“And do you, Katarina, love me?”
“Yep.”
He tapped her nose. “Justyep?”
She curled her hands behind his neck, and he rolled halfway onto her in response. “I like you, Charming. I really do. But I’m not going to lie. The love you give to me feels so… undeserved. You love me so perfectly, but I don’t know how to love you the way you deserve to be loved. You should be seduced by an oiled-up woman wearing a bustier and a thong, not lying on a sofa watching sexual innuendos from the seventies.”
His eyes glittered when she laughed softly. “You’ve already found the way to my heart, Kat. Just keep doing what you’re doing and we’ll meet somewhere in the middle.” He eased up on his elbows. “Will your sister have trouble accepting my intentions with you? I don’t want to be the cause of a rift.”
With that lovely thought, Kat scooted to a sitting position.
Prince had converted one of the rooms in his mansion just for her. He must have tired of her complaining about his pristine sofas, so he’d purchased a plush one from a discount store and had it thoroughly steam cleaned. Kat didn’t feel like she had to spot-check her clothes before sitting, and she wanted to feel completely at home when she was around him. That was hard to do when sitting on a snow-white sofa. He had taken the time to decorate the room with furnishings he thought she’d enjoy, such as a popcorn machine in the corner and posters of television shows she’d mentioned were her favorites. Kat didn’t even know TV shows made posters, but when he’d revealed the room to her, she’d laughed so hard that she nearly peed her pants.
Not to mock him, but because she was so floored by how much thought he put into everything he did for her. He’d even bought her a pair of running shoes with short laces. Just thinking about those thoughtful gestures, she realized she could love a man like him forever.
Kat curved her hand around his arm and held on. “Nadia’s going to be fine. You were right. We had a long talk, and she’s not interested in you.”
His brows popped up and it made her chuckle.
“I don’t mean that in a bad way, only that she was more swept up with the idea of you than whether or not there was a connection. I think her friend Naya is setting her up on another date this weekend, so you’re in the clear.” Kat turned her attention to the television and laughed at a scene before looking back. “Why didn’t my father try to contact you after he escaped from Russia? I tried to ask him about it, but he doesn’t want to talk about that part of his life.”
Prince began rolling up the sleeves of his dark blue shirt. “We spoke privately about this after Vlad’s capture. I don’t think I’ll ever understand his decision; I wasn’t raised to make selfless choices, and he was only a good friend, not family. Not by blood nor by pack.”
“Sometimes people put their lives at risk for strangers, Charming. It’s just the right thing to do, and for him, I’m sure he saw no other choice.”
Prince nodded, reaching around and removing the band from his ponytail. Kat’s toes curled when he shook loose his dark hair and let it fall over his shoulders.
“When I asked why he didn’t search for me after his escape, he admitted he’d been living in hiding for decades, and he was ashamed. While he’d found his freedom, he knew Vlad would search for him because of that ring. The world was much bigger then, Kat. We couldn’t look up someone on the Internet or in a phone directory. When he moved to America, Cognito was a city Breed naturally gravitated to. He heard my name in certain circles but decided there was a reason our lives had diverged in the same way that they had once intersected. He said if fate meant for us to rekindle our friendship, then it would make plans.”
“Huh,” Kat remarked. “It makes you wonder about all the coincidences in life. I met you because I followed my father’s old nemesis to town, but how did you meet Nadia?”
When his face turned scarlet, she scooted toward him excitedly. This looked too juicy to ignore.
He cleared his throat and attempted to focus on the TV. “There was a woman I foolishly made an offer to because she would have been an ideal match.”
“You mean the whole pureblood thing, right?” Kat straightened his tie, itching to run her fingers through his wonderful hair.
He lifted his chin as if he didn’t deserve her affection. “She denied me for another man. When I went to extend my congratulations while tending to other business matters, Nadia was there. We were introduced, and I couldn’t help but ask about her surname. It was then that she mentioned a name I hadn’t heard in over two hundred years. So I offered her a ride home.”
“I like the sound of that. Let’s steal that story and make it ours.”
“And why would I do that?” he asked, pulling her onto his lap so that she was straddling him.
Kat offered him a sultry smile and shrugged. “People might ask how we met, and you’ll get embarrassed telling them that I crashed your date with my twin, shared cold pizza with you on the sofa, dragged you to a rundown bar where I zipped up your pants, and got you into a bar fight with a Mage.”
His ardent kisses trailed along her neck and she rocked her hips, dark hunger gnawing her from within. “On the contrary, that’s the best story I can think of. Except you left out the part where you got naked on top of another man.”
“You smell nice,” she whispered, licking her lips. She slid her hand around to the nape of his neck and gave his hair a gentle tug.
“And what do I smell like?”
“Yummy.”
When he broke the kiss, she pouted and gave him a disapproving look.
It was hard to stay mad for long when she looked into his brown and blue eyes, perfectly framed by his dark brows and lashes.
“I have some news. Do you remember Reno?”
