“That won’t be a problem.” Then, because this was Honor, who knew him as no other did on this earth, he said, “You’ll only ever serve me.”
“Arrogant man.” Rising to straddle him, she touched her nose to his, rubbed in that familiar way. “At the start, I thought no, I could never be one of the monsters. But we never had a chance, Dmitri. I want that chance. I want a hundred lifetimes with you.”
He didn’t give her the opportunity to change her mind, greedy for every instant, every second. “We’ll begin the process after the marriage ceremony.”
“Do you think the Guild will still accept me?” It was a worried question. “The Academy’s never been prejudiced against vampiric instructors, but . . . my friends.”
“If they are your friends, they’ll stand with you.”
Yes. Having faith in the strength of the relationships she’d built, she laid her head against him, this man she’d fought death itself to find. “Tell me what you did, what you saw, after I was gone.”
A strong hand fisting in her hair, possessive and dark. “I’ve lived many years.”
“That’s okay,” she said, spreading her fingers over his heart. “We have eternity.”
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Riaz caught a flash of midnight hair and a long-legged stride and called out, “Indigo!” However, he realized his mistake the instant he turned the corner. “Adria.”
Eyes of deepest blue met his, the frost in them threatening to give him hypothermia. “Indigo’s in her office.” The words were helpful, but the tone might as well have been a serrated blade.
That did it. “Did I kill your dog?”
Frown lines marred her smooth forehead. “Excuse me?”
God, that tone. “It’s the only reason,” he said, holding on to his temper by a very thin thread, “I can think of to explain why you’re so damn pissy with me.” Adria had been pulled into den territory during the hostilities with Councilor Henry Scott and his Pure Psy army a month ago, had remained behind to take up a permanent position as a senior soldier. She had fought with focused determination by Riaz’s side, followed his orders on the field without hesitation.
However, off the field?
Ice.
Absolute.
Unrelenting.
Frigid.
Folding his arms when she didn’t reply, he stepped into her personal space, caught the subtle scent of crushed berries and frost. A strangely delicate scent for this hard-ass of a woman, he thought, before his wolf’s anger overrode all else. “You haven’t answered my question.” It came out a growl.
Eyes narrowed, she stepped closer with a slow deliberation that was pure, calculated provocation. She was a tall woman, but he was taller. That didn’t seem to stop her from looking down her nose at him. “I didn’t realize,” she said in a voice so polite it drew blood, “that fawning over you was part of the job requirement.”
“Now I know where Indigo learned her mean face from.” But where his fellow lieutenant’s heart beat warm and generous beneath that tough exterior, he wasn’t sure Adria had any emotions that registered above zero on the thermometer.
Adria’s response was scalpel sharp. “I don’t know what she ever saw in you, but I suppose every woman has mistakes in her past.” The slightest change in her expression, the tiniest fracture, before it was sealed up again, her face an impenetrable rock face.
Scowling, Riaz was about to tell her exactly what he thought of her and her judgmental gaze when his cell phone rang. He answered without moving an inch away from the woman who was sandpaper across his temper, rubbing him raw with her mere presence. “Yeah?”
“My office,” Hawke said. “Need you to head out to check on something.”
“Be there in two.” Snapping the phone shut, he closed the remaining distance between them, forcing Adria to tip back her head. “We will,” he said, realizing those striking blue eyes with an edge of purple had streaks of gold running through them, beautiful and exotic, “continue this later.”
That was when Adria’s cell phone rang. “Yes?” she answered without breaking eye contact with the big, muscled wolf who thought he could intimidate her.
“In my office,” Hawke ordered.
“On my way.” Hanging up, she raised an eyebrow at Riaz in a consciously insolent action. “My alpha has requested my presence, so get out of my fucking way,” she said with utmost sweetness.
Eyes a brilliant dark gold that were more wolf than human, narrowed again. “Guess we’ll be walking together.”
Not giving an inch until he stepped back and turned to head to Hawke’s office, she walked in silence beside him, though her wolf bared its teeth, hungry to draw blood, to bite and claw and mark. Damn him. Damn him. She’d been doing fine, coping after her final separation from Martin. That had been a bloody battle, too.
“You’ll come crawling back to me. Maybe I’ll be waiting. Maybe I won’t.”
Adria bit back a raw laugh. Martin didn’t understand that it was over. Done. Forever. It had been over the night a year ago when he’d stormed out of their home, not to return for four months. The truly stunning thing was that he’d had the gall to be shocked when she’d told him to go find someplace else to sleep and slammed the door on his face.
“Cat got your tongue?” An acerbic comment made in a deep male voice that ruffled her fur the wrong way.
“Go bite yourself,” she muttered, in no mood to play games. Her skin felt too sensitive, as if she’d lost a protective layer, her blood too hot.
“Someone should bite you,” Riaz muttered. “Pull that stick out of your ass at the same time.”
Adria growled, just as they reached the open door to Hawke’s office. The alpha looked up at their entrance, unhidden speculation in blue eyes so pale, they were those of a wolf given human form. However, when he spoke, his words were pragmatic. “You two free to go for a drive?”
Adria nodded, saw Riaz do the same. “What do you need done?” Riaz asked.
“Mack and one of his trainee techs went up to do a routine service of the hydro station,” Hawke told them, “but their vehicle’s not starting, and they’ve got components that need to be brought back to the den for repairs.”
“No problem,” Riaz said. “I’ll take one of the SUVs, pick them up.”
Even as Adria was thinking the task was a one-person job, Hawke turned to her. “You’re now one of the most senior people in the den.” His dominance was staggering, demanding her wolf’s absolute attention. “I’d like you to get reacquainted with the region, given that you haven’t spent an extended period of time here since you turned eighteen.”
She nodded. Ranking just below the lieutenants in the hierarchy, senior soldiers were often called upon to lead, and as a leader she had to know every inch of this land, not just the section she’d been assigned to during the battle. “It’d be better if I do it on foot.”