by Morgan Hawke
Silence fell in the prince’s office.
Thorn stared. Was that good, or was that bad?
Antonius frowned; then his brows lifted. He stepped hastily to the far side of the doorway and straightened.
The door opened. Prince Rafael stepped into the open doorway and glanced about. His jaw was tight and his body rigid with tension. He spotted Thorn and crooked his finger. “Come in, Thorn.” His smile was not pretty in the least.
Thorn stiffened. Uh-oh…. She ducked her head and walked across the hallway, shivering with uneasiness.
Yaroslav occupied the wingback chair on the left of Rafael’s desk. He rubbed his brow and scratched at his jaw. Spotting her, he smiled tiredly and held out his right hand.
Thorn strode for him and took his hand. She leaned close. “Are we going to live?”
Rafael stalked past her and curled his lip. “You will live. Unfortunately, because of your untimely absence, you will not be living here.” He stepped behind his desk, tugged at the long skirts of his robes, and sat.
Thorn scowled. “I didn’t ask to be kidnapped!”
Rafael waved his hand. “I know, I know…. However, this did not stop the Penumbral Senate from choosing you as a Penumbral representative for the United States of America. Which means…” he looked over at her with a sad smile, “you are to be sent back to your home country.”
Thorn stiffened. “What?” She looked at Yaroslav and then back at the prince. “But I don’t want to go back.”
The prince sighed and shook his head. “But you were not here to say such, and so you were chosen in your absence.”
“Why me?”
“Because…” Rafael leaned back in his chair and set his chin on his fist, “you are the only maguskind from America who has ever presented themselves before the senate.”
“But…”
“But wait…” Rafael raised his hand. “This gets better.”
Thorn choked. “Better…?”
Rafael cleared his throat. “You know of the Covenant of Shadows, the edict passed to isolate the human race from magical influence and familiarity?”
Thorn frowned. “I think I remember it being mentioned.”
Rafael nodded. “Well, while you two were out gallivanting across the countryside last night, the Penumbral Senate passed the Nox Noctis Decretum. It is an edict creating a special judicial branch of the court to monitor and enforce the separation between the Mundane world and the Penumbral Realm.”
Thorn frowned. “So, what does that mean exactly?”
Yaroslav sighed deeply. “It means the court has appointed an office of enforcement to watch the human race for unanticipated magus talents.”
Rafael folded his arms across his chest. “It’s a type of police force, I guess you could say.”
Thorn looked at Rafael in alarm. “And what do they do if they find one of these…talents? Kill them?”
“No.” Rafael scowled. “I will not condone the murder of innocents.” He leaned back in his chair. “Wild talents are to be sent here,” he stabbed a finger onto his desktop, “where they will be educated and integrated into our society. Or, at least, that’s the general idea.” He smiled. “I plan to put in motion a mentor-apprenticeship program.”
Thorn frowned. “Is that what I’m supposed to do as a…representative? Police the people of America?”
Rafael rubbed his jaw and shook his head. “No, you will have other duties. As there are more vampires than there are of any other maguskind race, and most of them already live among humans in just about every city of the known world, one of them will be chosen to act as enforcement officer.”
Thorn frowned at the prince of vampires. “Was that your idea?”
“Actually, no, though I am not complaining.” He smiled. “High Prince notwithstanding, I am in far closer contact with my own people. This gives me direct control over how the wild talents are collected and treated once they get here.” He leaned forward in his chair. “Which leads us right back to you returning to America.”
Thorn squeezed Yaroslav’s hand. “But I don’t want…!”
Rafael nodded. “To leave Yaroslav behind, yes, I know.” He stared straight at her. “And so, as the head of the judicial branch representing the Nox Noctis Decretum, I appoint Count Feodor Yaroslav Iziaslavich, prince of Luske, as judicial officer to America, to monitor and enforce the separation between the Mundane world and the Penumbral Realm. You may choose your own staff to assist you in your duties.”
Thorn blinked. “Huh?”
Rafael grimaced. “He gets to go with you.”
Thorn froze. Yaroslav was coming to America with her?
Yaroslav patted her hand and smiled. “Of course, you will have to marry me and make an honest man of me first.”
“Marriage?” Thorn bit down on her bottom lip. “I really don’t know if that would be a good idea….”
Yaroslav curled his lip. “You will marry me.”
Thorn growled in reply. “Is that so?”
Yaroslav grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her down onto his mouth for a searing kiss. His fingers tightened in her hair. He released her mouth but not her neck and glared at her. “I will convince you.”
Thorn glared right back. “You can try.”
“I will succeed.” He pulled her back down for another hot, wet kiss. Moans erupted between them.
