Page 54 of Crave Me

“Stop looking at me like you want to murder me, and meet me back at your place.” He engaged his vampiric speed before I could respond, making me growl in his wake.

It was a quiet sound, one no one heard apart from Nyx.

Because everyone else had fled back to their homes, leaving me alone on the street with my fated mate.

I looked at her.

And she stared back at me. “I thought we weren’t going to tell anyone,” she commented after a beat.

“I changed my mind,” I told her. “Let’s go.”

I had a best friend to kill.

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

NYX

“Look, I just wanted some clothes,”I explained again. “Your realm trades magic like currency, so I was offering some of mine for a new wardrobe—which you told me to acquire, I might add.”

“I believe I saidwewould work on your wardrobe,” he replied, his jaw clenching around each word. “You weren’t supposed to wander off alone.”

My eyebrows lifted. “First of all, I can handle my own clothes shopping—”

“Can you?” he interjected, pointing at the road behind us. Because for some reason, we’d decided to walk back instead of phase or run or whatever would have been faster. “You just created a shield of stardust from your moon magic, something that could likely be felt all over the damn world.”

He lifted his wrist as though to prove a point.

“I’ve already missed three calls from King Laskaris and two from King Volker. I’m sure Empress Asbesta is next since your moon magic is impacting the oceans, too.” As he spoke, his watch lit up and he growled, hittingDecline. “Make that four missed calls from King Laskaris.”

“So it’s my fault the shop owner’s mate decided to kill my gift? And then tried to kill me?” I demanded, irritated by his dressing-down. “I’m a goddess,King Veritas. I should be able to go shopping as I want.”

“Not without a proper introduction,Goddess Nyx,” he bit back. “My people don’t know who you are yet, and you didn’t give me a moment to tell them.”

“Because we had decided not to tell anyone, until youchanged your mind.” Which had been my second point of discussion.

Well, no, mythirdtopic.

I’d wanted to address his new rule first, as I’d thoughtno fuckingwas our only stipulation.

However, now he’d addedno wanderingto the list, and I was vetoing that rule immediately.

He stopped near the gate to his park—something I hadn’t seen before because I’d just phased through his fence—and faced me.

“I’ve explained to you how the Houses work in regard to affiliation. Your mark isn’t as clear as most of those in Gold and Garnet, something I’d intended to address by bringing together my advisors and introducing you to them as myguest. But this afternoon’s events have changed our path.”

His tone was less hostile now and more tired, his eyes telling me that he hadn’t slept much last night, or perhaps for several nights.

I frowned at him. “You need more rest.”

He laughed humorlessly at that and opened the gate to wave me through. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

I considered his statement as I obeyed his unspoken request to enter his lands. “The blond elf was very well hung.” There, that was something he didn’t know, right?

“Excuse me?”

I glanced over my shoulder at him. “He was a well-endowed elf,” I clarified. “Cute, too.”

“Are you trying to piss me off?”