Page 19 of Crave Me

Which made this next part necessary.

There were too many witnesses on this street. I couldn’t risk any of them thinking I’d gone weak for this woman, even if she was my mate.

Making this public would also serve as a message of sorts to the other Houses. One that would likely earn me a few angry calls.

But I would handle them as they arrived.

This is temporary, I reminded myself.A temporary offer of asylum while I figure out how to move forward with this development.

I used my grip on her neck to pull her back, my gaze capturing hers. “House affiliations are often displayed with jewelry, or in some cases…”

I finally released her wrist, content with my other hand holding her neck.

Then I lifted my now free hand to show her my palm and the beginning of my bloodline tattoo that crawled up the underside of my forearm.

She couldn’t see it all because of my suit, but the flare of her nostrils told me she wanted to explore it later. Probably with her tongue.

“Other Houses prefer jewelry, but tattoos are the tradition in the House of Gold and Garnet,” I told her. “Blood fealty.”

However, a tattoo was permanent, making it not a good option for Nyx.

But jewelry can be temporary.

“To finalize our agreement, you’ll need a marking,” I continued softly, aware of our growing audience. Some of them could hear our conversation because of their supernatural hearing. Those who couldn’t hear us were being told in low whispers what was happening.

“The king is giving her sanctuary with Gold and Garnet.”

“He’s going to mark her.”

“This is unexpected.”

“She’s powerful. A good addition.”

“But she killed Klas and the others.”

“She says she didn’t kill them, and it looks like King Vesperus believes her.”

“Truth serum,” one of them murmured.

“Exactly.”

No one was questioning my decision, just whispering about it. I took that as a good sign that most of the members of my House would accept this change.

The few who didn’t would approach me directly for a frank discussion.

Such as Kaspian, I thought, meeting his narrowed gaze again. It was his job to question me. He often helped me see reason, and perhaps he would do that with this as well.

But for today, I’d made my decision.She’s mine. I’m keeping her… for now.

“A marking,” Nyx said, repeating part of my last comment. “What kind of marking?”

I returned my focus to her and admired the low cut of her black dress before noting the jewelry painting her skin.I’m starting to see why fate sent her my way.“You’re already wearing gold. You just need a little garnet.”

Her nose crinkled. “Garnet’s not really my color.”

I smiled. “It’s about to be.”

She frowned. “What?”