Page 75 of The Vampire Castle in the Sky

“I found it in Elora,” he said, his tone strangely sullen. “I thought it would look good on you, although I know you prefer red to white.”

Bewildered, I gazed around the precious room, the wilderness of textures and colors and sparkles springing out of every corner like something out of a fairy story. A dragon’s lair or a sprite’s treasure cove, perhaps. And slowly, too slowly, I realized what this room really was.

“Hector,” I asked, clutching the dress to my chest, “did you get all these for me?”

He was quiet for a moment, running his fingers over the mahogany dresser before him in that unhurried, thoughtful manner of his. “I kept buying you wedding presents,” he whispered. “But nothing was ever good enough to send. To express how sorry I was for the way I acted back then.”

“You were not that bad,” I argued, setting the dress aside.

“I was selfish and immature.”

“Well, you wereeighteen.I wasn’t exactly the embodiment of maturity either.”

He took hold of my nape, his warm fingers threading through my curls. “You were always better than me. You still are the best of me.”

The room fell away. There was only the lush curve of his mouth that I wanted so maddeningly to taste again. As though he read my thoughts, he used his lips to nudge mine apart, playing with our proximity. For a moment, he didn’t do anything but breathe my breath, feel what I felt. Tingles of anticipation crawled up my arms. And then… Then someone knocked upon the door.

Hector groaned. “I swear the gods of time hate me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Is my torment amusing to you, Lady Aventine?” he grumbled.

I loved that he still called me Lady Aventine, for it didn’t feel like a taunt anymore.

“You’re being dramatic, as per usual,” I chimed.

He seized my wrist and guided my hand down between us so I could feel his hardness over his trousers. My cheeks warmed as he stirred, growing heavier against my palm. “Does this feel like I’m being dramatic to you? Because I get like this every time you deign to breathe near me.”

Slowly, I began stroking him over the taut fabric, watching his mouth open to a soundless cry. “You weren’t like this when we were younger.”

He swallowed hard, his eyes rolling shut. “I was just better at hiding it.”

“Were you?” I teased, applying a bit more pressure. His hips lifted to my touch. In that moment, I could have done anything to him, and he would have let me. “Tell me then. Did you ever touch yourself thinking about me?”

“I always think about you.”

He was so undone it was nothing for me to push him back against the wall. I forced his stance to widen, settling myself between his legs, my hand moving faster between us, gliding up and down his length. “So the first time you finished, I was the reason?”

“Yes,” he sighed, his head lolling against the wall.

I got to my toes and pressed my mouth to the exposed column of his throat, felt it bob with the tip of my tongue. “Good,” I hummed, removing my hand from him just to make him shiver with need. “You were the reason for me too.”

Hector glared at me—or tried to, at least. “You’re a demon.”

Another knock came at the door, more insistent this time.

I almost asked him to ignore it. I wanted to keep on touching him, keep on making him mine, but Hector had always been the most reasonable between us and was already untangling himself from me.

He released a sharp breath between his teeth, adjusted himself over his trousers, and roamed past the labyrinth of drawers and chests to open the door.

Espen’s dignified face came into view, and I felt myself straighten, reclaiming my composure.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said in a quiet, somber tone. “Kaladin and I would like to have a word with you. Make amends, if that’s still an option.”

Hector bowed his head courteously. “Of course.”

Noticing his flushed nape, I touched a hand to my mouth.I made him like this, I thought with the pleasure of an adolescent girl.Hector Aventine, powerless for all his power.

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