“So you say,” she huffed.
“And I haven’t seen anyone as captivating as you for a long time. But you’re a lark, not a raven.”
“I have a large number of euros that belong to you.” She changed the subject pointedly.
“Keep them, in case of emergency.”
She wanted to argue with him, but concluded the exercise would be fruitless. “Does it bother you to be near me?”
He looked puzzled. “Bother me, how?”
“Does it make you—hungry?”
She almost winced when she said the last word. She didn’t like to think about his feeding habits.
“I’ve already eaten. Your true vintage is masked currently by the blood I gave you a week ago. In a few days, however . . .” His voice trailed off suggestively.
She looked at him in revulsion.
“It doesn’t hurt, when done with care.” William brought his face close to hers. “I’d take you to my bed and we’d engage in all the sensual delights lovers enjoy. I’d touch you, taste you, bring you pleasure. Vampyres can engage in intercourse for hours. I can promise you the best delectation of your life. Only when you were in the throes of climaxing would I feed from you. It would be very pleasurable, very erotic.”
Raven began to feel a little warm at the sound of his words and the movement of his perfect, sensual lips.
She closed her eyes to dispel the magnetic pull of his mouth and the way his voice pronounced the words climaxing and erotic.
The car approached the bottom of the hill and turned.
She looked outside.
“Where are we going?”
William’s expression grew grim. “We’re going to the hospital. Your boy has taken a turn for the worse. I need to see him immediately.”
“Can you help him?”
“Yes, but I’ll only give him enough to keep him alive. That will buy me enough time so I can schedule a more convenient visit. Being in the hospital exposes me.”
“Thank you.” She made eye contact so that he would see her sincerity.
“You’re welcome. While I’m in the hospital, you’ll wait with Luka. Under no circumstances are you to get out of the car. Do you understand?”
“What happens if Luka decides to take a nap with some fish?” She tried to suppress a grin.
And failed.
William’s eyebrows drew together. “What are you talking about?”
Raven took a moment to assess him. He was not amused.
“Haven’t you seen The Godfather?”
William’s face was devoid of recognition.
“You know, the movie?”
He cleared this throat. “I find film—banal.”
Raven laughed. “Of course you do. One of these days, you need to see The Godfather. It’s the best film ever made, next to Casablanca.”
“Would you watch these films with me?”
She blinked in surprise. “Would you want me to?”
He stroked her wrist with his fingers, back and forth across the skin. “I can think of few things more pleasant than an evening in your company, even if it includes a film.”
Her attention was drawn to his fingers and what he was doing to her. It felt incredible.
“Okay, but I have a condition.”
He paused his movement. “What?”
“That you let me examine your art collection.”
He frowned. “That’s it?”
“I’d like to see what you have and assess the condition of each work. Then I can let you know what should be done to restore them.”
“In exchange for this work, which will be extensive, given the size of my collection, you’ll watch films with me?”
She mirrored his frown. “I’d need your word that you won’t try to detain me. I want my freedom.”
“I already gave you my word.” He sounded offended.
William adjusted the cuffs on his black dress shirt. Raven noticed that the cuff links were in the shape of a lily and appeared to be made out of gold.
“I’ll make arrangements for you to have access to the villa.” He gave her a heated look. “Perhaps in time you’ll come to desire my company for other reasons.”
“You made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” she muttered, turning back to the window.
“What’s that?”
“Nothing.”
His eyes narrowed, but if he was going to scold her, he appeared to think better of it.
“After the hospital, I will take you to meet my brethren. They will not be expecting you. No matter what happens, you will act as if you are perfectly at ease with everything that is said and done.”
Now Raven was afraid. His words caused her stomach to flip.
He reached out a finger to lift her chin, angling her head so he could see her eyes.
“I am about to bring you into the underworld, Persephone. Can you be brave?”
She swallowed. “I think so.”
“I know so.” He hazarded a smile and swiped his thumb across her lower lip.
“There’s just one last thing.”
She gave him a questioning look.
His gray eyes glinted as he brought his thumb to his mouth and tasted it.
“You need to pretend you’ve spent the last twenty-four hours in bed with me, mindless with pleasure.”