Her Broken Prince Excerpt

Chapter 1

I moan, wrapping my arms fast around Auden’s neck, sloshing what’s left of my whiskey over his shoulder as he kisses me in the empty guard shack where we’re all alone on Midwinter night. But he doesn’t notice the whiskey soaking his shirt – or if he does, he clearly doesn’t give a damn –

Instead, he wraps one arm tight around me, his other hand pressing tight to my lower back, pulling me closer against him –

I give into it with abandon, my wolf howling her head off with want, kissing this man – this stranger – for all that I’m worth –

At some point our cups drop to the floor but neither of us notice – I honestly don’t think I can hear anything with the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears. Auden’s mouth on mine has me all frantic – my breath coming in short gasps, my lips opening for him, everything moving so fast – his tongue pressing hot against mine, my hand lost in his hair, twisting the dark strands of it around my fingers – and all the while I cede myself to him, heat burning and building in my core, all of it feeling…right. Inevitable.

Quite suddenly he bends and my back curves to accommodate him. The hand that was pressed to my lower back slips lower, grasping my leg just where it meets my ass and pulling me up – up so that I’m pressed against his chest, his neck bent now as I dip my tongue into his mouth – tasting him – wanting to lick every damn delicious inch of him –

The Prince moans, the hand that was once around my shoulders dropping low and wrapping around my ankle, steadily moving upwards, the press of his palm against my calf driving me insane. I press my hips tighter against him and Auden stumbles back, murmuring my name –

My eyes fly open at that.

He stills.

Because…because that’s not my name.

Evie. He said Evie.

I mean – it sort of is – a family nickname – but he doesn’t know me –

And I! I don’t fucking know him! I met this man less than an hour ago and here I am alone with him, in the middle of nowhere, with his hand up my skirt!

I pant, staring down at him, suddenly confused and terrified – because seriously!? Who the hell am I right now!?

Am I Everleigh, Selene of the d’Silva pack, engaged to Alpha Wood!? Because this is so not anything she would ever do!

Or, right now am I…Evie?

God, fuck, please tell me that I’m Evie.

“Evie,” he whispers, staring up at my face, his eyes flashing over my features. “Are you all right?”

“Um,” I say, all tight and squeaky. “I don’t know?”

His arm tenses, worried, and he bends his knees, starting to put me down – wanting to make me comfortable –

But I inhale sharply, my wolf snarling at the idea of leaving his arms. Maybe ever.

“Do you…” he murmurs as he freezes in a crouch, narrowing his eyes at me, confused, “want me to put you down?”

Slowly I shake my head. Because even if I know that all of this is inappropriate and would certainly cause a huge rift between two of the most powerful packs in the nation if anyone found out about this…

Not a single ounce of me wants him to put me down.

Slowly, Auden smiles as he straightens, his thumb pressing again against my calf muscle. “Then I’ll just stand here all night? And we can…chat?”

I blink slowly, staring at his gorgeous face, my fingers brushing soft through his hair, unable to stop. “Or maybe,” I whisper, flicking my eyes towards the couch. “We could sit down?”

Auden’s smile grows incrementally as he carefully turns and carries me away, managing me in his arms like I weigh nothing.

Must be nice, to be gigantic and powerful like that.

Slowly he lowers himself onto the couch cushion, taking me with him so that I am very conveniently – and very scandalously – straddling his lap as he leans back against the arm of the couch, one of his legs spread out over the length of the cushions, the other bent at the knee so that he keeps one foot flat on the floor.

I move my eyes over Auden, taking in the fairly fantastic sight of him all stretched out and casual with his shoulders pressed to the edge of the couch, his hands light on my hips. God damn it, but he looks good beneath me.

I relax and let myself settle close against him, my breath hitching when I feel the hard length of him press against my ass, the crease of my thigh. He swallows hard as he watches me, but we both pretend not to notice his arousal.

My heart is…fucking pounding. I laugh a little – anxious but not afraid. Just…kind of in disbelief that we’re here. That this is…happening.

“What?” he murmurs, studying me. He clears his throat, I think trying desperately to be casual.

“It’s just…is this a little crazy?” I whisper.

He laughs, shrugging. “It doesn’t feel crazy to me,” he murmurs, lifting a hand and petting it over my hair, soft and slow.

I sit up a little straighter, narrowing my eyes at him.

He laughs again, harder this time. “What?”

“Wait,” I whisper, turning my head slightly to look at him askance. “Is it not crazy to you because you do this all the time?”

He grins at me.

I gasp. “You do!” I hiss, leaning forward to smack him on the chest. I start to scooch back, pretending that I want to get away – but his arm snaps around my waist, adamant, keeping me right where I am.

“This is your move, isn’t it!?” I whisper, laughing as I lean closer, wrapping his shirt in my hands like I’ll strangle him with it. “This is like – your place! You bring girls a glass of wine and then you take them for a run in the woods and conveniently end up at your little sex shack!”

