Chapter 18
Blaise
This pixie Fae is going to be the true death of me.
All night she’s been dancing and flirting with strangers, while I’ve been following from a safe distance. I thought that if I stationed Mattya and Axel outside the city, that would solve my problems, but it seems she has no qualms about finding suitors at every step.
I mean, of course she does. Just look at her! She’s the sparkliest beam of moonlight these lands have ever been blessed with.
So I drowned my vexation with goblets of bloodwine and gave her space, hoping she would somehow orbit toward me sooner rather than later.
But, as I see her sprinting toward a back alley with some random blonde vampire that isn’t half as good-looking as I am, my patience finally snaps.
Oh, hell fucking no! I know all too well what occurs in the shadows of these alleys on Kronna. She’s not about to have sex with some random nobody, not when I am more than capable of providing her with all the pleasure she could ever desire.
I leave Aimee and Killian behind in their little love bubble, shouldering my way through the crowds gathered before the main stage.
Several females try to grab my attention, but I can’t be bothered to acknowledge them.
I know what they hint at with their sultry calls and exaggerated winks.
The old me would have jumped at the opportunity to take all of them to bed, even several at once.
But, as I currently stand, my only focus is the stunningly elusive Fae beauty that is laughing at some insipid joke her companion is saying as he drags her further away from the celebration.
Her head is thrown back, eyes closed in glee, while the ordinary vampire sizes her up with an awestruck expression.
Wrong move, buddy.
Although it’s the same visceral reaction I have toward Sariah mirrored in his unimpressive eyes, I have no ounce of empathy for the bloody fool.
He’s not worthy of her attention. None of them are.
Hell, I’m probably not either, but that’s not going to stop me. Not because I deserve her, but because I’ll become the worthy male she deserves.
They disappear around a corner, and I pick up the pace, determined to cockblock any lame attempt this male might make.
There’s no fat chance in hell I’m letting any creature touch her.
When I finally catch up with them, she’s leaning against the marble column of an entrance, slightly flushed and out of breath, her eyes half-lidded in invitation as that blonde asshole leans in to kiss her.
I grab his sorry ass by the collar of his shirt and haul him backward, and his protests die on his tongue when he sees me.
Good.
He should know who I am.
“You’d really kiss any loser except for me,” I say, and my brain registers a tad too late my poor choice of words.
“Ah, but I was wondering when you’d finally make an appearance, pretty boy,” she answers coquettishly. I let go of the vampire, telling him to scramble, and he waists no time to vanish into the night.
“So what? You were trying to make me jealous?” I ask, stepping up into her personal space, crowding her against the column.
“Not at all, Blaise. Merely chasing a good time,” she laughs as if I am a fucking hilarious joke.
“I am more than happy to supply you with endless good times.” I press a palm on the cool surface above her head, leaning in just enough to get a whiff of her floral scent. My mouth waters, and my fangs burn with need. “No need to chase it from lesser males.”
Sariah laughs without restraint, pressing a warm palm against my chest.
“Oh, pretty boy, it’s almost endearing how highly you think of yourself. Your obsession with me is just because you’re not used to hearing no.”
“That’s not true,” I argue, pressing her further into the cold surface. My thigh finds its way between hers, and I sense the subtle shift in her posture. Her back arches just enough so that her center aligns with my growing erection.
“So you’re used to being rejected by females?”
Her breath fans against my jaw, and I swear I’m losing my Godsdamn mind.
“That’s not what I meant.”
I tilt my head closer, ready to take her lips in a searing kiss that will make her see reason, but she angles her face away, my mouth meeting her soft cheek.
“Not happening, pretty boy. But I’ll tell you what,” she says as she ducks under my arm and gets a few steps away from me. “I’ll let you chase me through the streets, and if you catch me, I’ll grant you a dance.”
She blows me a kiss goodbye and sprints in the opposite direction.
The predator in me awakens, thrilled by the prospect of a good chase.
She thinks she can outrun a vampire?
I lick my fangs and crack my neck.
“Game on, little pixie.”
But when I catch her, a simple dance won’t do.
I’ll make sure to fuck her so thoroughly, she’ll never again want someone else’s attentions.
