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LadyIsavelle.
What a charmer Zabriel thinks he is with his smiles and flattery. I may not have been around many men in my life, especially not men like him, but there’s no sincere reason for him to be acting this way. I would bet a week of hot dinners that the moment I gave in to his charms and let him kiss me, he’d lose all interest. Well, he probably wouldn’t stop at kissing. He hasn’t said it out loud, but he’d find a way to get me into his bed.
The mental image of being in bed with Zabriel, surrounded by heaping piles of soft blankets and no one in the world to interrupt us, is shockingly vivid. His mouth on mine. His large hand cradling the back of my head while his other deftly undresses me. I know the basic mechanics of what happens between men and women, but few of the details. I imagine Zabriel gets creative with the details.
Zabriel smiles wider. “Your scent is very interesting all of a sudden,sha’len. Care to tell me what you’re thinking about?”
I give myself a little shake, and quickly divert the conversation elsewhere. “It’s about work for the Veiled Virgins. Maybe you can help, or I could meet with some kind of overseer. The castle steward if there is one.”
Zabriel steps toward me as if drawn closer by an invisible force, his eyes hungry and his nostrils flaring. I have a feeling he hasn’t heard a word I’ve said. A man so dusty and sweaty should probably smell offensive, but the fresh saltiness of his sweat is making me breathe deeper and deeper, trying to drag every hint of him from the air and into my lungs.
“You can ask me for whatever you want,” he murmurs, and then adds as he reaches for my hand, “Have you noticed how we never seem to be alone?”
As he grasps my fingers, there are zero thoughts in my mind all of a sudden. Thanks to our height differences, I have a close-up view of his muscled chest where his shirt parts and the silky ends of his hair, as black as a raven’s wing. “That’s because there is so much to do and many things the people need.”
“Yes, isn’t there,” Zabriel murmurs, though I suspect he didn’t hear that either. “I love that you came to find me. What else is on your mind?”
He traces his fingers down the side of my face, over my jaw, and they linger on my throat.
I swallow hard as I gaze up at him. “I’m wondering if we have to do everything ourselves. Where is this king that I’ve heard about?”
Zabriel is staring at my neck. If it was my breasts, I could tell him he’s a vulgar leech, but staring at my neck is baffling.
“The king? Oh, don’t worry about the king,” Zabriel murmurs. “I can help you with whatever you need.”
He cups my cheek and lowers his face to mine. My mouth is tingling. His red eyes are hypnotic. Suddenly, I need a lot of things, and they all involve putting my arms around Zabriel’s neck and opening my lips to receive his.
What am I supposed to be doing again? I was here about…jobs. Talking to the steward. Or something.
“I suppose the king is organizing his coronation,” I murmur vaguely. “Thinking about feasts and showing off to all the important people of Maledin.”
“Is that so,” Zabriel whispers, and his lips are so close to mine that I feel him speak the words.
“I hear lords and ladies are traveling here from all over the country when they should be at home looking after their people. This new king will probably be worse than the last.”
Zabriel’s eyes widen in surprise, and then he smiles. “I bet you wouldn’t say that to his face.”
“I would.” I doubt I’d do anything of the sort.
Zabriel’s red eyes burn with wicked delight. As he smiles, I get a close-up view of his strong white teeth and see how his canines are longer and pointier than they should be. It doesn’t seem right. It doesn’t seemhuman.
“Are you a vampire?” I blurt out.
“Am I a what?”
“A cursed corpse that drinks human blood. They’re supposed to only exist in stories, but you’re only supposed to exist in stories, so I don’t know what to believe anymore. Your red eyes. That hungry expression. Your pointed teeth. If you bite me, I’ll scream.”
His pupils dilate, and he mutters something under his breath that sounds like,Fuck, I hope so.
“What?”
He smiles again and touches the tip of his tongue to a pointed tooth. “What, my dragines? Made for biting necks and sucking blood? Good guess. Very good guess,sha’len.”
The sight of his tongue and his open mouth makes heat ripple down my spine. I wait for him to tell me why he has pointed teeth, but he doesn’t elaborate.
“I can take this shirt off if you like. You can even take it with you if it’s what you came for.”
“What?” I realize I’ve got both fists clenched on his shirt and let go. “Oh! No, I came for…”
