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“I guess that makes sense. Anyway, it took her forever to tell me what her secret was, and that much longer to get her to agree to turn me. And still longer to set a date, but eventually she did.” I paused, a sick feeling clawing at the pit of my stomach as I did some familial calculations. “Oh, God. Fuck, no.”
“What?” Fear slashed across Julian’s face.
“Um…her making me doesn’t make you my half-uncle or anything, does it?”
Julian let out a chuckle. “Her making you doesn’t make us genetically related, Eden.”
“Good. ’Cause I don’t think I could stomach uncle stuff.”
Julian laughed again, a great bellow that echoed into the great room.
Just then, Sunny came sashaying into the study, heels clacking against the marble. “I’m so sorry to interrupt, sir.”
Julian’s eyes didn’t leave mine as he answered. “What is it, Sunny?”
“You’re due back in the neutral zone in less than ten minutes.”
“Thank you, Sunny. I’ll be along shortly.”
She retreated from the study and I looked deep into the vampire king’s eyes, searching for some tell, some sign that he didn’t want to leave.
“I have to,” he said, reading my thoughts or expression. I honestly had no clue which.
“There’s still a lot to talk about.”
He nodded, agreeing. “You’re right. And we’ll get to it, I promise. I’ll be back at the next break.”
I soaked in his shirtless form, greedily committing the planes of his abs and chest to memory as Julian put on his shirt only to discover I’d ripped all the buttons off. He blurred away to get a fresh one and was gone for only a handful of seconds before blurring back. “I’ll be back as soon as possible. We’ll talk everything through then, all right?”
“Okay,” I said and watched the king leave his compound.
Twenty
Alone in his compound,without his presence, I remembered all the reasons why I didn’t want to be stuck here.
I remembered why this actually wasn’t the good time the stupid mating bond was desperately trying to convince me it was.
Almost like once I was out of Julian’s area of effect, I could think clearly.
“Sunny?” I called after I’d showered and gotten myself together. Julian had well and truly wrecked me and there was no way I could be around vamps or even a living vamp with their heightened senses of smell without a shower.
“You bellowed?” she said with a smile.
“Sorry, is there a better way to get a hold of you in the compound?”
“You can always shoot me a text.”
“Oh, sweet.” I handed her my phone and she put her number in. “So remind me why I have to be kept locked away in the compound? From what I understand, Titus and his vamps can’t set foot in our territory unless it’s part of the incursion.”
“You’re right.Hecan’t. But that hasn’t stopped others from trying. The king is protecting you because you’re worth protecting.”
“So, he’s keeping me here on the off chance that someone does decide to break protocol and somehow discovers I’m his mate? Seems like a stretch, Sun, I gotta say it.”
“Flip it. If someone discovers you’re his mate, that’s all the impetus needed to break protocol.”
“Okay, you have me there. But I still don’t like this. I can work from my place. In fact, I’ll need to get to my storage unit so I can practice.”Ha! Bet she hasn’t thought of that.
“I think you’ll find everything you need in the basement.”
