He continued fawning over me and hastily led me to his light-tight carriage. I looked back to the manor and saw Dommik standing, hand on the hilt of his sword, in the entryway of the home. His home.
I held his gaze until the carriage door slammed closed. We needed totalk but I needed more time—the one thing vampires had in abundance. But with the approaching Winter Solstice, it was running out.
I feigned a yawn and wiped my eye, collecting a fresh tear from its corner.
Rhazien and I sat across from each other just as we had when we first met, and I didn’t realize it was possible, but I was more unsure and afraid of him now than I was when he had been a stranger.
“Gorvin was in quite—” he searched for the word “—a state in your absence.”
“Was he?” I didn’t know where to look. How to sit. Everything I did felt strange, like a puppet master was maneuvering me into unnatural positions.
Rhazien leaned forward and placed a hand on my knee. His arm, the bridge between us, steadied me slightly. I looked at him and found his green eyes filled with concern.
“I’m so glad you’re safe.” He meant it. Everything about him meant it. He was clear eyed and clean shaven. Not the erratic, disheveled creature I’d left at the Northern Hive.
I smiled softly, unsure how to respond. The echoes of my vision with a head bobbing between his legs was too fresh and too painful to ignore.
“You must be exhausted.” His thumb stroked my knee. I tensed beneath his touch.
Hurt flashed across his emerald irises, changing the look of longing to one of concern.
“Reyva,” he rasped. “Dommik told me what happened. If I could have killed those men myself, I would have. Slowly.”
The carriage jostled us as it bounced along the gravel road back to the Hive, but Rhazien didn’t move his hand.
I blinked slowly and looked down at my bare feet. My crossed ankles were nestled between his legs.
“Reyva.” His finger gently prompted my chin upward so I met his gaze again. “I was devastated when you left.”
I almost snapped at that. He’d left me in windowless confinement for three days at the Northern Hive. When he knew I was near, he did nothing to acknowledge or comfort me…but once I’d left, he was devastated?
Wicked heat rose in my chest, but I was hungover and distracted by Shaw’s question.
Who is he to you?
My head pounded, refusing to define who Dommik was to me.
“I’m sorry,” I finally said, because it felt rude to say nothing. Hot tears pricked my eyes and he pulled me into him.
“Oh, love.” He pushed my hair back, his lips following the path of his hands. Kisses on my brow and cheeks. His lips stole the tears falling from my eyes until they found my lips. He pressed into me and I froze. One hand gripped the back of my neck and as we parted, he left his forehead pressed into mine. We bounced in time with the carriage.
“I’m here now. And I promise. Hear me? I promise you. Things will be better. Easier.” He pulled me into another kiss. “Everything will be easier after Solstice. After we’re bound.”
After we’re bound.
After my soul is tethered to his for eternity.
I had wanted it. I had agreed. And would need to again for the ceremony to take place. But after…everything, things were different.
My eyes met his. An urgent question bubbled up and forced its way from me, “You love me?”
“Of course,” he insisted.
My hands landed on his cheeks, holding him from kissing me again. “No. Youreallylove me?”
His brow scrunched. “Yes.”
“How do you know?”
