Evil Twin

His cock was built on the same massive scale. Afterward, when he’d knelt on the bed at her side, flaccid and stained with her virgin’s blood, she’d been stunned by the heavy hang of flesh. The length of it, the heft.

Yet that thickness was nothing to when he’d been aroused. Or when he was inside her. Brutal, at first, just as she’d asked. Then tender, waiting for her pain to pass. Waiting for her to adjust to that thickness, that length, that strength—before finally fucking her. And as the end had neared, he’d pounded into her like a battering ram, but in the very best way that a battering ram could be.

She could still feel him. In the lingering soreness that made itself known with every bounce on the cushioned bench. In the building ache between her legs as her gaze roamed over his thickly muscled thighs. And deep inside, where she’d been so full but now was so…empty.

While Bane hungered after lips that were just like her twin’s. While he stared at the identical tits about to pop out of her sister’s dress.

Jaw clenched, she turned her face to gaze blindly out the carriage window.

Let him look. She was never letting him touch her again.

And why did he have to be so good? If he’d been a selfish bastard, Bane could have remained in Gocea and fought his brother for Sapphira’s hand. Why hadn’t he stayed?

Though she might be staring at the answer. Mounted warriors rode on either side of the carriage—and she recalled the dozens more waiting in the courtyard to escort them. Those hoofbeats sounded all around them.

With a lift of her chin, she gestured to the guards mounted outside her window. “Is your brother making certain that you leave the kingdom?”

“No. They’re leaving with us.”

“They’re loyal to you?” Though she didn’t know why she was surprised. Of course General Bane’s warriors would remain loyal to him. He could inspire loyalty in anyone.

Even her.

At his nod, she asked, “What if Gocea needs protection?”

“Then my brother will have to beg us for Crolum’s assistance.”

His smug reply made her grin. His next question erased it.

“What is the rose chamber?”

“Why?” A lump filled her throat. “Do you hope to keep me under control?”

“I want to know why it frightened you.”

“It doesn’t.”

“It does. You argued against marrying me. After your sister mentioned the rose chamber, you didn’t argue anymore.”

“I’d be a fool to tell you what it is.”

“You’d be a fool not to. If I don’t know what frightens you, I don’t know what I need to protect you from.”

How could she argue against goodness? She hated him. Hated him.

“It’s a chamber spelled to make me more complacent,” she said tightly. “It makes me feel as if my brains are stuffed full of wool. So it’s hard to think or plan.”

But not hard to feel. Beneath those muffled thoughts was the terror of knowing what had been done to her. What had been taken from her.

He was silent for so long she glanced toward him. A muscle was repeatedly clenching in his jaw. As if he struggled against anger—and she’d seen his jaw clenching in the same way the night before, as he’d listened to her family describe her cursed nature.

Finally he grated out, “How much time did you spend in that chamber?”

Years. “Too much.”

Until she learned to escape. Even the stupidest of animals could learn to break free of a cage. And terror was a fine motivator.

“Why not kill them?”

No question who them was. She turned toward the window again and shrugged. “They do no harm to anyone in the kingdom. They also do no good. But they do no harm.”

“Except to you.”

“Of course. They’re bravely protecting Phaira from my evil nature.”

“That nonsense about omens?”

“A raven cried as the blood moon rose,” she intoned dramatically. “A wolf howled as I was born.”

“And they truly believed that made you evil? Was it based only on the omens or something you did afterward?”

“The omens. I am the firstborn twin, but I was never the heir. Not even as a babe.”

“A babe can do no harm.”

“My birthing cord was wrapped around Sapphira’s neck.”

“So you attempted to strangle her in the womb? Clearly, you are an exceptional prodigy of evil,” he said dryly.

“Too true! They ought to have been applauding my infant ingenuity. Instead, they believed my strangling scheme was proof that a darkness lived within me and my sole purpose was to kill the true heir.”

“Or perhaps you are a hero meant to rid your kingdom of the twin who should never rule it.”

Despite the pain of knowing he did not truly mean such a thing about her sister, Echo had to laugh.

His gaze searched her face. Looking for Sapphira? “Your sister believes it, as well?”

“As you saw.” Anger chased away Echo’s amusement. She hated that his preference for Sapphira hurt her. “Why? Do you think her nature too sweet and good to condemn me for such a foolish reason? Well, you are mistaken. Though Sapphira is nice, she is not kind—and she is an ignorant milk-blood in the bargain.”