Page 26 of Taken By the Shadow Prince

Winks are usually overdone, impossible to pull off. Previously, Auley is the only person I’ve ever seen pull one off.

But something deep inside of me sparks and sets aflame at that look. Has my mind turning to hungrier thoughts, ones that debate how long it’s been since I’ve last been with a man, if perhaps it is a bad idea to attempt to seduce an immortal demon who plans to hold me all-but captive for five years.

If I want to try, anyway.

I realize I like this side of him. He’s so... comfortable. So perfectly in his element that I can’t help but wonder why he bothers to answer a summoning at all. I’m not sure I would, if I were him. Maybe it isn’t a choice, though. I realize I haven’t asked.

I almost do, but Armin opens a door and gestures for me to step inside before I get the chance to say a word. “This will be your chambers,” he tells me. “I had them prepared right after we made our bargain.”

I half expect my jaw to dislocate from how far it opens. I’m even more surprised that my eyes haven’t completely fallen out of my head as they widen nearly to the point of being painful.

The green theme is gone here. These chambers are comprised of cream colors and shades of purple. I take a hesitant step inside, sort of shocked at how... magnificent it all is.

Because it is.

At least what I can see of it is, though the door to the bedroom is closed, and I can’t see all the bathroom from here. But just this entry room, with the velvet purple couch, the plush ivory rug.

My breathing quickens as I step further inside the room, head on a swivel. Bookshelves line the walls, a mixture of literature and little trinkets. A statue head, a wooden box, purple and white candles jutting from a brass candelabra. There’s a coat rack that looks like a tree just a few feet from the door, and right beside it appears to be a handwoven basket full of plush blankets.

Paintings inside of gilded frames hang on the off-white walls and the accent wall, done in a plum shade.

Stunning.

Simple.

Perfect.

Armin places a hand on my upper back and steers me toward the bedroom. “I had them redecorate it all for you. It used to be so drab in here.” He looks around the room with an approving eye. “They did well.”

“How’d you know?” I ask him. “How’d you know what to do to it?”

He shrugs, a hand on the doorknob to the bedchamber. “Like I told you before, I’ve gotten fantastic at reading people in a very short amount of time.”

Yes.

He certainly read me right.

Something about that has my heart constricting, my stomach tightening, my thoughts turning back to his muscled frame, his angular, beautiful face.

Armin turns the doorknob and pushes the door open, guiding me inside with a gentle hand. And it is just as magical here, still following the theme from the entry room. They painted all the walls that plum shade, but there’s enough light coming in from the windows to keep it from feeling dreary.

The bed frame is aged brass, done in simple, clean lines that don’t overtake the rest of the design in the room. It’s made with simple, luxurious bedding, a mixture of whites and light purple shades. There’s a bench that matches the velvet couch at the foot of the bed, and end tables on each side of the bed that are the same wood, done with the same etched-in handles as the armoire that faces the left wall of the room.

There’s an open door that must be to a closet, if one should have so many clothes.

Stunning. Absolutely wonderful.

“Well?” He prompts after too many moments of loaded silence. “Do you like it, or should I have my designers start from scratch?”

I usually hate to be so open with the way I feel. Often I say absolutely nothing about my true opinions, preferring to lie just to get it all over with sooner.

But I’m not lying this time.

“Don’t let them change a thing,” I breathe, shaking my head with amazement. “In a room like this, I just might make it the full five years with you—though I’m sure I’ll still need something to distract me.”

Armin stares at me for a long moment, eyebrows lifted.

And then he laughs, as if my attempt at a joke (that’s not technically a joke, but whatever) is the funniest thing he has heard in ages. He says, “Mavey, darling, if you seek a distraction, please remember to ask for me.”

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