Free Broken by Erica Stevens

into the flesh of her bared shoulder and caused her stomach to flutter. She pulled away a little to meet his eyes. Her hands pressed flat against his chest as she tried to gather her scrambled thoughts. "Wait."
    "What's wrong?" He tenderly brushed back a stray wisp of her hair.
    "It's just…" her voice trailed off as she continued to search his face. She didn't know what it was. She'd been hoping for his return, to feel his lips against hers, to have him hold her once again but this was all moving too fast. This man made her feel as if she was the only woman on earth, he made her wretched existence immeasurably more tolerable, but she didn't know him. She'd been sad and lost these past twelve days without him but if she continued to allow this to happen between them, he would leave again, probably often, and one day for good. She'd be even more lost when that day came. "I'm not the kind of girl that you can just show up and kiss whenever you feel like it."
    It was a lie, she'd yet to turn away one of his kisses. He appeared to know it was too as amusement lit his eyes and his head tilted. "And what kind of girl are you, Genny?" he asked in his seductive voice. His time on English soil had caused his English accent to become more pronounced.
    Her chin jutted out. "Not that kind," she replied haughtily as she jerked the sleeve of her chemise up.
    The amusement faded from his features. He rested his hand on her cheek and rubbed his thumb across her skin. "I didn't think you were." Despite her plan to place some distance between them, and not just physically, she found herself believing his words as his eyes searched hers. "That's not what this is about."
    "What is it about then?" she inquired.
    He leaned so close that she could see the flecks of brown in his eyes. He was mesmerizing to her as she caught the minty scent of his breath. "I'm not sure but I enjoy being with you. Do you not feel the same way?"
    "I do," she finally admitted. "But you turn my life upside down."
    There was that smile again, so cocky and beautiful that she didn't know if it irritated her or melted her heart. This man was used to getting what he wanted but she never gave anything that she wasn't willing to give. That's what she told herself anyway, but all she could focus on were those lips just inches away from her, and all she could recall was just how exciting and addicting his kisses were.
    "I'm going to take that as a compliment."
    She couldn't help but laugh over that statement. "Where have you been?"
    His forehead briefly rested against hers. "I had to go to London for the first Council meeting."
    Genny's hands slid away from his chest as she sat back from him. "What is a Council?"
    He released the back of her head but took hold of her hand again. "The aristocrats have decided there will no longer be a king."
    Genny couldn't stop her mouth from dropping open. "But what will we do without a king?"
    "The aristocrats will be ruling and making the decisions together."
    "Will they be capable of working together in order to do that?" she inquired.

CHAPTER 7
    Atticus's gaze drifted to the water as he mulled over her question. The Council had gotten along with each other far better than they ever had when the next target was on the throne. There had been some argument over where the next meeting would take place and what would happen to the palace that had always gone to each new king upon his rise to power, but that had eventually been smoothed over too.
    They had unanimously voted that all future meetings would be held at the King's palace in the mountains of Transylvania and it would now become a community property. There was enough room for all of The Council to stay there for the meetings. Some of the aristocracy still lived in what many considered the homeland of the vampires, but others were far more content in the lands they had spread into and now called home. He was one of the vampires that far preferred the outer lands, but then he'd never