The Immortal Prince ✔️

19

Word Count: 1738

~Hale

I look at her over the crystal decanter I drink from, her back turned to me as she busies herself at the other end of the room with a notepad and a pen.

Glancing to my left, I see my friend admiring her with the same intent stare.

"I hate the way you look at her," I growl.

Vaela, and all her mortality, has no conception of what powerful men like myself and Larsen are capable of doing to her. We are natural predators, existing for wicked purposes only.

It took me a long time to accept that I don't have to lean into my true nature. That fighting it is far more rewarding.

Resisting being an Immortal Sin keeps me alive.

I see the restraint glimmering in Larsen. He wants to taunt her, play with her. Larsen is revered where he is from, but boredom plagues him as it does me.

But he will not entertain himself with Vaela. I won't allow it.

"She's easy to look at." He swirls the liquid around his cup, entranced.

Vaela is beautiful. Unnervingly so, in fact.

She looks our way, but only for a moment. Those sapphire eyes, framed by dark lashes, are so expressive, laying bare her thoughts for me to sift through.

Immortals, or in her case, mortals, shouldn't look like she does.

I've never been tempted by one before. Yet there's something about the way she holds my stares, the curve of her soft lips and the contours of her body that-

Shifting uncomfortable, I exhale in a long breath.

"I know," I mutter distractedly.

Larsen watches me with a smirk. "You want her."

I bite down on my lower lip, as Vaela angles her head, running her hands back through her ebony hair.

"I'm helping her," I respond bitterly.

I'm fascinated by her. Her company is beyond pleasant at this point. It's addicting. Where I once desired only solitude, I know find myself craving her presence.

"Have you fucked her?"

"Don't," I warn coolly.

I drag my reluctant gaze to my friend. He has that knowing smirk on his face. He sees my restraint, how I'm in constant conflict with it. As a Sin, I'm not accustomed to holding myself back. If I want someone, they want me too.

With Vaela, it's entirely different. I can't seduce her. It wouldn't be fair. She's not a sport, not a game.

"What? I'm curious." he shrugs, running a finger along his lower lip as he continues watching her.

"No. And I'm not planning on it." I can hear my own grating tone, unable to reign it in. Why I feel on the brink of stalking up to Vaela to make her mine right in the middle of the floor in this cave, is beyond me. I've never felt like this before.

Larsen turns to look at me. "Why not?"

"Because I have no intention of using her for my own pleasure." I drink the last of what's left in my glass, gritting my teeth.

It sure would make these long nights far more interesting, but my thoughts will remain a quiet fantasy. She deserves to find her mate, to be happy. I want that for her, and I'm going to do what I can to unite her with whoever he is.

Lucky bastard.

"Doesn't have to including using," Larsen muses.

Sometimes I get the feeling that Vaela wants me too. I can sense the way her body reacts for me, but other times, I wonder if I'm looking for what isn't there.