Page 293

Before revenge came sleep.

With her room half destroyed, Violet had no bed to lie on.

Lila, of course, had eagerly offered up her own room for her to stay the night.

And while the Fae could easily fix the damage, the situation was too precarious.

What if Alaric returned unannounced and offered to handle it himself? What would they do then?

So, they left the room as it was. At least until morning, they’d figure something out by then.

Predictably, Violet had turned Lila’s offer down. As much as Lila was her guardian, it didn’t mean she was her servant. The girl couldn’t keep going out of her way just to make her comfortable. It just didn’t sit right with her.

Except that wasn’t the only reason.

Violet had a gut feeling that a certain "animal" might come sniffing around for her. And staying in Lila’s room? Yeah, that would’ve been very uncomfortable especially knowing how sensitive these creatures were to intrusions. Strangely enough, Lila hadn’t pushed it. She simply let her be.

So in the end, Violet ended up curled up on the couch in the living room.

And just as she predicted, a few minutes past midnight, a certain green snake slithered its way into the house through a small hidden hole. The soft hissing sound reached Violet’s ears, snapping her awake with a jolt. Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when she saw the snake coiled near her.

Thankfully, she recognized the signature green scales and let out a long breath. She did glare at him though for almost scaring her into cardiac arrest.

In the blink of an eye, Roman shifted back into his human form, kneeling in front of the couch with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

"Hello, my lady purple."

Violet did not smile back.

"You are really pushing your luck here," she whispered urgently. "I thought I told you not to—"

Roman cut her off immediately with a deep, filthy kiss that curled her toes and had her lips tingling, her breath catching mid-sentence.

"Now that is quite a welcome," Roman said with a grin when he finally pulled back.

Violet was left speechless. The audacity of this guy.

Not that she was a hundred percent angry.

Sure, she scowled and tried to glare him into the ground, but deep down? She’d been expecting him. Maybe even hoping for him. Not that she’d ever tell him that. Roman’s ego didn’t need any more stroking.

Trust her on that.

Roman stood to his feet, and Violet’s lips instantly felt dry because he was stark naked before her. Not just that, with the proximity between them, all she had to do was lean forward and his already hard dick would be in her mouth.....

Whoa, whoa. What was she thinking?

Not today, Satan!

Roman caught her reaction and smiled, the bastard. That wolfish grin of his was all teeth and mischief.

"It’s not a crime to ogle this huge slab of meat, Lady Purple," he teased shamelessly.

Violet scowled, hissing, "Where are your pants? Get decent, now!"

"Yes, ma’am." He threw her a mock salute, then turned and began strutting toward the front door like he owned the place.

"Roman, wait—!" she whisper-yelled. "What are you doing...?"

But he was already gone.

Violet turned back with her heart pounding, ears straining for any sign that someone might have woken up at the sound of the door opening. But all was silent.

A full minute passed before Roman returned, now in pants with his bare chest on full display. That’s when it hit her that he must’ve stashed his pants nearby before sneaking in as a snake.

Smart bastard.

Maybe, just maybe, she should start keeping a few of his clothes around for easier access next time— Wait a damn minute. What the actual fuck was she thinking again?!

Why was her brain cooking up the weirdest ideas tonight?!

Her gaze followed Roman as he approached her. Without warning, he scooped her up like she weighed nothing.

Violet didn’t even get the chance to squeal, too scared of waking the others. Not that Roman seemed remotely concerned about that. He simply sat down with her still in his arms, before settling her astride him on his lap.

The confidence of this guy!

"So, do tell," he began smoothly. "Why are you lying here, and why’s your room a mess? Snuck there room first, couldn’t find you, door was locked. Had to come this way, and voilà. Lucky me."

"Indeed. Lucky you," Violet replied dryly, but went on, "Just as you saw, my roof collapsed under Alaric’s watch. Plus a bunch of other misfortunes that I can’t explain." She lied tactically.

"Wait a minute." Roman frowned. "Alaric was here? That shy but sneaky wolf! He must’ve taken advantage of my absence to make a move on you..."

Then, as if a thought struck him, he muttered, "Fuck. Is this how it’s gonna be between us? Are we going to have to take turns spending time with you?"

"Roman, I haven’t actually decided—"

"My animal side bonded with you. I can’t stay away from you, sweetheart. You must consider that. Perhaps convey that to the others."

His eyes lit up suddenly. "Although the idea of sandwiching you between my Cardinal brothers doesn’t sound so bad. Especially Asher. I’ll balance out his coldness."He smirked. "Think of it like having a hot bowl of spicy jollof rice on a cold evening. It’d be awesome." Roman even winked.

At this point, it was safe to say that Violet was officially done with Roman Draven. She couldn’t deal with him anymore.

"I’m going to bed now." She tried to get off him, the move an unsuccessful one.

He only smirked. "You mean ’we’re’ going to bed."

Then, with that annoyingly charming strength of his, Roman lay back on the sofa, dragging Violet with him so that she lay sprawled on top of him. Somehow, the cramped space managed to hold them both.

"Roman! What are you doing?" she scolded.

"I missed you so much already. Think of this as me recharging the energy I lost yesterday." He yawned. "Don’t worry, I’ll be gone before you know it."

The fight left her then. Violet simply lay on him. It wasn’t a bad position, honestly. He was warm and smelled nice, even though she tried her hardest to ignore a certain hardness pressing against her.

Still, it didn’t bother her that much. It was a part of Roman she was pretty used to now.

Violet was just beginning to fall asleep when Roman’s greedy hand crept down and rested on her ass.

She smacked it away. "Hands off, fox."

Roman grunted in disappointment, but that was the end of it.

And just like that, they both drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms.