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“Exhilarating,” I finished.

Her laughter chipped at my stony heart.

“You’ve truly never been in a bar fight?” She shut the door, sealing us inside.

Adrenaline from the brawl and our escape rode me. Blood running hot, I stalked closer, Runa taking a step in retreat. “There’s also one other thing I’ve never done.”

“What’s that?” she asked, her tone breathy.

I closed the distance between us, trailing my fingers down her arm in a teasing caress. “Tumbled a milkmaid in a hayloft.”

At this, she tipped her head back, laughter erupting from her full lips.

“So I’m to be a milkmaid now, instead of the wife of a dung merchant?”

“If I’m to experience all of this realm’s greatest wonders.” I cupped her cheek, noting the flush of pink that colored her skin at my compliment. “Remove your glamour, little thief.”

She nibbled her bottom lip, then nodded, grasping the medallion and uttering the incantation. I removed mine as well. We gazed at each other, eyes tracking, savoring, reconnecting with our true identities.

“The span isn’t over,” Runa whispered. “We’re still commoners, right?”

“We are whoever you would like to be.”

A frown creased her brow, and her expression turned earnest. “Then for this one night, I’d like to be yours.”

At her words, my stony heart cracked. I wanted this, regardless of the fact that tomorrow, when we woke, everything would return to normal. Runa would stand with Carcerem, and I with the mortal world. But here and now, the two of us existed outside of reality.

Runa was fierce, loyal, and intelligent. Even vicious at times. She made mefeelthings I’d never experienced with another.

Throughout my life, I’d collected many treasures from various lands—spent millions of dollars filling out my collection. The shelves in my study at home were teeming with these rare and unique oddities. Runa was the greatest treasure of all.

What is mine, I keep,my subconscious whispered.

“Show me what lies beneath your disguise, little thief. Reveal yourself to me.”

Chapter Thirty-One

RUNA

Since the dayan arrogant vampire lord tumbled into my hands, nothing about my world had made sense. He was Carcerem’s savior and my downfall. Whether he claimed the throne or abdicated, he could never be mine. But for one night, I could put that reality aside, pretending we were two souls finding comfort in each other. Pretending we were peasants with simple goals and desires. Pretending what we were about to do together meant nothing.

I shoved every thought from my mind but one. I would exist in this moment. Claim it as mine. The memory would be mine to keep and one he would never forget.

“Choose, vampire, which of my identities shall I reveal to you?” I wasn’t about to drop all my barriers, making myself vulnerable. “Your tired and neglected wife of five decades?” I unfastened the buttons on my frumpy dress, shrugged out of the sleeves, shoved the course material down my legs, and kicked the garment onto a bed of straw.

Standing before him in my moth-eaten shift, I groped mybreasts, saying in a false voice, “Take me quick, Morgue, before the younglings break out of the cellar.”

Victor coughed a laugh. “It concerns me how easily that role comes to you.”

“Careful, husband, or I may fall victim to a horrible headache.” I cast him a glare before turning my back to him. “Perhaps you’d prefer the shy milkmaid?” I offered a coy smile over my shoulder while I slid the strap of my chemise down my arm.

Slowly, with teasing movements, I followed with the second strap. Then, bending at my waist, I guided the fabric over my hips and down to the ground where it hit with a masculine sounding exhale.

Breasts bare, in little but a pair of skimpy undergarments, I spun, prowling a path directly to him. “Or maybe I’m the leader of a band of thieves, an evil sorceress with a penchant for seduction.” A devious grin tugging at my mouth, I placed a hand in the center of his chest and shoved.

Custodis fell upon a mound of hay with nary a word of objection.

With the vampire under my spell, I set a foot on either side of his hips and lowered to straddle him. “Tell me. What’s it going to be?”