She led him down the hall through the palace to her chambers. Her personal area of the Obsidian Palace consisted of three large rooms connected by a common area with a kitchenette. Two of the rooms were bedrooms with sitting areas and balconies. The third room was her ritual room, which contained all manner of books, herbs, and crystals used in her magical pursuits. Tonight the halls outside her chambers were empty, which was good because she didn’t want one of her uncles to press her again about where Liam was sleeping. She didn’t want to think about her uncles at all as she led him through the door into the common area and then gestured for him to follow her into her bedroom and the adjoining bath.
Liam would only be here for a matter of days. As soon as he’d helped her prepare for the party, he’d want to go back to his own world and his own life. She understood that there could never be anything real or long-term between them, and that was okay. She had no expectations. But she was attracted to him, far more so than she’d ever been to Cassius. When she looked at Liam, she felt things a woman was supposed to feel for a man, things she’d rarely felt before and never as strongly. She wasn’t sure exactly where she wanted this to go, only that she was enjoying the ride.
She dug in a drawer for the salve and turned back to him. “Hold still. This may sting.”
He pulled away, backing toward the door. “Sting? What is it?”
“Just a salve. Herbs, oils, probably some healing waters.”
His eyes narrowed. “If they were healing, why would they sting?”
With a light laugh, she sent him an incredulous look. “Liam, are you afraid of the salve?”
He frowned. “I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to say it. You’re practically running from the room.”
“I’m not afraid of the salve,” he said testily.
“Then let me put this on you.”
She screwed off the cap and dug a finger in, but when she reached for him, he took another step back and then another until he was all the way into her bedroom.
“No.”
She laughed at the way he stared at the sweet-smelling salve like it was animal dung. “No?”
“How do you know it’s safe for humans?”
“Because my mother and my aunt use it and they are human.”
“I thought your mother was a witch.”
“Well, yes. But she’s also human. An immortal human but still a human.”
The scowl on his face grew deeper. “No. It will heal on its own.”
Her shoulders sank. “Vampire bites are filthy. It could become infected.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
Charlie placed a hand on her hip and stormed toward him. He retreated until his thighs hit the back of the sofa, then halted. She didn’t stop until her face was mere inches from his own.
“By the Mountain, you are worse than my nephews! Man up and allow me to treat your wound, you pigheaded thundercolt!”
He stared down at her, the corners of his mouth twitching until a smile broke through his dark features, one that reached all the way to his eyes. “Pigheaded thundercolt?”
Although her heart danced at the sight of the smile, she refused to be distracted by its magic. Quickly she slapped her fingers onto his neck, smearing the salve over the bite.
“Oww.” He winced, smile fading.
She leaned closer and blew across the salve, cooling the sting. Whether it still hurt or not she wasn’t sure, but he seemed suitably distracted. She caught him watching her intently out of the corner of his eye.
“Better?”
He raised a hand to hover over the wound. “Yeah.”
“Good.” Closing the cap on the salve, she tried to pick up at the point she lost the smile. “In Paragon, a thundercolt is a newborn mountain horse who is so young he’s afraid of thunder. I assume you know what pigheaded means.”