The sun is starting to rise over the horizon, splashing the white expanse of the city in brilliant hues of pink and orange. A few stragglers still roam the now empty streets, humming drunkenly tunes of conquest and redemption.
I kick an empty goblet with too much force, and it goes skittering down the street before crashing into a wall, shattering into jagged pieces, just like my pride.
I scoured the city for hours on end, chasing after a chimera.
I thought pursuing Sariah would be an easy win. My chance to sweep her off her feet and show her how fucking good it could be between us.
How wickedly sinful. How deliciously demented.
Carnal perfection.
She bested me once again.
Proving that when it comes to her, I’m nothing but a fucking fool.
I slide down to the ground in defeat, grabbing my temples and sighing.
When did this night go so awry?
Maybe when I arrogantly presumed she’ll be an easy catch, so I gave her enough of a head start?
Or even before that, when I decided she would be mine no matter how much she rejected me?
Is she right? I am so unaccustomed to getting no as an answer that I’m developing an unhealthy obsession with the one female who keeps throwing that foreign word at me?
And if she would finally give in, would I get bored and move on to the next conquest?
I don’t believe I would, but fuck if I know anymore.
I groan, dragging a hand over my face.
“What’s the matter, pretty boy? Got outshined by a girl?”
I raise my gaze, and there she is in all her stunning glory, hip cocked to the side, looking all coy and bemused.
“Where were you?” I ask.
She points a finger upward, and I follow the movement to the rooftops.
“It was kind of fun to watch you run around town, tracking me by scent, I assume, but never thinking to check the roofs.”
“I’m sure you had the time of your life, moonlight, at my expense,” I huff in annoyance.
“Now, now, don’t be a sore loser, pretty boy,” she says, laughing as she crouches next to me on the pavement. “I told you since we met; I am a much better spy than you are.”
She extends a hand, and I reluctantly grab it, letting her haul me up.
“It just so happens that I’m feeling quite generous right now, so even if you didn’t technically catch me, I’ll still grant you that one dance.”
“That’s not what I was going for,” I grumble under my breath, but I’m in no position to haggle.
Beggars can’t be choosers.
She leads me to the center of the vacant square and faces me slowly, placing a hand gently on my chest, the other one still clasped between my fingers. My heart thumps loudly against my ribcage at her close proximity.
“There’s no music,” I state the obvious.
“No need. Close your eyes,” she says as she starts humming low, and I let her guide my steps.
I focus on the staccato of her heels against the cobblestones, on her steady heartbeat against my chest, and on her soft voice purring a forgotten tune. I let my forehead rest against the crook of her neck, enveloped by her smooth tresses that smell like warm nights and unbroken promises.
“My grandmother used to sing this to Soren and me as children. A ballad for the fallen heroes of the past. A story of sacrifice and loss, but also hope and redemption,” she whispers softly against my jawline, shivers running down my spine in response.
Why do I feel the urge to lay my soul at her feet and let her tread all over it, with the naive hope that she will tread softly?
I’ve never felt this compulsion before, and I had grown so accustomed to chasing the pleasures of the flesh only, that it never occurred to me that one day I might succumb to the same madness of the heart like everybody else.
“This is, uhm, this is…nice,” I mumble in a subdued voice. She answers nothing, just keeps singing the same haunting tune in a language I don’t understand.
I let my palms glide slowly from the middle of her back toward her ass, stopping before the touch turns indecent.
Despite the sweetness of the moment, I know she won’t accept my advances.
If I try to make a move, the spell of this instance suspended in time will dissipate.
I’m wary, wanting to prolong the magic just a tad longer.
Maybe she’s truly the first female who doesn’t find my company agreeable or my physical qualities alluring.
As baffling as such a concept seems, it remains a possibility.
So, instead of leaning in and trying to steal the kiss I long to have, I keep my eyes wide shut and revel in the quiet embrace of a girl who is getting under my flawless vampire skin.
Here, in an empty square in the middle of a sleeping city, bathed by the gilded rays of sunlight creeping in over the horizon, I can almost pretend that we’re two lovers lost in the devotion they harbor for each other.
As if the future is not murky and we have all the time in this realm ahead of us.
It’s a beautiful illusion, and I’ll cling to it for as long as she’ll let me.