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Crimson Kiss (Onyx Assassins 5)

Page 22

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Olivia shook her head. “You’re so young.”

“I’m not that young,” Annika fired back.

I huffed out another laugh, my heart not aching as badly as it had been for days. The simple act of spilling my secrets to my best friend had gone a long way in helping ease the strain, but I still battled inside.

“Annika has a point,” I finally said, and she grinned proudly at me. “Hawke needs to feed, anyway. Why not let him get his strength back before I leave?” I swallowed hard. Could I do it? Could I spend whatever freedom I had left with Hawke, my mate, feeding him and tasting him before we had to reject the bond? Because we both knew it had to happen. I couldn’t possibly marry Samuel while still mated to Hawke, and I couldn’t help my family without the marriage. Could I survive that?

To save my family, my kingdom, there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do.

“You’re serious?” Olivia asked, and I nodded at her. She grinned, a supportive look of non-judgment and full love. “Okay, then. We’ll take your secret to our graves,” she swore, and Annika nodded her agreement. “But if you change your mind about this political move of a wedding, then you tell me, Avi. Don’t hide it. And I’ll go to war for you, for your freedom.”

I glanced down at her still-flat belly, thinking about the miracle there. There was no way in hell I wanted my pregnant best friend anywhere near a battlefield. But I knew she was telling the truth. For me, she’d do anything.

And for them, I would too.

Even break my own heart.

Hours after the girls had left, a knock sounded at my door. I swung it open, expecting it to be my talem or even my brother. I most certainly didn’t expect it to be the male I needed like my next breath.

“Hawke,” I whispered his name, looking up into his eyes. They were shimmering with his natural blue-green tint today, no more black eating away his color. “You look so much better.”

His lips twitched, almost as if he was about to smile, but habit forced his features back into the indifferent mask he usually donned.

I raised my brows at his silence. “Come to eat again?” I asked hopefully, extending my arm in invitation to my quarters.

Every considerable muscle flinched under the leathers he wore as he shook his head. “I’m not in the habit of feeding from females who belong to someone else.” He shifted his warrior’s stance, motioning me toward the hallway. “I’m here to escort you to the dining room. Your betrothed is there, waiting for you to start the final negotiations on the pre-betrothal contract.”

My heart stung with his words, but I held my head high as I walked past him. My black pumps clicked against the tiled floor, echoing in the silence between us. “I’ll have you know,” I whispered, unable to bite my tongue after we’d made it down the hallway. “I belong to myself for another three weeks.” I blew out a breath, smoothing my silk gloves over the long black dress I wore. “And I would be more than happy to feed you in the meantime,” I continued. “Especially if it gives your strength back.” I paused outside the dining room double doors, using the moment to brazenly rake my gaze up and down Hawke.

Some color had come back to his skin, his eyes glowing with that predatory sharpness, and there was a deadly gracefulness to his movements that he’d lacked for some time now. A smirk shaped my lips as I met his eyes again.

“What are you smirking at, Princess?” he whispered the question.

I stepped closer to him, leaning up so I could speak in his ear. “Amazing what a couple of sips of my blood can do for you,” I whispered. “Imagine what would happen if you let yourself off your cute little leash and drank properly—”

“Cute little leash?” He growled. “Be grateful I don’t take that leash and tie you up—”

“Avianna,” Samuel’s voice cut over Hawke’s fired words, and I took a casual step away from Hawke. “Are you ready to begin?” he asked, eyes curiously darting from me to Hawke.

Hawke glared at Samuel as he stepped into the dining room, checking the interior as if Samuel could’ve managed to sneak Saint into the residence unnoticed.

“Yes, of course,” I said, following Hawke into the room. Samuel shut the doors behind us. “Just having a few words with my guard,” I continued, eyeing Hawke. “He’s very protective of me, sometimes to his own detriment.”

Hawke narrowed his gaze at me, and I arched a brow at him.

“Understandable,” Samuel said, pulling out one of the high-back chairs for me. I settled into it, and he sat in the one to my right. Hawke seemed content to stand and glare at Samuel, murder glazing his eyes and doing horribly unspeakable things to my core.


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