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Her green eyes shone impishly. “I can admit when I’m wrong. Maybe King Nyx can find me a nice minister with a good setup, too.”
“Your wife will murder both of you,” I snickered.
“Oh, right,” she sighed. “Her. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
The guards opened the double doors to let her through.
“No. No rehearsal tomorrow. Rest up, and I’ll see you on Monday,” I replied. “Take a break.”
Tristiana’s smile widened. “Don’t mind if I do take the day to myself,” she agreed with a laugh. “It’s been a while since I’ve had one of those days.”
“Enjoy it,” I told her honestly. “I have a feeling things are going to get much busier for all of us.”
Tristiana left, and I met Nyx at the base of the stairs.
“I know I keep saying it, but you really did an amazing thing here, Mare.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him, unsure of how else to respond. When we parted, I sighed.
“I’m not ready for the night to be over,” I admitted.
He winked at me suggestively. “Who says it is?”
He extended his arm for me to take and led the way upstairs.
“I think you should run Maximo’s eventually, too,” he blurted out.
I paused on the steps and gawked at him. “What?!”
He shrugged. “I heard all their complaints about the way things are run there. It seems like you would do a much better job than the managers we’ve had.”
A shiver of apprehension rushed through me as I thought of Jergin, our previous manager, who had ended up murdered in the alleyway on the night of all the fires. Then shame washed over me as I recalled thinking that Nyx had been responsible for his death.
Starting back up the stairs again, I laughed thinly. “I’m not even allowed to leave the castle,” I reminded him. “It’s not exactly a remote position.”
Nyx frowned lightly, as if he had forgotten I was bound to the castle under his orders.
“I mean, once we learn the source of the trouble,” he corrected himself quickly.
I stifled a sigh. “Any idea when that might be?”
He grunted, and I sighed, stopping again as we reached the third floor.
“Maybe this was all a one-off, Nyx,” I suggested. “You can’t keep me in the castle forever, and if there’s no progress on the offenders, and I have this shroud of permanent protection on me…” I trailed off, and he frowned. I cupped his face. “I’m not saying I want to leave,” I added softly. “But you have to know that me staying here, even until the baby’s born, isn’t exactly feasible.”
“I can’t help but think that someone is just waiting for you to come out before they try again,” he sighed. “That’s my concern.”
“We don’t have to talk about it right now,” I promised, taking his hand and leading him into the bedroom. “I have a much better idea.”
“Oh, yeah?” he asked, his voice lightening with my teasing remark. “What’s that?”
Without a word, I opened the door to our bedroom suite and nodded goodnight to the guards before closing us inside.
As I turned around, Nyx swept me off my feet, my legs wrapping around his waist as he led me toward the bed.
“Funny. I was thinking the same thing,” I joked as he laid me down, sprawling his solid form beside me.
Gently, he brushed a strand of hair out of my face and brushed a kiss against my lips, but as my mouth parted to allow our tongues to join, his teeth captured my lower lip. A small whimper escaped me as he released his hold on my mouth, his kiss making its way down to my chin.
