Rumpel's Prize (Kingdom, #8) by Marie Hall
Rumpel's Prize
Imp, deceiver, villainous mastermind…Rumpelstiltskin’s been called all these names and more, and for the most part, they’re entirely true. But there is more to the brooding, blond haired Adonis than brokering deals for the devil. He’s hiding a terrible, hideous secret. One that threatens to fray the already delicate strands of his sanity and reason. A secret that he’s desperate to make right, to see whole again, and there is no one and nothing that will stand in his way of getting what he wants—no one except a slip of woman with hair like fire and skin like finest porcelain. Something about Shayera Caron calls to the beast inside him and makes him question his motives for the first time in his life.
Shayera Caron is the daughter of the infamous Gerard Caron, former lothario of Kingdom but now a reformed rake and settled husband and father. She can go nowhere in her tiny hamlet without seeing the sneers of women and hearing the murmurings of their disdain for the blood that runs through her veins. Shayera is desperate to get away from the gossiping hens, so when Rumpelstiltskin rides into town, she doesn’t think twice before going wherever he leads. Only thing is Shayera is not as innocent as she might seem, for she hides a secret too. One that will bring the most feared man in all of Kingdom to his knees…
Dedication
To my devoted Kingdom fans, for refusing to let me end this series, I can’t imagine a world in which I did not write Rumpel’s story. Having learned who he really is, this book had to be written. You guys are the best, thanks for believing in me and loving this world and my characters as much as I do… And to all of you discovering Kingdom for the first time, all my books (with the exception of The Huntsman’s Prey) can be stand alone reads. So don’t be scared, even though this is book 8, I promise you won’t be lost.
Prologue
“You failed.” Rumpelstiltskin looked at the girl dressed in red, standing before him with her chin thrust forward a notch and her spine rigid. Her hair was long and brown and gleaming. Her face was elfin, with striking cheekbones. She was pretty in a banal kind of way.
Angelica glared at him with eyes as cold as steel. Her ruby-red lips thinned. “You lie!” Her body quivered with fury.
The volcanic mountainside rumbled as the slide of heated magma ran slowly down the black rock between them. The sky was an angry shade of gray and against that dreary backdrop, he could almost believe her to be a warrior goddess, especially the way she stood barefoot on the jagged shards of rock, feet torn and bloody, with the sulfur-tinted breeze whipping through her tresses. Her face was covered in angry red scratches and her once-luxurious gown was now little more than shreds of ribbon clinging to her.
The woman knew what she was about. He smirked.
Snapping his fingers, Rumpel made her oath manifest itself as a scroll of parchment that gave him the right and authority to do whatever he wished with her. She’d sealed her acceptance of his every condition in a bloody signature. Her blood, to be more precise.
The crackle of fire curled around the edges of the brown sheaf. “See this?” He pointed and smirked when her eyes widened. He could practically taste the slick slide of fear oozing from her pores. “This here is an oath, a binding one, my dear. One that gives me absolute power over you.”
“I hate you.” She glowered.
“Oh come, Angelica, honestly. I gave you what you craved. Beauty, power. You struck the deal.” Crossing his arms, he rested his weight against his chrome-and-steel steed.
Her lips trembled as her fingers clenched tight to her sides. “You know the future, how can you say I lost?” she spat out. “I passed each one of your tests easily. I found the treasures each time. You simply refuse to acknowledge it.”
Gods, give a woman a little beauty and they became such a pain in the arse. He rolled his eyes. “You know, I much preferred you when you were just a simple country mouse. And what do I honestly stand to profit by claiming you’ve lost? Accept facts, chameleon. You may now be a beauty, but your brain is as it always was. Empty and dull.”
She gasped, daring to take a step toward him.
He chuckled. “You bore me. Our contract is terminated.”
“No! Wait!” She held out her hand, the heat of her fire completely banked in her desperation that he might take it all away. “I can do anything. I will… I would…” Nibbling her lip, she stared at the ground, then back at him. “I will sleep with you. Yes!”