Page 25 of The Vampire Court

I lift a shoulder and offer a half-shrug. “I’m fine without it. I just wanted some air,” I say. Of course, this would be the moment a shiver skates over my body.

Alaric wraps me up in his arms. “You’re cold. We should go inside.”

I melt into his embrace and shake my head, cheek press to his chest. “I want to stay here a little longer.”

“All right,” he says, holding me a little tighter.

Neither of us speaks or moves for a long moment.

“I feel like I never see you anymore. You’re always… busy,” I murmur.

I wrinkle my nose. I don’t know where Alaric goes or what he does when he’s away, and he never wants to talk about it. Even now, he stiffens as I skirt the issue. I pull back, staring at the ground, fighting the unreasonable hurt that wants to bubble up. I kick at a pebble. It skitters away, getting lost in the thousands of others.

“I know,” he says flatly.

And with that admission, he’s closed off again, pulling up his walls to keep me away from whatever he’s been dealing with. I swallow delicately and chew on my bottom lip.

“Every time you leave, part of me wonders if it will be the last time,” I admit quietly. Alaric frowns, but I continue before he can interrupt me and promise me that everything will be fine. “You’re fated to be atherside, and I can’t help but wonder if one of these times, she will take you from me.”

Alaric cups my face, his long fingers tangling into my hair at the nape of my neck. “Wealone will decide our fate. No prophecy, witch, demon, or queen can take that from us.” He brings his face closer until our noses touch. I let my eyelids slide closed. “You are the human I claimed, and I will never regret that.”

My fingers tighten on his arms as he lowers his mouth to mine. It starts sweet, promising that he won’t leave me here alone. Then his lips part mine, and I open myself to him. The kiss transforms into something wild and unnamed.

He crushes me to his chest, and my back bumps against something solid and cold. The chill seeps through my clothes immediately, but I don’t care. My skin is hot, and every nerve in my body comes alive everywhere he touches me. My blood ignites in my veins. All I want is him.

Alaric slides his hands down my waist and over my hips to grab my ass. He lifts me up, pinning me between the wall and his body. I wrap my legs around his waist. I can feel him harden against me.

A voice, muffled and far away, calls out.

Alaric groans against my mouth and pulls away. I’m not ready to let him go yet, but he releases me, his hands gliding up as my feet slowly lower to the ground. We’re both panting. Our hot breaths plume in the air between us. We share a smile at almost getting carried away.

“Alaric?” Lawrence calls.

I glower in the direction of his voice as we smooth the wrinkles from our clothes. Alaric leans forward and places a chaise kiss on my cheek, pulling away just as Lawrence enters the maze with us.

“There you are,” he says flatly. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. You have been summoned.”

Alaric pulls away from me, snarling at the man. “I refuse to go to anotherprivate meeting.She can rot in the Otherworld for all I care.”

My gaze darts from one man to the other.

“It isn’t that,” Lawrence says, his expression stony.

Silence falls like the first flake of snow before a storm. There seems to be an unspoken message that passes between them.

Alaric turns to me, eyes pleading for me not to ask. “I meant what I said, my dear Clara.”

I can only nod, trusting his word. Then I watch the two of them walk off in silence.

With the loss of Alaric’s company, I suddenly feel the chill of the winter air more acutely. I remain with my back against the stone wall, remembering the feel of his touch and the way he tasted. I don’t know how much time has passed, but after a while, the cold seeps into my bones, prickling at my skin like tiny needles. Pushing away, I head inside.

Chapter Ten

Alaric

Irritation pricklesat my nerves as I walk beside Lawrence. He presses his mouth into a tight line, refusing to speak a word until we reach the second floor. I glance out a window to the garden below and see Clara’s faint outline through the lattice arch where I left her. It had been a rare moment together only for something to pull me away.

I place a hand on Lawrence’s forearm, halting him. He turns to face me, jaw clenched.