She does not look up from her ledger. “The princess is currently with her Krovenian tutor in the playroom. Miss Novak is on her morning break.”
“Please ask the nanny to join me in my study at her earliest convenience.”
“Yes, sire.”
Minuteslater there is a soft knock on my door.
“Come in.”
Hazel wears a soft pink blouse and dark trousers. Her hair is up in a loose bun, with a few strands escaping at the nape of her neck. She looks like a young woman who has been working all morning and was not expecting to be summoned to her boss’s study before lunch.
“You wanted to see me?”
“Yes. Please. Come in.”
She closes the door behind her with a soft click.
The scent of her hits my nostrils a half-second later, and my fangs lengthen against my teeth.I do not sit behind the desk this time, instead I walk around and pull the second leather chair around so that it faces hers, and I gesture for her to sit. She does, perching on the edge in her usual way, like she might bolt.
Then I sit opposite her.
She wrings her hands. “Is something wrong?”
“No, no. But there is something important I need to tell you about.”
She shifts in her seat. “Yes?”
I do my best to keep my gaze off the heft of her luscious breasts underneath her shirt and instead focused on her face. “There is a Krovenian phenomenon I need to explain to you. I should have explained it to you ten days ago, but I was not ready.” I take a breath and continue, “It is called the BloodCalling. It is a rare biological recognition between a Krovenian male and the female who is meant to be his mate.”
I pause.
She watches me intently.
“It happened to me,” I say, “that rainy night I came home. The moment I scented you in my kitchen.”
She inhales, sharp and short.
“You should also know,” I continue, steady, “that before the Calling, Krovenians do not feel sexual desire. Not at all. We do not pleasure mate. What I am feeling for you,” I say, “is the first time my body has ever felt any of this, in my entire life, with anyone. I was in an arranged marriage that was not a proper Blood Calling. We did not feel passion for each other, only deep friendship. We both had to drink elixir in order to mate and breed.”
Her lips part. She does not speak. I do not think she can.
I keep going. “I felt an instant Blood Calling for you that first night, but I told you to leave and I do not act on this because I have rules for myself which I feel make it impossible for us to be together. I would like to tell them to you.”
She nods.
“First, you are my employee. This means you might feel you have no real ability to refuse me, and that means any movement on my part is coercion, whether or not I intend it to be. I makes me feel that any relationship I start with you isn’t real on your part. Second, you have a contract with The Bellamy Group. Pursuing you would breach that contract on your end, not mine. You would lose your completion bonus and references. This could affect your career. I will not put you in that position. And my third reason is that my daughter has bonded with you. I will not jeopardize that bond. You are the steadiest thing in her small world right now. Her trust in you is rare. I will not risk what you have given her by changing what you and I are to oneanother. And last, you have come to my country to do a job for a small grieving child, and you have done it with grace and care and competence. You came here for that. Not for me. I will not pretend otherwise.”
I lean forward, just slightly. My elbows rest on my knees. “Those are my rules to myself,” I say. “I want you to know that I have them. I am not making a move on you. I want you to know that this conversation is not the beginning of one. But I want to also give you a choice in this, you deserve to know what is happening and what choosing to be with me would actually mean. Because I will not have you making any decision about your own life — including the decision tonotmake any decision — without the whole picture.”
She swallows. “Thank you,” she croaks.
I can’t help but grin. This female is adorable, even when uncertain. “Would you like for me to explain more of what you’d be getting yourself into if you decided to commit to a Blood Calling with me?”
“Please.”
“Well, a Krovenian mating bond is permanent. Once two beings are bound, the bond cannot be dissolved. There is no equivalent of human divorce. You’d be taking me and my daughter and this lifestyle on, for the rest of your life, or the rest of my life, whichever comes first. This is the main reason why you need to know all of this up front and have time to process this decision.”
She nods slowly. “How exactly, do you perform the Blood Calling?”
