Dr. Luna
The Vampires Promised Bride Chapter 37

Ryan went and plopped down on a chair and unbuttoned the top of his shirt. "Maaaan I can't wait to be me again." He chuckled and relaxed into the cushions. Lucy had NEVER seen him act like this before. She wondered what the real Ryan was actually like.

"Oh gosh Ryan it isn't that hard. Your hardest part was hiding who you were from Lucy." Jasper rolled his eyes and motioned for Lucy and Aiden to take a seat of their own.

"Yeah, sorry about all that Lucy. I'm so devastatingly handsome that if I treated you like the princess you deserve to be treated like you would have madly fallen in love with me. I hope we can start fresh from here on out."

Lucy raised her eyes at him and plopped onto the sofa between Jasper and Aiden. "I see. A poor fragile girl like me just would have buckled under the pressure of your charm. I'm so lucky to have such considerate and capable men around me. I'd be absolutely lost." Ryan chuckled. "Oh I like the real Lucy much much better. The Lucy not trying to keep up pretenses."

"Anyways Ryan." Jasper said changing the topic. "What is going on? Do you have a death wish? Derek hears you slept with Lucy in the same room you know what will happen."

"His hyper jealous mode will kick in and he will bury me in pieces on every corner of our territory? Yeah, I know. The thing is... there has been gossiping and talk lately. Rumors are getting out that the relationship between the prince and princess is strained. People are getting anxious that it isn't a solid treaty. If the prince and princess can't get along...

"Then how can the two species get along." Aiden said, nodding his head.

Lucy looked over at Aiden in shock. For once he was keeping up with the conversation. Which meant what she always suspected... he never paid attention.

"Anyways... Lucy and I need to act close. We should act like a couple excited to be together. Now that there won't be any misunderstandings we should be able to pull this off without Lucy falling in love with me." Ryan chuckled as Lucy rolled her eyes. "You think a lot about yourself don't you?" Lucy said with a crooked smile.

"I can't help it. I mean... look at me. Look at this body?! And I've had to live like a monk practically to protect the prince's reputation. After this is all over I am going to go crazy. I'll let the women feast upon my body until they can satisfy their hunger... if that is even possible."

Lucy looked over at Jasper. "Is he serious?"

"This is going to be a crowded room. There isn't much room for anyone else with his ego." Jasper said, rubbing his forehead.

"Hey! It's not ego. This..." Ryan motioned over his body with his hand. "This is a gift. And I should share this gift. It will be like a chance for women to get a taste of a bit of heaven. And if they can experience that through me then who am I to deny them of that." It was very obvious to Lucy just how much he was holding his real personality back. He was always so quiet and reserved with her. And it was a bit weird at first seeing him as the guy she had known as Derek. The man she was originally picturing as her fiancé. And now... he was not that guy at all. In more ways than one. And... she liked him. He reminded her of a mixture of the guys she was always around... with maybe some extra ego.

"Wow, I can see Justice and Ryan actually getting along quite well." Aiden said, almost seeming to read Lucy's mind.

Lucy giggled. "Yeah, I think so too."

"Justice?" Ryan asked, quirking his brow.

"That's her cousin. He will be joining her here as her new guardian." Jasper watched as Ryan's brows furrowed.

"There is no need for anyone else to be here for her. That is the point of the elite soldiers."

"Derek already knows and is for it. Lucy is a special case... in either case, he will be joining us." Jasper answered pointedly.

"Whatever, that could only lead to more me time and goddess knows I need it." Ryan sat up and leaned his elbows on his knees while he looked at Lucy. "Are you up for what we have to do? I mean I don't think it should be too hard to act interested in me... but..."

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I guess we didn't do a good enough job before or the rumors wouldn't have started circulating... But that is still on all you guys being morons. Not well thought out at all. Had I known we could have put on a better show." Lucy clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Well just don't go falling in love with me because I am going to treat you like you are mine. Once Derek is back for good I'm off the clock."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I'll try to contain myself."

Ryan's eyes turned serious as he pushed aside his fun demeanor. "Lucy, it is very important that we do a good job here. All joking aside... can you look at me as you would your mate?"

Her eyes widened slightly. She could see the determination behind his amber eyes. His dedication to his role was evident. And she rationalized for him to be hiding his true self this whole time he must really take his job seriously. Next to Jasper, she supposed he was Derek's most trusted man.

"I can do it. But don't expect me to act like a love-sick blinking love-struck mate. That isn't me. But I will do my part." Lucy met with his eyes showing her own strength and conviction.

"Just don't go overboard," Jasper said, looking at Ryan. "Just remember Derek will hear about all of this."

