really did want to stay with him.
"You make me happy."
He half smiled at me and kissed my forehead. "You make me happy, too. I'll find a way to make this work."
"You know what?"
"What?"
"I was actually a little happy to go see my family."
He stepped back for a moment and looked at me.
"You can go see them. I'm not forcing you to stay here."
I shrugged. "Maybe sometime soon. Maybe I should call them first."
"Probably be a good idea. Wouldn't want to show up on their doorstep with red eyes."
I laughed a little. "No, probably not. I still miss Zeus though."
"Do you want him here?"
I nodded. "He was my best friend."
"Alright. Give me a few days to make it happen."
"Really? You'll do that for me?"
"I would do anything for you, Anna."
I nodded. "Can we go back? It's kind of cold out here."
"Come on."
He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me back to the car. I barely glanced up at him but he didn't seem to notice. He looked stressed already and I wondered if I had done the right thing by staying.