“Yes.”
“What do you do with a hundred and sixty rooms?”
“Most of them have a function. The west tower is the family library. The east tower houses the historical archives. The south wing was originally the guard barracks before it became guest accommodations. The cellars include the wine stores and the original armory, which my great-grandfather converted into a vault. The drawing room you passed on the second floor is where my mother took her morning correspondence. And there are the staff rooms, of course.”
I take another sip of my wine. “And you grew up in this place.”
“I did. Nikolai and Sebastian and I used to race down the long gallery on the second floor as children. Madam Petrova caught us more times than I can count.”
I almost choke on my wine. “Youraced down a corridor?”
“I was a child once, Hazel.”
“Sorry. I’m trying to picture small Viktor running anywhere. I can’t get there.”
“My older brother, Nikolai, was usually winning. I was plotting how to trip him on the next turn. And my younger brother, Sebastian, was usually crying because we were not letting him win.”
I chuckle quietly, because I’m having a really good time. Viktor is the most intimidating male I have ever met. I had braced myself for awkwardness, for stiff royal politeness, for a meal where I would not know how to fill a single pause. I had expected the conversation to feel like trying to walk on slick ice without falling on my face. And yet this feels like talking to someone I have known for a long time. He’s very open with information and is treating me like an…equal.
I am not sure what to do with this information.
I open my mouth to ask another question when I hear a tiny snort. I look down the table to my left and find Lily slumped in her tall chair. Her small head has tilted forward. Max is squashed against her chest. Her eyes are firmly closed. And from her tiny vampire-fanged mouth, escapes the smallest, most polite snore I have ever heard in my life.
I look over at Viktor. His whole face has gone soft. “I will carry her up to bed,” he says quietly.
I put down my napkin and push back my chair. “I’ll come with you.”
Viktor stands, walks around the table, and gently scoops his daughter into his arms.
Lily settles against him without waking, her small head tucking neatly into the curve of his shoulder. Max gets compressed between them but seems to manage.
I follow them both out of the dining room and wave goodnight to the staff as we pass.
We walk through the estate together, Viktor carrying his daughter, me beside him. The only sound is the soft scrape of my flats on the stone floor and the tiny, tiny snore from the small bundle in his arms.
Finally, we’re upstairs at the nursery. He carries her inside and lays Lily on her bed with care. Her head settles into the pillow. Her small mouth stays slightly open. Max is repositioned with great seriousness.
I slip Lily’s tiny shoes off her feet and set them side-by-side on the rug. I pull the soft pink coverlet up to her chin and tuck Max under her chin in his usual position.
We tiptoe out.
I pull the door closed behind us with a soft, soft click.
And now we are alone in the corridor. His nostrils flare, like he’s scenting me, or something. And I can’t help but glance down and notice that his crotch is tented again. Wowza. This is when I remember our bedrooms are not only on the same floor, but on other ends of the same hallway. Viktor and I stand a few feet apart in the dim amber light.
He clears his throat softly. “Thank you, Hazel.”
“For what?”
“For tonight…For helping me spend more time with my daughter.”
His gaze is the one that drops this time and he looks at my lips, then his eyes rise again. For one whole second, I am sure he is going to step forward and put his mouth on mine. Then, very slowly, he inclines his head. “Goodnight, Hazel.” He very deliberately strides toward his own chambers.
I turn and watch him go. The way his trousers fit, and the long line of his muscular legs, and yes, I’m gazing at his perfect ass as he moves away from me. I want so desperately to chase after him, shove him into his bedroom, lock the door behind us, strip him bare and put his cock in my mouth. I’m that type of girlwho loves to give a good blowjob, and wow I’d love nothing more than right now going down on the Dark Prince.
But instead, I very primly walk back to my own room and shut the door behind me.
Maybe, when my contract is up, I can ask him out on a date? Do Krovenians date humans? I guess we’ll see.
