“Nothing,” he murmured. “I guess I overreacted.”
“No shit.”
He grimaced as he turned back toward me. “You will need to be more respectful. Especially in public.”
“Or what?” I grinned.
“Or I will have something real to punish you for.”
Breathless, I asked, “And how will you punish me, Your Majesty?”
“Maybe I'll lock you in my bedroom and make you submit to me for a week. I have amazing stamina. You can forget about sleep.”
I shivered. “I think I'm about to be a very bad boy.”
His lips twitched. “You don't have to act out. After a century and a half, my need is great. I will be a very demanding lover. I hope you're prepared to satisfy me.”
“Oh, I am looking forward to it.” Then I remembered the whole blood loss thing. “But, uh, could you not take so much blood next time?”
Shale paled. “I will never drink from you again.”
“That's not what I'm asking.” I laid a hand on his arm. “I enjoyed it. A lot. We just have to be more careful.”
“There's no we, Sebastian. It was me. I nearly killed you. It was one of the reasons I . . .”
“One of the reasons you walked away from me?” I whispered. “Damn it. I wish I'd known that. I would have told you, it's all right.”
“It's not all right. I will not be drinking from you again.”
“Yes, you will! I loved it. You can control yourself. I know you can. You've buried your emotions for years, you can—”
“Enough!” He jerked his arm so my hand fell away. “I said, no.”
“You're not going to hurt me.”
The King's face twitched. “You don't know that.”
“Yes, I do. I trust you, Shale.”
“Not in public.”
“Your Majesty,” I amended and rolled my eyes. “Fuck. Can't we go an hour without getting into an argument?”
Shaleros leaned back and regarded me. He let out a long breath. But I didn't relax. He was like a canon on a Neraky pirate ship, just waiting to be lit.
“I want you to drink from me. It was fucking incredible. And I know you can stop when you need to.” I grinned sheepishly. “You'll have other things you can focus on.”
He just stared at me.
“Please, Your Majesty?”
Finally, Shale said, “Very well. I will be more careful with you next time.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. I'm sorry that I'm human.”
Shale let out a huff of air, grimaced, and shook his head. “I wish you weren't, but not because I view your race as inferior.”
I lifted a brow.