I screech, sitting up straight and slapping my hands over my face in embarrassment as he bursts out laughing, holding me closer. “Evie!”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe that I fell for it!” I say, laughing so hard my whole body shakes, my face turning red beneath my hands. “All it took was a glass of wine and a smile!”

“Oh, come on –“

“Wait!” I gasp and drop my hands from my face, staring shocked into his. “Did you tell those people to come out onto the terrace and interrupt us so we’d have a reason to escape down those stairs!?”

“Evie!” he snarls – but I smile because there’s nothing vicious in the word. Just him trying to get a word in edgewise while I have a complete meltdown. “None of that is true!”

I narrow my eyes at him, still smiling ridiculously, wanting more proof.

“I don’t do this, all right?” he murmurs, a tiny little blush coloring his cheeks now too. “None of this was premeditated. I’ve never, ever brought another woman here – god, you give me too much credit, I don’t have moves.”

My smile fades to a smirk. “Oh whatever, Prince Auden. You have moves. You can’t not have moves.”

“Oh yeah?” he asks, rolling his eyes. “You seriously think it was a well-planned move to take you to a guard shack, pour you a mug of warm whiskey, and then knock it out of your hands while I pawed at you –“

My laughter interrupts him as I shake my head, honestly wondering how someone can be so large, and powerful, and terrifying, and…cute. All at once.

“So what?” I ask, leaning a little closer, my wolf nudging me and urging me to believe him – that all of this is genuinely…real. Auden takes a deep breath as I lift my chin, our mouths just inches apart now. “You want me to believe that you have no lovers, Prince Auden?”

His gaze drifts to my mouth. “I don’t. Not now, anyway.”

“Impossible.”

“Why?” he murmurs, looking into my eyes again. His crinkle playfully at the sides.

“Because,” I whisper, unable to help it as I lean very close. “You’re very good-looking. Women tend to like that.”

His mouth flickers into a smile even as he tries to say serious. “Is that so? And do you like that?”

I don’t answer, instead closing that last inch between us and pressing my mouth to his in another kiss. Auden sighs, his whole body tense, a hand slipping behind my neck as he kisses me again – this one soft and slow whereas the other was desperate, hurried. I lean into him, languid, my body sliding to lay itself out against his, my undergarments slipping soft against the coarse wool of his pants.

God…god damn it, can this man kiss.

He breaks it too soon. I exhale a breathy sigh that makes him smile.

“What about you, Evie,” he murmurs, his eyelids low as he looks over my face, his fingers stroking the skin at the back of my neck in a way that I very much like. “What about all of your lovers?”

I shake my head at him, my mind all fuzzy. Honestly, I’m surprised I can string together a thought at all anymore. Or maybe it’s not – because I am certainly getting myself deeper and deeper into trouble right now.

“Rule number one, highness,” I whisper. “No personal information about me.”

He growls, displeased. But that just makes me smile.

And I don’t respond to his question – even though my answer is the same. I don’t have a lover. And it’s not that I haven’t had them before – a fisherman’s son from the village I fell desperately in love with as a teenager, and then another boy more appropriate to my station after him. But he didn’t last long.

Here at court, I’ve had two lovers – but they were discreet, clandestine things with foreign dignitaries – both short-lived, never spoken of again. After all, the Alphas of our world hold their daughters’ chastity quite preciously, even if we all know that it’s a lie.

And Alpha Wood – he’s a political match, nothing more.

So, my heart is completely free.

Or at least it was. And now?

“Take this off,” Auden murmurs, lifting a hand to my face. I frown for a second and then realize that I’m still wearing my magical mask. I burst into a grin. “I want to see your…”

But Auden frowns when his hand passes through the mask, simply tracing over my skin. After all, there’s nothing there to touch. It’s just an illusion.

“What the hell?” he whispers, trying again.

“No use, Prince,” I say with a sigh, entertained at his bafflement. “I’m a very powerful sorceress. The mask stays on until I will it to go.”

“Damn,” he murmurs, dropping his hand, frowning. “Come on. Take it off.”

“No!” I grin, sitting up a little.

“Do it!”

I shake my head, letting the fiery red curls shake around my face. “The secrecy of my identity is paramount!”

He growls, sitting up too and closing the distance between us, wrapping his arms tight around me and trapping me against him. Or, is it a trap? If you have no desire, at all, to escape?

My hips twitch slightly, an unintentional response to the feel of him beneath me, all thick and hard, and…god, is he seriously that big? My stomach tenses and I become very aware that I…want him. Very badly. Perhaps more than I’ve ever wanted anyone.

God, but I’m a fool.

“What do I have to do?” Auden murmurs, his royal training in negotiation coming forward. “To convince you to remove the mask? To see your face?”

“Nothing,” I whisper, my heart tensing at the truth of it. “You can never know. And no one can ever know that I came with you here.” I comb my fingers through his hair, my stomach sinking with grief at the truth of all of that.

“Why?”

“Because,” I say, swallowing hard. “Auden, I’m getting married.”

Auden goes tense all over for a moment and then his face falls, lined with devastation.