Ana didn’t have a clue how she’s ended up lying beneath George, but she could feel his solidly built frame pressing down on hers. His eyes locked with hers. She could feel his breath against her cheek, and then Ana watched his eyes shift to her lips. That was the only warning she got before his lips came down on hers. In surprise, Ana did nothing. She couldn’t. His hands held her wrists against the floor on either side of her head. He’d effectively had her pinned to the floor. The suddenness of his urgent kiss didn’t prepare her at all. Ana felt like she was drowning as she responded to the demanding need within his kiss. George’s need was there in his kiss, but he didn’t rush anything, nor did he push the boundaries further. The thrill of Ana’s response was more than enough to have him savouring this kiss, and the feel of her soft curves under his. His brain was just registering what his senses were telling him, when his tongue en
What in the world was that? How did that happen? Were just a few things that ran through George’s head as he berated himself for such a foolhardy action. He couldn’t be more unprofessional and with the emperor’s daughter. It could only have been worse if it had been the empress herself. He groaned as he entered his apartment and punched the wall beside the door. He leaned against it so he could catch his breath and sort out his thoughts. All he wanted to do was hunt her down and finish what he started. George couldn’t remember any woman tasting that sweet before. It was like an explosion of pleasure in the form of a taste. He wanted to know what the rest of her tasted like and all he’d done was kiss her. How could it be like that? So sudden and fierce, he felt like he’d been swept away by some sudden storm. Was he cursed by a mage to want, no crave, what he can’t have? Or has fate turned it’s anger on him and sent her to punish him
Ana couldn’t decide how she’d handle seeing George. Did she pretend the kiss never happened? Tell him off and set stark limits? Fire him and hope her father doesn’t ask questions when she requests a new head of security or personal bodyguard. Whatever his job title was, she didn’t care right now. It was all so much to think of because that wasn’t what her mind or body was truly focused on. She was still obsessing over the entire experience. It wasn’t every day that Ana was kissed like that. In fact, she didn’t believe she’d ever been kissed like that. Most males avoided getting entangled with her, believing she was more of a liability than a benefit. She’d never felt the need to rend and tear at anyone’s clothing. Never felt the need to feel skin on skin from only a single smouldering kiss. She had to come at this from a position of strength. She was the leader here. The highest ranking member of any caste. If Ana failed to maintain her power over George, how coul
Ana sat in her living area at the tiny secretary desk. She tried to make notes for the next sitting that would happen in a matter of a few hours. After the meeting, she needed to write a report to be sent to the emperor on what was going on there and she didn’t know how to phrase any of it. What caused the distraction, and her anxiety, was she had to call George in to investigate her office? She’d noticed more noises coming from the office when no one should be in there. Every time she entered, no one was there, and nothing appeared to be disturbed. This was distracting and annoying. Ana made a decision that she wouldn’t let it scare her. They’d still not spoken about the training session or the kiss. His disgruntled mood showed itself again and Ana felt sure it was all because she’d not called him at the first noise. Ana now waited for him to come in and lecture her for that as well. The look he threw her when he’d gone into the small office warned her that the co
All this time and effort trying to find the person wishing Adriana dead, and it turns out to be a mutt. A mutt. The problem is that the mutt wasn’t anywhere before this. She may believe the dog killed that cat and left it there. But that cat wasn’t killed with claws and teeth. It’d been killed with a blade, which George knew meant this mutt was placed here to throw them off the hunt for the real guilty parties. Adriana is correct, but she doesn’t need to be rude about it. Mary still hadn’t been found, and that George believed was far more than a little concerning. The longer Mary was unaccounted for, the greater the chance that she wasn’t alive. What George wanted to know was why she left here after finding the cat. She didn’t tell anyone that she’d left. That, in George’s eyes, meant Mary hadn’t planned on leaving. So, he must find out what happened to her. “Evening George. So what brings you do
This sitting looked like it would drag on, just like the other one. Ana could only sit there and wonder if this was going to be the rest of her life. “Good sir. I do object with your assumption that the Vampiric Empire would do any such thing. Why would we? Please enlighten us on why you think we would be that petty and ridiculous?” Annoyed didn’t describe her mood right now. Why some of these ambassadors thought it was permissible to throw question onto other factions’ motives with no explanation at all? Well, she’s never understand it, but they wouldn’t be allowed to do that with the Vampiric Empire. Ana wouldn’t allow it. It only became worse when the ambassador speaking avoided her request for clarification. “Please stop there. If you can’t answer my question, it means your reasoning has no grounding in fact or reality. It’s just prejudice. We aren’t here to play politics, sir. We are here to deal with politics. May I request t
George left Ana to her own devices after the meeting. He’d sent a message that informed her that her training session and their promised meeting after the formal sitting had to be postponed as something came up and he needed to address it. That was all he planned to tell her. She didn’t need to know more yet. George wouldn’t tell her about Mary’s death until he could get more details about it first. There wasn’t any point in telling Adriana about it until he could answer the questions, she was bound to pepper him with. He found it interesting to see how often Maximus lurked around the security office. Clearly, he was listening for information. George couldn’t be sure what information Maximus was fishing for as he struggled to befriend their security force. Maximus was not naturally what George would call a friendly person. The vampire was what he’d call a stereotype elitist and security staff, royal or otherwise,
George stalked through the wooded area beyond the gardens of the NARC facility. He’d just finished investigating where poor Mary was found. He’d only met her a handful of times in the last few days, but he was trying to decide whether she was involved in this or if she’d encountered a person or people involved in threatening Adriana. From the initial report, he would not go any further in speculating until he had more information about how she died. He couldn’t agree with the conclusion that she’d been killed onsite here. There wasn’t any evidence of her putting up a fight. Yes, her blood appeared to be missing, but vampires weren’t the only blood drinkers, and with this cast of suspects, their abilities could mimic a vampire attack as well. Whoever left her here did so with every intention of her being found after it was too late to save her or for her to say anything. That part told George the killer or killers were connected to the threat made ag