I startle as Alaric’s towering form looms over me. Curse all vampires and their ability to move silently like a cat stalking a box. What is he doing in here anyway? He’ssupposedto be helping Reginald with the chairs, but none of us have seen him all evening.
“I don’t have time for surprises.” I gesture to the dust covering my favourite blazer, the teetering pile of ceramic mugs, and the Get Shit Done playlist blasting from my portable speaker. “I have to get these last pots boxed up for Quoth, and then Gideon needs help hanging the decorations in the ballroom andwhere have you been?You were supposed to get up hours ago. You haven’t even had your swim yetand we need you to?—”
Alaric clasps my hand. “I’ve been awake. I’ve been in my studio. Come.”
“Alaric—”
He pulls me to my feet. I manage to set down the pot I’m wrapping before he drags me away.
“Alaric, what is it that can’t wait?”
He doesn’t say a word as he tugs me into the small courtyard containing the cistern. My panic rises, remembering the water closing over me, but he skirts the edge of the cistern and pulls me through a narrow passage between the overgrown garden beds. Lichen-covered stone rises on both sides of us as he leads me down narrow, slippery steps, winding between the towers and through an older wing of the castle where ruins crumble away down the hillside. I’ve never been to this part of the castle before, and I’m terrified that I might make a wrong step and end up in the ravine far below. But Alaric moves with casual ease. He knows every stone by heart.
We reach another set of stairs carved into the bedrock itself. I grip Alaric’s hand as I press my back to the rock and shuffle down sideways.
“Keep your eyes on me, Winnie.” His cool hand in mine is steady. “Don’t look down.”
“Excellent advice. Have you thought about teaching?”
“One more step and you’re there.”
My foot slips on wet rock and I scream as I go flying. He catches me in his arms, holding me against his cool chest as my jelly legs give out. He scoops me up and carries me to?—
“What do you think?” he beams.
I work my jaw, but I can’t find the words. I had no idea that a place so beautiful could exist, especially not clinging precariously to the side of a castle.
A small stone temple with a columned portico and carvings of Dionysus and his dancing maenads and satyrs is carved into the rock of the cliff itself. In front of it is a large, rectangular pool with a small fountain that burbles in the corner. The water lapsinvitingly at the edges and spills down over two smaller pools further down the cliffside. Surrounding the main pool are statues of angels and winged beasts, ivy twisting over their weatherworn features. One side of the pool is open to the valley, and there are rocky platforms where you can sit and admire the view. Despite the chill in the air, steam rises from the water.
Andsomeonewho was supposed to be helping with ball preparations has lit at least a hundred flickering candles around the edges and placed a picnic basket and towels on the steps of the temple.
“Wow. What is this?”
“This is the castle grotto. It was built by the lord who owned the castle before me.”
“The one you skewered?”
“Actually, I tossed him from the castle walls,” Alaric says, like it’s no big thing. “He used to host extravagant parties here. The pools are fed from a natural spring, and by lighting a fire in an oven inside the temple, I can heat the water. I thought you might like to join me for my evening swim.”
My body seizes. “No, thank you.”
“Winnie, you told me when I set my intention for our work that no matter how high you build your castle walls, someone will always knock them down.”
“I did say that.”
“Then allow me to help you dismantle your walls.”
Damn him.“I don’t have a swimming costume.” I back away from the water.
“You do not need one. It is only you and me and the moonlight.”
A faint mew echoes from inside the temple. Mirabelle pokes her head from behind a dancing satyr.
“And Mirabelle,” Alaric says with a laugh. “The little minx followed us down here.”
He strips off his clothes, the planes of his sculpted body practically glowing in the moonlight as he walks down the temple steps, submerging himself up to his waist. His cock bobs on the surface of the water,half-hard already.
I swallow. He’s doing this on purpose. He knows I’m weak for him.
