Chapter 6 #2
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 Blood Calling. 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 one another.
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 to not make 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?”
My voice deepens, “While we are having sex, when I am inside of you, I will bite your neck and drink your blood. When I spill my seed I will be drinking your blood.”
“Will it hurt?”
“No, this will not hurt because first, I will lick your skin, which will cause a numbing effect. You will only feel pleasure. The blood drinking makes the orgasm more intense for the both of us. And then afterwards I will lick you again, which causes you to heal. But there will be a small scar afterwards, on your neck, which I will be proud to see on display, marking you as mine.”
“Will you need to drink my blood every single time we have sex?”
“No,” I shake my head. “I do not need your blood to survive. But we will need it for procreation.”
The scent of her arousal intensifies.
“And, if you and I were to be bound,” I continue, “the Council would resist. Strongly. Krovenia has just survived the public process of accepting one human queen in this generation — my brother’s Claire.
The kingdom is still raw from it and the traditionalists in the Council have been waiting for me to choose differently.
Your life would not be quiet either. The Krovenian tabloids would track you.
Some nobles would hate you on principle, simply for being human.
They would whisper about Lily as your stepchild and about any future children we might have as half-bloods. ”
Her eyes are wet now.
“I would of course not let any of this affect you personally, this is only what they would say behind your back. They would know better than to say this to our faces.” I make myself keep going.
“Your family in Cleveland and Dubai would be subjected to scrutiny they did not ask for. Your father is a lawyer, he might not be pleased.”
A faint, watery smile from her at that.
“And you would have to swear allegiance to House Draven. You would retain your American Citizenship, but you would have to live here, in Krovenia with me. I would not be able to live with you instead, in America.”
I pause. “This is what it would mean. To choose me.”
The room is silent. My pulse is loud in my ears. She is sitting three feet from me with her hand on the arm of her chair, her cheeks flushed, eyes shining, and her chest rising and falling slightly faster than it was when she walked in.
Her arousal reaches me again on the next breath. I grip the arm of my chair and keep my face still.
“Viktor… “ Her voice is rough. She is trying. Her hand has come up to her throat. “I am not — I have so much to — “
There’s a sharp, urgent knock at the study door.
We look over, startled.
Madam Petrova enters the study. “Sire. Miss Novak. The princess. Her tutor sent for help because she has spiked a sudden fever and is not responding well.”
Hazel and I are both on our feet before the sentence ends. In moments we are both entering the nursery. The royal physician is already there because Madam Petrova called for him the instant the tutor raised the alarm.
Lily is in her small bed with flushed cheeks, her eyes are closed and her hair is damp at the temples. One tiny, fisted hand is grips Max’s ear with terrible little-girl strength.
She is hot to the touch.
The physician looks up at us. His face is grave but composed. “Krovenian childhood fever,” he confirms. “The next twelve hours will tell us how severe.”