As our laughter tapered, he wiped a tear from his eye. “I’m nearly two hundred and fifty years old and no one has ever thrown bread at me. You’ve been here two days, and you’ve turned a pastry into a weapon. I can't believe that just happened."
“I can’t either,” I said through a yawn.
How could I possibly be this tired again?
He stood and wiped a crumb of the weaponized baked good from his shirt. “I should let you get some rest.”
Sleep was calling me, but part of me didn’t want him to leave.
Before he left, he approached me, placed his hands on the arms of my chair, and leaned over me. “Reyva.” He purred my name like it was a prayer.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” My gaze fixated on his full bottom lip. I realized then, if he tried to kiss me, I would let him.
His stiff frame hovered above me. “I am going to walk away. I’m going to leave you here to get your rest, but not because I want to. It would be inappropriate to admit the thoughts swimming through my mind right now.”
Admit them,I thought. Or maybe not. The way he chuckled made me wonder if I’d said it out loud.
He lifted my chin, the greens of his eyes stealing my attention away from his mouth. “I plan on courting you. Thoroughly. Because as my prospect, you will need to choose if you would like to commit yourself to me, and I hope when the time comes for that choice, I’ll have proven myself worthy of that commitment from you.”
“A proper courtship then?” I whispered, appreciating his chivalry.
“If you’ll allow it.” He bowed at the hip and pressed a gentle kiss on the back of my hand.
His lips set my skin onfire.Did he feel it too? His head lingered over my skin and I held my breath.
“Mmm.” Deep, lust-filled green eyes lifted to mine.
I didn’t need supernatural vampire senses to know he wanted more. So much more.
“Until tomorrow, Lady Reyva.”
“Until tomorrow…Your Majesty.”
“Reyva.”
“Mm?”
“Call me Rhazien.”
Chapter 13
Nothing More
Coffee at sunset. An unnatural combination. But dusk was becoming my new dawn in this alternate life amongst the vampires. The warm brew settled in my belly as the last rays of daylight stretched, gasping its final breath before the sun dipped behind the dark expanse of Atoris. Golden hues of day gave way to the indigo and obsidian palette of evening.
With all that had occurred, and all I had learned, it was hard to believe it was only my third day at the Hive. Was this what time felt like for vampires? Years of lived experience shrinking into the span of days.
Better than a sty.
I sipped the coffee again, chuckling into the mug. While the brew chased away last night’s wine headache, it was waking me to all I’d learned.
That I was more than a guest. Rhazien had intentions for a higher purpose. Something sour churned in my gut thinking about how the foundations of those intentions still relied on me being a tool to his ambitions. Men were apparently the same everywhere, even when they were immortal.
“I hope you’re not thinking of jumping.” Dommik’s low voice felt like it had hands. Hands that wrapped me into a lover’s embrace. Hands that had become completely and entirely off-limits within the last day.
He brought the night with him. Stars slowly blinked into existence against the dark veil as dusk winked below the horizon.
“Hello, Dommik.” I remained where the onyx-haired vampire warrior found me, leaning on the rounded stone railing of my terrace. My silk nightgown and dark, untamable tendrils billowed in the evening breeze.
