“Regina mea,” Vali chuckled. “You don’t need to mind your manners with me. I can feel your fury and frustration. Sit, talk to me.”
“Regina mea?” I repeated, but did as I was told and flopped down backward onto the impressive bed.
“It means ‘my Queen’ in Romanian,” Vali explained, climbing onto the bed and leaning his back on the headboard. He was already barefoot, and for some reason I found that incredibly hot.
“Austin is always calling you Princess, but you’re not. You’re a queen. Our queen.” He wrapped one of his huge hands around my upper arm and pulled me up the bed till my head was in his lap and he could run his fingers through my hair.
“Hmm.” I pursed my lips. “I like it... which is weird because I hate Austin calling me Princess.”
Vali huffed a small laugh. “No, you don’t. Just like you’re not as mad at him right now as you think you are. Why don’t you tell me what happened?”
“You didn’t see?” I asked, tilting my head back to look up at him.
“No, Regina, or I wouldn’t be asking, now would I?” He softened his words with a small smile as his gentle fingers brushed through my hair. How odd to think this was the same man who’d shot one of his guards point blank in front of me when we first met.
“Uh, I accidentally somehow magicked us here from Bravenherst, and Austin is losing his shit that it was reckless and stupid, but it was a fucking accident. I didn’t mean to do... whatever the hell I did. It just happened.” I scowled, but Vali’s fingers in my hair were slowly but surely melting the anger out of me.
“It just happened?” he repeated, using a finger to tilt my head back to look at him. “Really? That’s the defense you want to stick with?”
“It did,” I muttered, indignant. He arched a brow at me over those sexy, granite-gray eyes of his.
“Were you handling any ink at the time?” he asked me sternly, and my cheeks heated. “I take that as a yes. I have no idea how this ink magic works, but I would probably say that handling any sort of ink until you get a better grasp of control might be considered reckless and stupid, don’t you?”
My eyes narrowed. “You’re supposed to be on my side, Vali.”
“Why?” he challenged me. “Because I want to fuck you? That’s no reason to always agree when you’re clearly in the wrong.”
Indignation flared inside me, and I sat up to glare at him. “What the hell? I am not clearly in the wrong here! It was an accident!”
“Yes, but it was an accident that could have been prevented had you not been handling ink. Correct?” Damn man didn’t even have the grace to look anything but calm, but I really had nothing to say back to that, seeing as he was one hundred percent correct. Instead, I changed the subject.
“You want to fuck me, huh?” Sweeping my dishevelled hair off my face where it had flopped when I sat up so quickly, I tried really had to wipe the scowl from my face.
Vali barked a laugh, then stroked his thumb over my cheek. “Nice deflection. And yes, you know I do. It’s practically all I’ve been able to think of since seeing you on that stage at the Onyx Auction.”
“Huh, I would have thought it’s been since you caught me masturbating in your bath tub.” I gave him a cheeky smile and received the heated stare I was aiming for in return. His fingers on my face warmed with dragon magic until they were just this side of uncomfortable, and I shifted until I was sitting closer to him on the bed.
“That certainly didn’t help,” he murmured, his blazing eyes fixated on my mouth while I silently begged him to kiss me.
“So, what’s stopping you now?” I whispered back, leaning forward until our faces were only inches apart. We’d only kissed once, but the memory of his lips on mine was still fresh in my mind.
Vali let out a long, frustrated sigh. “Only your five other boyfriends, and the fact that one of them is my estranged little brother who I suspect wants to kill me in my sleep some days?”
“Ah,” I nodded. “Cole.”
“Yeah, Cole,” he agreed, and I sat back a bit. “I hope you understand. I want to make things right with him before...”
Chewing my lip, I nodded again. “Before sleeping with his girlfriend? Got it. Actually, really admirable, and I can’t even be a little mad about it.” I paused, running a hand through my slightly tangled waves. “Frustrated and horny as hell, but not mad.”
Vali smiled and pressed a lingering kiss to my cheek. “Thank you for being understanding; it means a lot to me that I have this chance to mend things with Cole. This is why you’re Regina mea.”
“Uh-huh, that’s me... super understanding.” I huffed another frustrated sigh. “At least I’m in less of a violent rage now.”
“Amazing what talking can do, hmm?” Vali smirked like a shithead. “Has Austin cooled down too? You know he was only scared for you.”
“Bullshit,” I snorted, but when I took the time to inspect his feelings swirling inside my chest, they weren’t totally all outraged anger like I’d thought. Yeah, there was a heavy dose of that, but there was also concern, panic, and fear.
Crap, maybe he wasn’t such an asshole after all.
“Austin... I don’t know him as well as you do, but I maybe have a different perspective? He has not had very good experiences with love, and he is still learning to deal with how he feels for you.” I snorted, but Vali laid a finger over my lips to silence me. “Sooner or later, you two will need to stop lying to yourselves and each other. Until then, this anger and fighting seems to be the only way he can deal with things. I think, despite everything you have gone through, that you’re stronger. Emotionally. So maybe cut him some slack and examine those feelings you are privy to before automatically snapping back at him.”
My lips tightened, and I met Vali’s serious gaze for a long moment while I turned this over in my head.
“Fine,” I murmured eventually. “But only if you do something for me.”
“What’s that?” He smiled indulgently.
“Fix shit with Cole. Fast. Being near you like this and not acting on what my body wants is going to drive me insane.” I rolled my eyes dramatically, but I was telling the truth.
Vali grinned and swiped his thumb gently over my cheek once more. “Deal. Now, are you ready to be yelled at by River? I just bet he has some words for you, too.”
I groaned. Dammit, he was right.
Time to face the music, Kit. Just... keep your trap shut and take the telling-off like a man. Woman. Ugh, whatever.
6
Turned out the scolding from River wasn’t as bad as anticipated. I managed to get through it with a few carefully timed “yes, sir”s, which never failed to derail River’s train of thought.
“Um, guys,” Caleb called from the kitchen when River was wrapping up with a final warning not to play with markers—like I was a freaking toddler.
“What?” Austin yelled back, still sitting on one of the leather ottomans with his arms folded while he glared at me. Tyson was back, and the big cat sat at my feet with his head in my lap demanding face scratches.
“I don’t mean to alarm anyone, but we’re badly in need of some groceries for this house. Coffee, especially, if we don’t want Kit to go all hulk smash on us.” Caleb gave me a toothy grin, and I flipped him off. He wasn’t wrong though.
“There is a little grocery store in town, I think,” Wesley offered. “This handy info packet has details on all the local conveniences.”
He held up a series of laminated pages that were bound together down one side, like the type that would be left in holiday homes. It was surprisingly useful since we’d all agreed to keep our Googling to a minimum. Just in case.
“I don’t mind going, seeing as I do lots of the cooking anyway.” Wesley shrugged, standing up to grab the car keys from the table. “Kit, you want to come?”
“Shit, yes,” I eagerly accepted, jumping up from my seat and stuffing my feet back into my Cons. I’d gone for flat sneakers today because we’d been travelling and I was a firm believer in comfortable travel attire.