Vaan,I cursed silently.
The moment I was out on the balcony, I launched myself into the cool night air.
I didn’t know where I was going. I just knew it couldn’t be here.
CHAPTER 11
ERINA
Iwoke from a deep sleep to someone breaking into my room.
With a sharp gasp, I flew up to a sitting position on the bed, my heart thundering in my chest. There was still the haziness of a dream pressing onto my mind, but it cleared suddenly, like fog being stabbed with sunlight, when I saw it was Kaldur.
He was wearing a loose long-sleeved shirt tucked into black pants. His clothes were pressed, not a wrinkle within the folds, but his hair was wild, as if he’d been running his hands through it, and he wasn’t wearing any shoes.
“Why are you in here?” he asked, striding toward me. His massive presence made my small room seem all the tinier. Had it always been this small? Or…had Kaldur grownlarger?
I frowned, still blinking bleariness from my eyes. His eyes dipped down, his nostrils flaring when he spied the hard points of my nipples against my sheer nightdress.
“What do you mean?” I asked, my voice husky from sleep.
“I couldn’t find you when I returned,” he said, his tone mildly accusing. “You were meant to stay in the South Wing.”
Low light trickled in through the window. It must’ve onlybeen after dawn. “I hadn’t moved my things yet…and you left, so I assumed…”
I felt surprisinglygood, now that sleep was leaving me.
Thatbaanyereally helps,I couldn’t help but think, impressed.
Kaldur’s jaw tightened, and he looked away from me, inspecting the details of my small room in the keepers’ hall. But I had the impression he wasn’t truly seeing anything. Then his eyes landed on the vial of perfume on my dresser. His eyes strayed over it and then sharpened, doing a double take on the glass.
He went over to it, lifting it up to take a small sniff. He chuffed, his mood dark, before he replaced it. “From your lover?” he asked, spearing me with a unreadable look.
I nearly reared back, my lips parting though no sound came out. If I didn’t know any better…it seemed as if he wasjealous?
And why did that small realization fill me with hope and a dark feeling of glee?
“I’ll have all the contents of your room moved to the South Wing today,” he informed me, pinning me with his gaze. I watched it stray down to the side of my neck. Was he remembering last night?
I touched where he was looking, and he went utterly still. The wound was healed, like magic. He’d done that for me.
A rough sound came from his throat. I realized…well, he’d said twice a day in the contract, hadn’t he?
“Would you…would you like to feed now?” I asked, suddenly shy but aching all the same. I remembered the wild pinch of hunger and desire last night, an unexpected gift. I found, surprisingly, that I wasn’t ashamed by how I’d acted in his arms. I’d given in to the sensation and experience of the feeding. What was there to be ashamed of in the end?
It had been exciting and new, a memory I was thankful to have.
Kaldur approached, every booted step thrumming in mychest. There was a predator-like intensity that suddenly shot through him, one that made anticipation rise in my belly.
I’d always imagined that he would look at me this way.
“Would you want that?” he asked. One knee pressed into my bed, his other coming to cup the nape of my neck as he lowered himself. “All I can think about is last night. About you. About when I can have you again.”
Wonderment burst through me. A thousand fluttery caresses traced through my veins.
He pressed closer. “I shouldn’t. I took too much last night.”
So why were his fangs already elongating?
