Free Scion's Freedom (Siren Publishing Classic) by J. Annas Walker

days ago. Kidnapping is suspected. If you have seen this woman, please call your local police department or the national hotline number.” The toll-free number appeared at the bottom the screen. The reporter continued to talk, but it no longer registered with him.
    David’s jaw dropped. A princess. No. The princess. Images of him impaled on a long spike in his front yard came to mind. His chest tightened. The air was too thick to breathe. His feet were glued to the floor. The vampire princess in question was in his bathtub. She had been wrapped around his cock last night and in his arms until sunset. Oh, damn. Oh, damn! What had he done?
     
    * * * *
     
    Overnight bag in hand, Cassy headed to the basement. David stood in front of the screen, blocking her view. He wore only his jeans. His broad shoulders and tapered waist distracted Cassy from whatever the reporter was saying. Hearing her name in the newscast snapped her out of her daydream.
    “What was…” she started to ask. There was no need to ask him to repeat the newscast report. David lifted the remote and turned up the volume. He did not look at her. His eyes were glued to the flickering screen. There was no expression on his face she could read.
    The generic female reporter droned on, reading from the teleprompter. “Again, anyone having seen this woman is advised to call their local police department or the toll-free national number 1-800-555-FIND.” A black-and-white photograph of Cassy taken in the late 1880s flashed back up on the screen. She looked the same, with the exception of the bustle-skirted dress. It had been taken as a token for the man her father had arranged to give her in marriage. “Princess Cassandra Yvette Dracul is the daughter and Scion of High Prince Vlad Tepelus, also known as Vlad Dracul IV, and granddaughter of the infamous Vlad the Impaler. Her brother is Crown Prince Maximilian Dracul. The Scion went missing when her protector, Erica Jordan Bergeson, was assassinated and her apartment broken into just days ago.”
    David raised the remote again. The screen went black. The silence held them in a tight fist. Cassy remained rooted in place. David turned. There was anxiety and apprehension on his face. She could hear his heart rate accelerating. He smelled of fear. Nearing a state of panic, David sat down on the floor where he stood, his elbows on his knees and hands over his mouth. She knelt down in front of him but did not try to touch him. It was time to confess.
    “I have been on the run from my family for over 150 years, since that photo was taken in 1883. Daniels was my mother’s surname. Erica’s mother was my mother’s lady’s maid. When she and I were born only a few months apart, it was decided we would be raised together and for her to become my lady’s maid and bodyguard. We were born in Atlanta in 1831. My mother was bred to be my father’s second wife and to produce full-blooded born vampires to be his heirs, as his first wife was human. Max is younger than me, but he was given the title Crown Prince for no other reason than he was born male. Father was going to sell me in marriage to seal a treaty with two other families. I refused to be chattel to anyone, especially a younger son of a lesser noble house. I wanted to live my own life, have my own home, be my own person, and not be someone’s property. Erica and I took all my jewelry and escaped in the middle of the night. I even stole my father’s favorite horse,” Cassy explained.
    David stared at her. His hands dropped but still circled his knees. “Why couldn’t you tell me this before now? I could be killed for simply touching you, much less fucking you.” Tension rode his jaw. The muscle clenched, and the vein in his temple throbbed.
    “I could hardly live a normal life if I went around telling everyone, now could I?” She offered her hand out palms up, as if there was something there for him to take. She shrugged her shoulders. “What else could I do