Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“You’re not a man, you’re my man,” I made clear, leading him up the stairs.
“Yes, I am. And will always be so.”
We walked in silence, starting the long trek toward our side of the palace, hand in hand. It was a fraction over a quarter of a mile end to end, from the top of the stairs, which began on the king’s and queen’s side of the palace, to the bank of windows where Varic’s wing ended. The good news was, the back and forth kept me in shape. I threatened my guards with getting a golf cart to scandalize them.
“I have a question,” I said as we were suddenly followed by Varic’s dreki, who basically stepped out of the shadows to join us. It was amazing that they could disappear and reappear like that so effortlessly. “But it’s personal.”
“It’s all right, you’re all dismissed,” Varic said, and they all ran by us to get to their quarters. “Go ahead.”
“How come when we used to be in bed, your eyes would change to black, but now the only color they change to is gold?”
“Do you think that means something? That perhaps my passion for you has diminished?”
“Not diminished, because it seems to me, as the love deepens, the sex does too. At least, that’s how I feel.”
He stopped walking. “It’s the same for me.”
It was good to hear.
“But you know that,” he said, “because I can’t hide anything from you when I take your blood. When I drink from you, my heart opens to you, does it not?”
I nodded, choked up suddenly.
Stepping in close, he slipped a hand around the side of my neck and whispered low, “Normally, we speak of these things at night, in our bed, in the dark.”
I nodded.
“It’s good that we can say anything to one another, at any time.”
I swallowed down the lump in my throat.
“But really, it’s simple,” he said, stepping back and smiling, tugging gently on my hand to get me walking again. “Before I made you my font, changed your blood, changed how your heart pumps blood, I was possessive of you, I wanted you. What you saw in my eyes bleeding to black was carnal, animal need.”
“And after?”
“After I made you mine and only mine,” he explained, his voice strained, “now both me and my beast have laid claim, and sometimes—” His breathing was shaky. “—more often than I would like, you see me flicker between the two when I take you.”
I smiled at him, and he stopped moving. “Why does that please you?”
“Because I’m guessing lots of guys have seen the black eyes over the centuries. You even told me once that it scared many.”
“I may have overstated the number of—”
“No, it’s all right. I’m well aware that you slept with the populations of small countries before I came along.”
He was grimacing. “I think you’re—”
“A big country, then? Like how big? Like China big?”
Exasperated huff of breath from him. “Listen, you—”
I laughed, and he looked stunned. “I don’t care. Really. It’s not important. What is important is that you’ve only slept with me since we met, and I’m betting I’m the only one your eyes have ever changed to gold for.”
He only stared at me.
“That’s right, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is,” he grumbled. “And you know that.”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“Very confident, are you?”
“In your love? Well, yes. Yes I am.”
He grunted, grabbing my hand and giving me a gentle tug. “As you should be. I am thoroughly bewitched.”
I waggled my eyebrows at him.
“Though I have no earthly idea why.”
“I’ll show you when we get back to our quarters.”
After a moment he said, “Can you not walk any faster?”
I was laughing as we started to jog.
SEVEN
I had missed Ode. She was my dearest friend, and being with her, talking to her, soothed my soul. I knew I did the same for her. But to have her there the next morning after breakfast, when I’d felt so unhinged, so disjointed—though I was better after Varic’s return—was the cherry on top of the cake. I had him back, and I got her as well. I felt like I was vibrating with happiness.
“This is nice,” she told me as she walked up to me. Duro—her mate, her love, whom she didn’t need to marry because that, she told me, was not a part of her journey—was walking behind her, carrying more luggage than I thought possible. He was a big guy, though, built like a brick wall, six-five to Ode’s five-eight, so he could handle the weight. “You’re certainly marrying up.”
I laughed, she laughed, and then she was in my arms, hugging the life out of me, and I squeezed her so tight in return, she squeaked.
“You look so beautiful,” I told her as I shoved her out to arm’s length.
Her voluminous curls were still a deep wine color, as were her lips, and her eyes were lined, finishing with the cat’s tail that made her look like an Egyptian goddess. I had always been struck by her beauty and the life force that rolled off her. When I glanced at Duro, his brows were deeply furrowed.