Swallowing roughly, she dragged the fingers on her free hand through the left side of his hair. “Is that why you refuse to wear the marks of your position?”
“I dishonored myself, Katya. As a warrior, as a ruler, by playing games with men’s lives, with the lives of my only living blood relatives. I lost the right to call myself warrior, or king.”
“Do you want to know what I think?”
He kissed her hand, still intertwined with his, and rocked his body into hers in an easy, gentle rhythm. “Always.”
“I didn’t know your brothers, of course, but I have brothers of my own. And though sometimes we want to kill each other, they have always been my greatest defenders, and the first ones to call me out when I acted like a brat. And I just think…I think your brothers wouldn’t want you to turn your back on something so important, Nikolai. Kings rule, warriors fight. That’s who you are, and who you should be.” She licked her lips and offered a small smile. “They wouldn’t want you to stop living just because they no longer do.”
Her words lodged a knot in his throat. Oh, God in heaven, he was falling in love with this woman.
“Will you tell me about them sometime?” she asked, wrapping an arm around him and pulling them closer together.
“Will you stay long enough to hear all there is to tell?”
She glanced at their hands and squeezed. “Isn’t that what this means?” Her pale eyes went wide and a light blush colored her cheeks. “Oh, I guess I just assumed—”
“Shh, angel, yes, it’s what it can mean. It’s what I want it to mean.” His heart rate kicked up in his chest. “The mark will last three days, then disappear forever if the mating is not consummated.”
He rolled onto his side and pulled Katherine to him, holding her thigh open so he could maintain their intimate connection. Even as his hips moved, he spoke words he never thought he would: “Will you be my mate, Katherine? Will you stand at my side, serve as my queen and share in my life, my blood, my immortality?” Now that he’d surrendered to the blood magic so clearly working between them, he felt the rightness of it down deep.
She gasped and grasped her throat, as if surprised. “Oh, Nikolai, are you sure? You said one night. Just one perfect night.”
“Angel, I’m more than sure. I didn’t dare hope for more than that. And, now…now that I have the chance for a lifetime of perfect nights, a chance at a lifetime with you, I want it more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my very long life.”
She smiled. “I do want you, Nikolai. I truly do. I left the service of the Proffered and fled five thousand miles around the world to get away from it, I thought. But, really, something in me just knew that, had I stayed, I’d have been in the service of the wrong king. How fast this has all happened is crazy, but I want you, a life with you, all of it.” She bit down on her bottom lip and rubbed hard at her throat.
Her words were like the sweetest salve, knitting up the raw edges of the psychic wounds he bore deep within. But still, he frowned. Unease stirred in his gut. Something wasn’t right… “Are you okay?” He grasped her hand before she marked her neck .
She trembled. Nodded. “I…I don’t…I’m so thirsty, Nikolai.”
The world went still around him. They weren’t mated. Not yet. But every instinct told him she was hurting for the want of his blood.
Jesus. How could he make her wait until the ceremony to feed? Even if they held it at tomorrow’s nightfall, that was hours away. He couldn’t. He didn’t want to.
An idea came to mind. Maybe he didn’t have to, either.
Withdrawing from her body, he squeezed her hands. “I want to ease you, angel.” He reached over the side of the bed and found his pants. From the pocket, he retrieved a small leather pouch. He returned to her and pulled the drawstring open. “Hold out your hand.”
Four faceted gemstones poured out into her palm. She gasped and leaned in, turning her hand this way and that to catch the light.
He smiled, knowing just how fascinating they were to look at. “They’re alexandrite. Our sacred stone. Very rare. It changes color in different lights.” Just then, they appeared red with flashes of pale purple.
“Oh, they’re beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it. But, how will this help—”
“If you’ll allow it, I would like to share a private consummation with you. Right here. Right now. I still want the formal ceremony, Katherine. I want to stand before you and claim you as my own, but I can’t watch you suffer, not when I can take the pain away.”