A Slave to Duty and Desire (The Third Installment in the A Slave to Love Series)

Chapter 1: Mr. and Mrs.

Kiana

"I cannot fucking wait to be a wife," Lexi declared, downing a rather impressively large flute of champagne.

"I can see that," I said, biting back a smile.

Her engagement party was in full swing, the ballroom here at her parent's place was bursting with the impressively long guest list. Even though she lived in Blade's old house that had a ballroom, it was not big enough to accommodate the sheer number of people she had wanted to invite, which apparently included everyone in the entire world. She'd spoken of nothing but her engagement to Alek and all the wedding plans since he had put the ring on her finger, and she'd been riding the high of that dream come true for the last five months.

"I will admit, I was a little against the idea at first, but I've come around," she said, appraising the room of partygoers and Alek, dressed in a dashing navy suit with the same silk white accents to match Lexi, talking to his brothers not too far away. It was obvious whenever they had caught each other's eyes as they both smiled a little wider. "But there's no rush to be blood mates, right? Being a wife is just as good."

"It is," I agreed, as if I had any idea. Personally, blood mates still seemed extreme to me as a concept, but Lexi and Alek had been going strong for three years now and weren't slowing down. Even living together hadn't put a dent in their love, if anything it grew them closer.

Her parents had convinced her to get married before taking the plunge into the permanency of blood mates, and while Lexi had been none to keen on it, they eventually wore her down. Alek soothing her mood with whispers that waiting wouldn't be so bad as long as they were together had certainly been the helped...

...along with the fact that she got to throw lavish parties and be the center of attention by throwing a wedding, plus receive endless gifts. The pros far outweighed the cons. Becoming blood mates was put on hold in favor of a flashier but more traditional ceremony to unite them.

"Don't forget, we're picking out your maid of honor dress next week," she said, flagging a waiter down for another champagne refill. I'd lost track of how many she'd had. "And I don't want to hear any complaining, no matter how many dresses you have to try on."

"I promise, I won't make a peep. It's your wedding, I'm here for you and whatever you like." A promise I already regretted.

"Good." She looped her arm through mine, none too subtly bringing me closer. Never a good sign where Lexi was concerned. "Now where's Ace? He promised he was coming and if he doesn't show up, he knows I'll rip him limb from limb, right? You told him?"

"I told him and he promised he would be here, just a little late. There was some issue with a trial or something, he didn't have a lot of time to explain."

It was worrisome, but not unusual. Ace's work was unpredictable at the best of times, and his luck wasn't good enough to avoid being late to Lexi's engagement party and her imminent wrath. I pitied him for the punishment she would rain down on him when he showed up.

"Mhm." At such close quarters, her accusing stare was even more intimidating, and I wasn't even the one late to her party. "No trouble in paradise, right?"

"No? Why would there be?"

"You do know who Ace is, right? His existence is ground zero for trouble."

"That doesn't mean there's trouble between me and him though." Sure, there had been some growing pains between Ace and Blade and I, figuring out this new dynamic, and then Ace and his work and me to figure out as well. We weren't hiding our relationship anymore, which was a recent development, but we weren't overly obvious about it either as it was a safety concern. Come September, it would be two years we were officially together, even if that wasn't public knowledge.