Page 19

We spent the remainder of the flight in silence, watching Sailor Moon and enjoying being close. My brain was plagued by intentions to drag what harbored Kroven’s guilt out of him, but my intention to be patient thankfully won out and allowed me to stay quiet. I didn’t want Kroven to feel like he couldn’t come to me with things that bothered him in his own time.

Xoah descended the plane down on a private landing strip, one that Kroven told me was reserved for Exo and his invited guests. How the hell Exo, despite being an Orb that was clearly well connected, had managed to claim victory on this without the humans protesting was beyond my scope, so I just nodded along and waited until we were clear to deboard the plane.

Kroven retrieved his rolling suitcase (which was, of course, blood red in color) and offered me my denim duffle, which I took with a smile and used the long strap to heave it over my shoulder. Hand in hand, Kroven and I flitted down the steps of the plane. I could hear Xoah getting ready to follow us as we touched down on the tarmac.

“Are we meeting with them straight away?” I asked, pulling my phone out of my jeans pocket. It really had only taken us a little over half an hour to touch down in D.C.

“Not exactly.” Kroven told me. “We have time to check into the hotel, and then I’ll check with Exo to see when exactly he and Watson will be available to have a meeting.”

I nodded, biting my tongue as more questions bubbled to the surface, refusing to let them boil over. Kroven then distracted himself by ordering us a car on his phone while Xoah descended the steps of the plane and joined us, clapping a hand on Kroven’s shoulder.

“Well, I’m off for some sleep before I hit the town,” He wagged his eyebrows, and Kroven rolled his eyes.

“You’re not going to join us at the hotel? I’ll pay for your room, of course.”

“Nah, don’t worry about me, Kro.” Xoah chuckled. “I’ll find a bed to sleep in. Preferably with some hottie with low inhibitions.” When Kroven opened his mouth, Xoah pressed on. “Seriously, it’s cool. I wanna have some fun in this city before we go. Let me know when you wanna leave and I’ll get the plane ready. It’s a little low, so give me a heads up before so I can refuel.”

“If you insist,” Kroven sighed, finishing the purchase on his phone as he slid it back into his pants. “Don’t get into too much trouble.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Xoah stated with a curved smirk and another wave of his eyebrows. He turned toward me and gave me a wide grin, my pulse quickening when I saw fangs on the top and bottom of his mouth, opposing Kroven’s that were only housed within his top row of teeth. “It was great meeting you, Bas. Take good care of Kroven.” He leaned in closer to me. “Which I have no doubt you’re very good at.”

“I heard that, you lycanthe menace.” Kroven grumbled, but both of them were smiling as I nervously waved goodbye to Xoah, a spring in his step as he started walking past the hangar that he had parked the plane just outside of .

I hadn’t taken in the surroundings, but walking side by side with Kroven, I took the time to. There were two large airplane hangars side by side, and the small tarmac was a minuscule version of the one we had left at Piper Airport. Fields of grass cradled the landing areas and the hangars together, and it really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere.

We burst past the hangar and that quickly changed. The outskirts of a bustling city fell into my eyes, plenty of humans and Orbs alike scattering the streets and cars of various degrees of social standing littering the pavement. There was no outcry that Orbs and humans were out mingling, no protestors in sight. It was like we’d settled into some sort of Eden were prejudice wasn’t readily available.

I tugged at Kroven’s hand as we stopped on the sidewalk just before the back of the now concealed hangar to wait for the Lyft he’d ordered for us. “Everyone is free to blend here?”

Kroven smiled, grabbing my hand tighter and lifting it to kiss my knuckles. There were people around, but no one batted an eye at the action. “D.C. is very different from Piper. There’s still prejudice no matter where you go, but D.C. is much more accepting of humans and creatures co-existing peacefully.”

I was gobsmacked. I’d never even heard of such a thing. If there was an oasis where both humans and Orbs could exist together in harmony, why the hell hadn’t people heard about it? Why hadn’t I heard about it? Piper was just shy of four hours away from D.C. by car. Why the hell wasn’t this being spread like wildfire to everyone who would hear it?

A car came toward us in the distance, putting a hold on a greater explanation from him. Basking in the tolerance that D.C. seemingly had to offer, I couldn’t shake how different things would be in Piper if they were more open as we sandwiched into the car that would take us to the hotel Kroven had already predetermined for us.

Things were getting so volatile in Piper, and part of me wondered why the hell anyone, especially the sangamar, would want to stay in the area when they were just a few short hours away from blatant discrimination. I’d experienced a few homophobic instances living in Piper, but nothing that turned violent. That was my biggest fear about the protestors outside the blood centers. They were already primed with their pitchforked words and it wouldn’t take much convincing for a relatively harmless protest to turn into something sinister and scary.

Kroven conversed with the driver’s mundane musings, hearing him answer the question of what we were doing in D.C. with “business meetings”. The driver asked if we were going to be a part of the rumored political collaboration between Orbs and humans, to which Kroven smiled and said, “I’m not at liberty to discuss my work.” He probably should’ve shucked it off and lied, because this only made the driver more interested in what was happening in those rumored conversations and if the words that were decorating the streets were true or not. Kroven handled it like a champ, saying he wished peace could be attained for both parties and not giving anything specific away.

Rolling up to the hotel, I gawked at the size of it. I’d never heard of the name, let alone was I able to pronounce it. Kroven thanked the driver and we swiftly got out. The marbled entryway had me throwing a mental fit over how much this place must cost to stay per night, but then I was quickly reminded of my earlier conversation with Kroven.

