Page 98 of House of Darkness
Razvan nodded. “Yes, I’ll draft letters for the remaining Houses tonight to be sent out first thing. Sounds like I’m going to be busy for the next few months.”
“We can each take a House and reach out tothem. It’ll go faster that way,” Roman suggested.
“And what of the full moon? We have girls at the house, Roman. They won’t feel comfortable with you there,” Catina pointed out.
Roman turned to me, a gentle smile curving his lips. “I’d like the night with my tsarina. We can set you up with them in a hotel in the city. You and Enso have the best control among us, and they’ll feel more at ease with a woman present.”
“Alright,” Catina said, then added, “but can you stop looking at her like that? It makes me want to throw up.”
Roman chuckled. “You’re welcome to leave if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“It makes all of us uncomfortable,” Enso chimed in.
I ignored them all and focused on Roman, that flicker of heat and love in his eyes nearly consuming me, as it always had. The thought of having one night to revel in my engagement and forget everything else felt heavenly. For the first time, I was grateful for that pale disk in the sky and how it affected vampires. It was like a brief respite before the world ignited in flames.
Chapter 50
ROMAN
“Tell me something about your childhood.”
My gaze swept over Estrella’s beautiful form, feasting on every curve. Somehow, she was even more enchanting amidst the garden's lush vegetation, her sweet scent mingling with the spring flowers. The steady rhythm of her heartbeat harmonized with the soft singing of the fountain beside us. Her starlit hair lay splayed over the gravel as she bit into a ripe strawberry. I focused on the way her lips wrapped around the fruit’s luscious red flesh.
It took a moment for my mind to wade through the thick fog of desire to grasp what she was saying. “This garden was built by my grandfather, but my father neglected it while he ruled. My mother and I rebuilt it together. I would go into the city and bring back shrubs for us to plant when my father allowed her out. Those are some of my best memories of her.”
Meager, irrelevant details from my depressing childhood that I really didn’t want to discuss right now. I rolled closer to her, pressing my lips to her neck. It had been my idea to hold off on intimacy as long as possible, but damn, it was hard to resist. All I could think about was how incredible it would be to be inside her. I could alreadyimagine it—my teeth buried in that perfect neck while I was buried deep inside her?—
“Roman.”
Her sharp tone dragged me back to reality—barely. “Yes?” I pressed another kiss to her jawline.
“I think it’s time.”
My entire body stiffened. “No, no. I’m fine—I can make it to dinner.”
“You were growling.”
Was I? I hadn’t even realized it. “—and you completely ignored me.”
That cleared the fog. I leaned up on my elbow as panic hit me. “What? I—I’m sorry, doll.”
She laughed, and gods, I couldn’t look away from her chest heaving with the motion.“It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine. I never want to be like that. I care about you and what you say. I don’t want to be a guy who doesn’t listen because he’s too focused on?—”
She pressed a finger to my lips. “It’s once a month, my love. I’ll manage.”
Just the taste of her skin... I could lick every inch of her. I could spend an entire day worshipping that taste, especially the taste of her sweet pussy—damn it. I ground my teeth together. “Tell me what you said.”
“Your mom sounds like a remarkable woman.”
I nodded, doing my best to keep my eyes locked on hers and nowhere else. “I was lucky to have her while I did.”
She smiled. I would do anything for that smile, the way it bathed her face in remarkable starlight. I’d kill for that smile—nope.Not going there. As difficult as it was to endure the overwhelming desire to shove my cock intoher, it was better than the alternative—violence. That emotion could not surface tonight.
I cleared my throat. “What was your mother like? I’ve never heard you talk about her.”
She sighed. “Our parents dropped us off at the academy when we were three years old. They didn’t even name us—Matei did. We were just a paycheck to them.”
