“Slightly funny.”
“Put me down,” I grumbled, annoyed at him.
“No, not safe,” he said, back to running through the trees again.
“What’s not safe? The forest?”
“No. You. I do not wish for you to faint mid-run.”
“It seems the sex has gone to your head!”
He grinned. “It has. It was delicious sex.”
Ugh! What was I going to do?
And I thought I had turned this magic thing off! Why was it still happening?
* * *
I was expecting Theseus and I to be summoned when we arrived back at their palace/home. Well, now my new palace/ home. But when we arrived back, no one was there. I could hear and sense other vampires throughout the entire estate, but no one came near Theseus and me or his—our—rooms, which I was grateful for because I was only wearing Theseus’s shirt. He’d brought all my clothes, except for the one stained in blood from where he had bitten me. I had a feeling he left or got rid of it for that reason.
“Do we have to go see Sigbjørn?” I asked when I entered a newly cleaned room. I noticed a few things, a new light fixture and a new mirror, as well as some other minor details that had changed.
“Why would we have to go see Father?” Theseus questioned, and when I turned back, he handed me a large glass of blood.
I hadn’t realized I was hungry until that moment. Quickly taking the glass, I nearly chugged it, licking my lips in disappointment when it was finished. Noticing, he chuckled, holding a large, silver pitcher in his hand, which poured the blood out like wine into my cup. “It seems I have much to thank my mother for.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, taking another big gulp.
“Sort of took my anger out on this room during your disappearance. It seems she’s had it cleaned and replaced things as best she could and even went so far as to have this waiting for us,” he replied, lifting the cup for me to see.
I watched as he also downed the liquid. “That is why I thought your father would like to see me. I was apparently missing for four days.”
“Our father,” he whispered, placing his hand on my cheek. “And yes, you were, but you do not know the reason why nor want to know, as you have said. Or has that changed?”
I shook my head.
“Then there is no point in meeting him. As I said before, he wished us to mate. However, it may be difficult if your magic stops us.”
My shoulders dropped, and I stared at the blood in my cup. “I want to mate you. But my magic does not seem to care about my desire not to use it. One minute it feels as though I have everything under control, and then that control disappears. I just want it to stop, Theseus.”
“If we cannot stop as you wish, we shall ignore it,” he said, gently tapping his glass against mine. “Now, before you say I have tricked you once more, you are aware of this blood’s purpose.”
I looked at the blood then back up to him as he stood smugly, sipping his own drink.
“Everything we need for the mating ritual?”
“Both my parents are hellbent on it…as am I, Druella,” he said, pulling a leaf from my hair with a smile. “Can you hear? No one is around us, as well. They have cleared all the vampires from this side of the house, cleaned up the room, and brought us dinner?”
I lifted the glass of blood. “All we have to do is share this and bite one another…”
“And sex.”
I giggled. “Yes, and the sex.”
He kissed my forehead. “Instead, let’s go enjoy a bath…you miss the warm water, do you not?”
At the mention of hot water and the thought of being in that water with him, I became very excited, so excited that I suddenly heard the water in the bathroom turn on. He glanced over my shoulder toward the door while I hung my head. I just knew, without a doubt, I had somehow done that.