I have a decent amount of wealth…from the past.

The final three words is what made me cautious. Knowing that there was something more to the story only made my curiosity about it burn like midnight oil. But I would be patient. Being patient wasn’t exactly my strong suit, but I was learning. Thoughts of Kroven calling me a good boy caused a delightful stirring in my pants that kept me occupied until we approached the front desk of the hotel.

Humans were tending to the hotel as staff, no visible Orbs working alongside them that I could tell. Even so, the human smiled at Kroven with a genuine gaze of contentment as he leaned on the counter.

“How can I help you, sir?”

“Hi there. I have a reservation under Carlisle.” I snorted to myself at that. I’d briefly mentioned that Thayer had compared him to Carlisle Cullen when we’d made out at Gossamer that fateful night. “I’d made the reservation for two rooms but we’ll just be needing the room with the king bed that I requested, please.”

Sensation rushed to my cheeks. Being all alone in a king-sized bed for the night sounded heavenly . Maybe I could convince him to order room service so we didn’t have to leave the room. I wanted to see more of D.C. and its united wonder, but we could do that before we left for Piper tomorrow. Tonight, I wanted Kroven all to myself.

Kroven acquired our room key and rolled his suitcase beside us as I followed him to the glass elevator. Once inside, he gave me a smile and hit the floor that read F22, the only floor underneath the penthouse labeled button.

He pulled me into his arms, our chests meeting in a glorious collision of opposing fabric, his smile curving as I stared deep into his homey red eyes.

“I wanted you to have the best view possible from the room,” He purred, placing a quick kiss just below my right ear. When he pulled back, he added, “I would have booked the penthouse if it wasn’t owned by a ridiculously wealthy businessman.”

“Says the wealthy businessman.” I snorted, pulling him close again to kiss his neck. “But you didn’t have to go all out just for me.”

“I wanted to.” Kroven nodded, another smile gracing his face when I kissed his pale skin. “I’ve never been able to enjoy this unwarranted bank account with anyone before,” There was the mention of the money again, but I tucked it away in my mental vault for safe keeping. “So I enjoy doing things like this for you.”

“Well I’m sure as hell not complaining.” I said, the elevator lurching to a stop. “I like you spoiling me.”

“Oh, just you wait, blomsjett .”

My dick instantly perked up at that. Thoughts of us naked and tangled in our king-sized bed’s sheets warped my view, only coming to a halt because the elevator doors slid open and Kroven separated from me so we could make our way to our room. Once we arrived at room 2216, Kroven produced the key card he was given and quietly pushed inside.

The inside of the hotel room was a dream atop peach carpet, and I inhaled the slight scent of roses that wafted from the room as we stepped within the four walls. Like a kid on vacation with zero supervision, I dropped my duffle by the door and raced past Kroven to see the rest of the room. His laughter passed by me as I took in the massive open windows that held their home on one entire side of the room, looking out over the hustle and bustle of the city below.

A wonderful sitting area stretched out in the middle of the room, complete with a sectional for us to lounge on that sat before a fireplace and a mounted TV. There wasn’t a kitchen, which seemed unfortunate considering the size of this place, but the rest of the space clearly went into the bedroom and its attached bathroom. The king-sized bed took up most of the bedroom, but there was a nice little area with a couch that we could have our own space if we wanted. A mounted TV was on the opposite wall of the bed, and birchwood night stands sat on each side of the bed, matching the bed frame perfectly. My mouth gaped when I walked into the en suite, a massive jacuzzi tub that looked big enough for four people met my eyes. Dual sinks embedded in marble countertops were tucked beneath a massive mirror, and there was still a massive glass doored shower on the other side of the room with four shower heads.

“Is it to your liking?”

I whipped my head around, facing him with a wide grin. “Kroven, this is amazing! ”

He chuckled again as I leapt into his arms, his hands roaming over my back. I looked up at him. “This is incredible. Thank you for wanting me to tag along.”

“Absolutely,” He nodded, kissing my cheek sweetly. “Only the best for my boyfriend.”

“Don’t think I forgot you said that earlier,” Laughing, I poked him in the ribs. “You snuck that in so fast.”

“Was that okay?”

“Of course it was okay! I loved it.” I let one of my hands trail down his chest and scratch playfully at his stomach. “I’d be more than happy to show you just how much I loved it.”

His animistic growl met my ears as I felt a bulge forming in his pants against my stomach. “As absolutely lovely as that sounds,” He sighed, annoyance visible in the air. “I need to call and see when we can meet our mismatched duo.”

I feigned a pout. “You’re gonna have to make it up to me later.”

Kroven’s eyes squinted as his smile grew. “Mmm, I like Teasing Bas.” He bent down to whisper in my ear. “Second only to Naked Bas.”

We fell into a kiss, and just the teasing of our tongues sliding together made me stop the intimate movement, because all I wanted was more and I knew Kroven would reward me tenfold if I restrained myself.

“Can we order room service for lunch? Before we inevitably meet up with them?”

Kroven kissed my cheek, pulling out his phone in one fluid motion. “Absolutely. Feel free to order whatever you want, blomsjett . ”

With a wink over his shoulder, Kroven dialed a number and pressed his phone to his ear, leaving me to mosey over to the phone by the bed and prepare to order the most outlandish things the hotel had at their disposal.

Watching Kroven with his hand on his hips, waiting for Exo or Watson to answer on the other end, I couldn’t help but think that I could definitely get used to this.