Page 145 of Crimson Oath
Oleg considered the other two thieves residing in the caravan. “Tenzin? René DuPont?”
“They were both suspects.” Radu smirked. “As were Darius, Madina, and Fynn. I invited all of them so that Vecchio could discover the truth, but he has failed me.”
“You cannot step down,” Oleg said. “I am truly sorry, my friend, but no matter what happens with the goblets, it is vital for your people that you do not step down from the terrin’s seat.”
Radu’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
Oleg pulled out the tablet and opened it, spinning it around to the video that Mika had already opened. “Danior Kosinski didn’t die in those attacks on my trucks. We found him, and I think you’re going to want to hear what he has to say.”
Two hours before dawn,Oleg finally left Radu’s trailer and walked to Tatyana’s. He’d met with both Radu and Kezia, faced the heat of Kezia’s anger, and gotten a better picture of what was happening with the terrin’s seats.
He didn’t know what would happen with Vano or the missing goblet, but for now Kezia and Oleg had managed to convince Radu that it was vital he stay in his position for another century and that Vano was double-crossing them.
Tatyana opened the door while he was still a few feet away and stepped back so Oleg could enter.
“It’s so strange to have you walking up to my door with everyone watching.” She looked around and waited for him to walk inside before she closed it. When she turned to him and saw him in the light, she blinked. “What is that?”
The corner of his mouth turned up. “What? I thought you liked my wizard robe?”
“No, that.” She pointed to his head. “It looks… painful.”
Oleg pried off the twisted circle of iron and gold. “It’s my crown.”
“It doesn’t look like a crown.”
He put it on the coffee table, then unclasped the heavy silver brooch that secured his cape. “Help me get this off.”
“Oleg—”
“Unless you want me to fuck you while I’m wearing my ceremonial regalia,” he muttered. “That can be arranged. In fact, I think I would enjoy you riding my cock while I was sitting on the throne in the citadel.”
Tatyana froze, and her pretty pink lips fell open.
“Hmm.” Oleg cocked his head. “I see that you’re getting ideas now, but these trailer walls are thin, so we’d best save that onefor later.”
He gripped the ermine-trimmed cape with one hand and pulled the heavy garment from his shoulders, tossing it on the sofa before he walked to her. “I believe,” he murmured, “that you wanted to bite me.”
When he reached Tatyana, her arms went up automatically, resting on his shoulders. Oleg felt the sudden ease in his neck. He inhaled and the scent of her was salt air, honey, and some hothouse flower he couldn’t put his finger on.
“I want you.” He reached down and lifted her into his arms. “I have been rattling on for hours about business and politics, and I hate politics.”
She pressed her face into his neck and inhaled deeply. “You may hate politics, but you’re good at it.”
“It makes me want to light everything on fire,” he growled. “Or bash something with an axe.”
“Does it?” She started playing with the fine hair at the back of his neck, and Oleg nearly fell to his knees.
She’s nothing you want and everything you need.
Lazlo was wrong after all. Tatyana was everything he wantedandeverything he needed. He loved her. The truth of his feelings settled in his bones and eased through his veins.
Every lover he’d had before her—even his disastrous mating with Luana—it had only been so that he could recognize Tatyana when she came into his life.
As he walked to the bed with her in his arms, Oleg relished the delicate weight of her body in his hands. Her legs wrapped around him. She clung to him, and the kisses she pressed to his neck felt delicate and shy.
He didn’t want shy. He wanted the wolf.
Oleg pried her off and tossed her on the bed. “Do you have something for me?”