Ryan grinned. "Lucy already spared my life by thinking fast and having you two room up with us. Well, that has tonight covered. We will have to think about how to proceed with nights in the future." "Mira," Jasper said simply.

"Yes, of course." Ryan said, snapping his fingers together.

"Um.. who is Mira?" Lucy asked, glancing at Aiden.

"Mira is the royal family's banshee. She is bound to their family and is unbreakably loyal. She can't ever betray them. It is hard to explain... but she is bound to the royal bloodline for all eternity. It is the price she had to pay for the sins she committed against them a long long time ago. Now she is harmless. Well to them. Banshees are hardly harmless. She is a fierce and dangerous guard dog. But she will be our ticket. Having her in the room at night will spare my neck. She would never lie to the royal family... she can't. And as Derek's fiancé, she will be bound to protect you as well. It is actually quite perfect. Good thinking Jasper." Ryan sighed with relief.

"I have never seen this Mira..." Lucy said as she tried to ponder about it.

"She keeps out of sight so no one knows where she is. She can move through walls except for the royal walls. She must be invited inside those rooms. But because of her abilities, no one knows where she is or what she could overhear. She has warned the royal family time and time again of things taking place that she felt they should be aware of." Ryan grinned. "And when she doesn't think they need to know... she deals with it herself." He made a motion of a knife going across the throat.

"For now let her be. We can ask her later how people are responding to you and Lucy." Jasper stood up from the couch and reached his hand out to Lucy pulling her up next to him. Ryan and Aiden both followed suit. "You will of course recognize the king and queen... just Uncle Alaric and Aunt Willa to me. My parents, Jester and Irene will be there as well. But there are always noble families who are rotated for the dinners. It is a way to keep connected. These will be the people you will be needing to fool first." "Yeah, and one of the nobles this week is Lady Camille... sooo..." Ryan said with disgust.

Lucy arched her brow up for someone to further explain.

"Lady Camille and her mother Pamala are blood seekers. A family who often marry upwards despite who their mate is. An equivalent to a gold chaser among humans only they go after nobility. And Camille has always had her eyes set on me and Derek." Jasper scrunched his nose with disgust.

"Is there any danger here to my sister? That's what I want to know the most." Aiden finally spoke up. He wasn't interested in how Lucy had to play house. He wanted to get to the real reason he was staying by Lucy's side.

"None. The prince's bride is priceless. Especially among the noble families." Jasper was absolute in how he spoke.

"But that doesn't mean women won't be vying to be the next mistress or two." Ryan shrugged and looked at Lucy's darkening eyes.

"There will be no mistress. Anyone who touches what is mine will not live to see another day." Lucy's voice was chilled and cold.

"Oh look, she sounds just like Derek. That was basically his warning to me about touching you." Ryan chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Guess you two are perfect for each other."

"When did Derek talk to you? I'm confused about all of that to be honest." Aiden looked at Lucy and could see she was now curious about it as well.

"That would be...." Jasper said quietly, looking away a bit.

"What is it?" Aiden asked, feeling something big was being kept from them.

"Like the banshee who is bound to the family, there is also another servant who is bound to them. It is their more recent servant. In order to spare his soul... his soul made a deal with the vampires. It would bind itself to them as their loyal servant." Ryan looked up at Jasper. This was something he wasn't supposed to talk about.

"Look... this is a conversation for another time I think." Jasper said with a frown. "Basically they have a servant who can appear when called for. And that is how Ryan here knew what was going on. The servant delivered messages to him."

"Why do I feel like you are hiding something big from me?" Lucy frowned and could tell by Jasper's eyes that it was because he was.

"Not today Lucy. Today the focus is about you pretending to be mated to Ryan... our known Derek here." Jasper looked at her and then gave her a small smile. "It's a long talk for another time, okay?"

"Alright... I don't know what the big deal is but okay." Lucy couldn't understand why this was such a big secret. So they had another servant bound to them like the banshee Mira. Why was that a secret?

"Okay Lucy." Ryan said and opened his arms to her. He watched her look at him like he was poison. "Can you do this or not, sweetheart? You need to be engulfed in my scent, my dear. It doesn't look well for you to smell more of Jasper than me... your mate." Then Ryan looked at Jasper and he frowned. "So... should we just get like a rag or should I lick her neck?"

"Lick my neck? Can't you just rub your arms on me?" Lucy was mortified. What was he talking about?

"Why wouldn't my mate have the scent of my saliva on her? It is different from my skin scent. You should be wearing it and I should be wearing yours. So how do you want to swap spit?" Ryan smirked and tilted his head down at her.

Oh, he was having too much fun with this. The idea of having his saliva on her skin was repulsive. She hoped they had bleach here because she was going to be bathing in it.