“In her dreams?” He sounded hopeful, but I turned him down with a look.
“No more dreams for her. Not until we’ve worked this all out.” It was what I’d said the other night, and I stood by it. We needed our mate to trust us before I could continue her sexual education. Otherwise, I risked pushing her too far, and I didn’t want to chance harming our already fractured bond.
“Ugh,” Kols groaned, his head falling back against the chair. “You have no idea how much I want to fuck right now.”
“You always want to fuck,” I pointed out. “And I’m very aware of that.”
He grunted. “Dick.”
“Not a good way to woo me into some temporary relief, Kolstov.”
“I’m not getting on my knees again,” he said, glancing at me. His reference to the other night in his room had my lips quirking upward in amusement.
“Then I guess you’re not getting fucked,” I replied.
“I said I want to fuck, not be fucked.”
“Semantics.”
“You’re an ass,” he chastised, standing up and tossing his bottle into a nearby trash can. “I’m having a date with my hand tonight. You can fuck off.”
“Enjoy,” I murmured, not moving from the couch.
“You can go now.”
“I’m good.”
He shook his head and grumbled a curse under his breath, then focused on the kitchen. “Leftover pizza?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Sure.”
“Good.”
I watched as he worked, the banter between us reminding me of an easier time between us—a time I wasn’t sure we’d ever experience again. However, as he pulled a box out of the refrigerator and slid the contents onto a tray, I started to entertain the notion of a different kind of future. One where we were friends like before, only closer.
Because of Aflora.
Or maybe it would all go up in flames and burn us all to the ground.
I rubbed a hand over my face and shut my eyes, the vision of a dark-haired beauty with cerulean magic flashing in my mind.
What am I going to do with you? I thought at her, aware that she couldn’t actually hear me. That wasn’t how the initial bond stages worked. I could sense her and manipulate her dreams with magic, but I couldn’t yet access her mind.
Soon, though.
Soon.
Chapter Eleven
Aflora
I stared at the black rose on my seat before glancing across the room at Shade. He winked and returned to his conversation with one of the other Death Bloods. Then the flower disappeared into a purple mist, the illusion gone.
“How romantic,” Emelyn drawled, having witnessed the entire exchange from her spot a few seats over. “He sends you dead flowers as gifts.”
“Shall I do the same for you, my beloved?” Kols asked as he took the chair beside mine.
Emelyn narrowed her black eyes at him and ignored the offer. “Why does your father still think we’re going to the Blood Gala together, darling fiancé?”