Page 12 of Blood Day: Part Two
“Maybe. But I suspect he’ll make sure she likes it.” Because he definitely hadn’t seemed angry with her, just amused.
Which was shocking, considering she’d behaved that way in front of me.
Except he knew about my name for Lily, suggesting he likely knew I’d given her other liberties as well.Such as my blood, I thought, recalling his words from earlier where he’d told me to heal her.
Was he treating his “mirage” similarly?
She never did say her name. Perhaps I would ask for it tomorrow and see what happened.
“Well, it seems your female-on-female course for this evening has been rescheduled,” I said conversationally, somewhat relieved to be dismissed by Khalid. “Perhaps I’ll test your oral skills for myself instead.”
Lily’s lips parted as though she was already prepared to perform, her cheeks turning a pretty shade of pink.
“Let’s have dinner first,” I suggested, taking her hand and leading her out of the sapphire courtyard—which was a slab of marble framed by statues adorned in sapphire gems.
We moved past the fountain beside it and through an arch into another courtyard area, this one decorated in pillars embellished with opal stars.
I could have phased with Lily back to my quarters, but she didn’t appear to be a fan of the motion. And I liked watching her admire her surroundings.
“You did well with Khalid,” I praised her. “You didn’t formally address him at all.”
“You told me not to,” she replied, her blue-green eyes finding mine. “You said he doesn’t like to be acknowledged.”
She was right. I had told her that while eating midnight lunch.However…“I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to turn off your programming.”
Her attention shifted to the outdoor swimming pool as we started down the long path around it. “I thought of him as Master Khalid instead of Prince Khalid. Which helped.”
“And how do you think of me?” I wondered aloud, my gaze following hers to the waterfall in the middle of the pool. She seemed to be entranced by it.
“As Master Cedric,” she whispered.
“What if I want to be just Cedric?”
Her nose scrunched. “You’ll never be just Cedric.”
“Why is that?” I asked, pausing midstep to pull her around to face me. “Why can’t you think of me without the Master title?”
“Because you’re Master Cedric.” She swallowed, her eyes finding mine. “I… I like thinking of you that way.”
“Why?”
She lifted her shoulders. “I don’t know. It’s…” Her brow furrowed a little. “It’s comforting in a way that I can’t explain.”
“Because you’ve been taught to think of all vampires as superiors.”
“You are superior,” she replied. “But no, it’s not that. It’s respectful?” She seemed to be struggling to explain herself, the question in her voice coming through. “Do you not like me thinking of you as Master Cedric?”
“I would like you to think of me asyourCedric.” A dangerous request, one that could cause confusion and harm later on. Yet it was the truth. “I don’t want you to call me Master or Sire or Sir. Just Cedric.”
“While alone,” she clarified.
“While here.” I cupped her cheek. “You can call me Cedric anywhere you want on these grounds, even in front of Khalid.” As he’d made it very clear this evening that he didn’t mind dropping any and all formalities. “If there is someone visiting, we can review the title again. But for right now, I want to be Lily and Cedric.”
Which wasn’t even remotely fair, given what would happen in a few weeks.
But life wasn’t fair.
Sometimes one just had to live in the present and take advantage of the moment.
