“Eyes on me, Inanna.” I concealed my pleasure at her obedience the second her eyes snapped back toward mine. The ease with which she submitted, a dangerous indulgence I knew would soon become irresistible.
“Well?” I added, now I had her full attention once more.
“Erm, once again, it’s Eliza and I…” she reminded me, and I couldn’t help but smirk, feeling free to interrupt herassumptions. Quick to let her know that there was no chance I would ever forget who she was. That I could never have mistaken her for someone else.
In fact, the notion was so far from the truth it bordered on absurd, and the irony of it delighted me more than it should have. She stood there, convinced she was insignificant, convinced she had simply wandered into the wrong place at the wrong time, unaware that Fate itself had already marked her.
Hence why I barely suppressed an ironic chuckle.
“I know your name, little Inanna,” I stated, and the sight of her cute little nose wrinkling as she frowned caused a reaction in me, and one I couldn’t hold back this time. It was a sound my council was certainly not accustomed to hearing, as I allowed myself to laugh this time. The shift did not go unnoticed. I felt it ripple through the space around the throne, the quiet awareness of my inner circle tightening as eyes lifted and bodies stilled. Torin’s jaw clenched with restrained confusion, while Vor shifted just enough to confirm that he, too, had heard the change in my tone. They were accustomed to my authority. They were not accustomed to my joy…to my restraint toward an intruder.
Least of all where a mortal was concerned.
I was aware of them, but they no longer mattered.
“Okay, erm, not sure what to say to that,”she muttered under her breath, and it was a comment I countered.
“Perhaps the reason you came here, like I asked.” This reminder certainly had its effect, as she started to look around, as if wishing for someone to help her with her explanation. A fact I pointed out, keeping the bitter sting from my tone, replacing it with a challenging one instead.
“Waiting for someone, perhaps?” I raised a brow, adding to the question. My focus narrowed on the woman standing before me, to the way color bloomed faintly across her cheeks as my gaze lingered, openly and holy unapologetic. I did not pretendindifference. There was no point. She felt the weight of my attention and flushed beneath it. The sight shamelessly brought me a flicker of dark satisfaction that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with desire.
I admired her courage, truly admired it, not because she was fearless, but because she was not. Fear lived in her, breathed with her, scented the air between us, and yet, still she stood… still, she met my gaze… still, she spoke as though she expected to be heard.
It was enough to make me wonder what she would be like without fear of me at all. The thought unsettled me more than any act of defiance ever could.
And then she asked.
Not demanded. Not pleaded.
Asked…
“Can’t we… erm, talk somewhere private?”
I couldn’t help my body reacting to this, as shock tore through me. The request to speak with me alone landed like a blade sliding home, cutting through every carefully maintained restraint in a single stroke. It was what I wanted, of course it was. It had been my main goal since the moment I first saw her. And now here she was, offering it to me willingly and without understanding the weight of what she was placing in my hands.
I did not hesitate.
But inside, something ancient and dangerous smiled.
“You wish to be alone with me, little Inanna?” I confirmed, my tone adding weight to the implications of what this meant. I couldn’t help but smirk at the shiver that took hold, one I didn’t think she was even aware of. As if these words of mine had been spoken over naked flesh and trembling skin. But as if catching herself, she straightened and started backtracking in a hopeless attempt to save herself from any embarrassment she obviously felt.
Silly little Goddess.
She would soon learn.
“No, I don’t want… I mean, that is, I… well, yes, but nothing like that.” The words tumbled out of her, and it was such an adorable fumble that I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Once again, my council noticed, but I took no heed as I got to my feet and finally gave into the impulse to cut the distance between us.
My hilarity faded quickly at the sight of her retreating form as her fear of me spiked once more. I felt my fist clench at my side as I resisted the urge to take her in my hands and keep her close so she couldn’t escape me. The strength of my possessive thoughts almost faltered my steps. I had never felt an emotion hit me like this before.
That protective instinct was unfamiliar, yet undeniable. One triggered the instant I became aware of how much smaller she was beside me. It made me want to gather her close, her curvy frame fitting easily within the shelter of my arms.
Which was why she didn’t get far. My stride closed the distance between us far quicker than she could retreat, and whatever irritation I felt at her attempt was swiftly erased when my gaze dropped to her hands. Fingers nervously toying with the edge of the tissue covering the wound left by the altar.
It was a wound that would have healed in moments had she been of my kind. The sight of her blood seeping into the bandage awakened opposing urges, the desire to taste it rising alongside my displeasure at her injury. I wanted to heal her. To lift her hand and run my tongue along her palm, claiming the taste that called to me.
In fact, I was starting to discover the true meaning of restraint as the list of things I wanted to do to her was mounting by the second. None of which I dared indulge, for fearof frightening her further. Instead, I simply held my arm out toward the door that would lead into my private office.
“After you,Eliza,”I said, a deliberate reminder that I knew her name, that Inanna and Eliza were one and the same. Her response caught me off guard once more, and I found unexpected pleasure in her humor. One she clearly used as a shield against the situation she found herself in.