Rafael’s brows lifted. He turned away and opened a drawer on the far side of his desk. “I think I shall take this moment to see what properties are available in what American cities.” He smiled. “As a wedding present.”
Epilogue
January 1877
The Fairwind, American Line steamship
En route to New York City, United States of America
Agent Hackett, fine, upstanding representative of the United States Secret Service, sat behind his elegant golden oak desk, wide-eyed with his mouth slightly open. He blinked rapidly. “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe I heard you correctly.” He shook his head slightly. “Could you say that again?”
Thorn smiled. “Sure.” Dressed in a deep green velvet gown trimmed in black braiding, with matching bonnet and shoulder cape, she leaned against Yaroslav’s arm. “I would like you to meet my husband, Master Yaroslav Iziaslavich, a watchmaker from Walachia.”
Yaroslav tilted his head toward Hackett in a slight bow.
Agent Hackett leaned back in his chair. “So you…” He held out his hand and waved it. “How did you…?” Red crept into his cheeks. “How could you…?”
Yaroslav’s brows lifted. “I asked; she accepted. Is this not the usual manner?”
Hackett froze with his hand out and his mouth open. He dropped his hand to the desktop and closed his mouth with a snap. “I see.” He frowned at Thorn.
Thorn kept her smile perfectly neutral. Yaroslav had asked, all right, but it had taken a very long night of being tied to the bedposts while screaming through orgasm after orgasm. Yaroslav was surprisingly creative when it came to using not only his body but whatever came to hand as an instrument of love play. Eventually she had given in out of sheer exhaustion.
Hackett frowned at Yaroslav. “Are you also a…?” His other hand twirled about in a circle. He cleared his throat. “A…?”
“A werewolf?” Yaroslav smiled carefully, hiding the points of his teeth. “Oh, no, I am something else entirely.” Shadows seemed to grow in all the corners of the room.
Hackett stiffened and then swallowed hard. “I, ah…see.” His voice came out a trifle high-pitched.
Thorn leaned over the desk and set down a sheet of paper. “Here is my formal resignation. Since my term is officially over, I don’t see how you should have any problems processing it.” She smiled and didn’t bother to hide her pointed teeth or the way the desk lamp reflected in her eyes. “Do you?”
Hackett seemed to wilt before her eyes. “Washington is going to kill me. I was supposed to get you to sign on for a new term.”
Yaroslav lift
ed his chin, and the shadows in the tiny cabin deepened. “My wife will not be working in the army.”
Hackett nodded hastily. “Yes, yes…I understand completely.” He grabbed the sheet of paper and shoved it into a drawer. “I will see that your resignation is properly filed.”
Thorn nodded. “Thank you, Agent Hackett.” She turned away, and Yaroslav turned with her.
“Wait….” Hackett rose from behind his desk. “Where are you going?”
Yaroslav turned back and smiled. “We are going to our honeymoon suite, of course.” He turned away and opened the cabin door, letting in the night wind off the Adriatic Sea. “Good night, Agent Hackett.” He guided Thorn out of the cabin and pulled the door closed behind him.
Thorn burst into giggles. “When you came out with”—she deepened her voice—“‘I am something else entirely,’” she giggled again, “I thought he was going to pee his trousers!”
Yaroslav’s smile sharpened just a hair. “He was rather entertaining to torment.”
Thorn looked up at him. “Did Prince Rafael really give us a house in upstate New York?”
Yaroslav nodded. “I have heard of this house on the Hudson. I believe he went by the name Van Winkle at the time.”
Thorn frowned. “Really? That sounds familiar.” How did she know that name?
Yaroslav looped his arm through Thorn’s. “So, now that that is done, Mrs. Iziaslavich, I should very much like to explore the silk stockings you are currently wearing.”
Thorn lifted a brow at him. “Oh, would you, Mr. Iziaslavich?”
Yaroslav smiled. “I am quite curious as to what you taste like while wearing them.”
Heat spilled into Thorn’s belly and coiled tight. She licked her lips. “Well, I must confess…that I just don’t see how I could deny you a chance to indulge in your curiosity.”
Yaroslav grinned. “Excellent.” He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips under the stars. “I love you, Thorn Iziaslavich.”
Thorn’s smile faded. Directly over her heart, the silver watch thumped with the steady rhythm of a heart beating. “I love you, too.”
“Good.” Yaroslav leaned down and scooped her into his arms. The froth of her petticoats ruffled over his arm in the night breeze. “I am hungry, wife. It is time for you to feed me!”
Thorn threw her arms around the vampire’s neck. “Then, by all means, let’s get you fed!”
Yaroslav strode down the deck with determination in his stride.
Thorn’s laughter pealed out across the sea and under the stars.
APHRODISIA BOOKS are published by
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Copyright © 2007 by Morgan Hawke
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