Page 70 of Tarnished Reign

“Are you vegetarian?” I recall Jacob noting she’d barely eaten any meat.

“No. I just don’t like sushi with fish in it.” She sips at her drink. “What’s your favorite food?”

“Steak.”

“I’m shocked,” she says.

I laugh.

“I know you like screeching noise for music,” she says. “What kind of movies do you like?”

“Horror and science fiction.”

She wrinkles her nose.

“Not a fan, huh?”

“No.”

My fingers slide into her hair, and I smooth it from her shoulder so I can see the tattoo. I trace it with my fingers, and she shivers. “Do you want any more ink?”

She nods. “I want a line my mother wrote to me in a card. Though she be but little, she is fierce.”

I lean in and kiss her throat, soft and reverential. Just once.

This is a seduction. Something I haven't done in the longest time, and it’s painfully erotic. Why did I dismiss this in exchange for years of quick, meaningless fucks?

A small whisper of breath escapes her gently parted lips.

“It’s a beautiful line,” I say. “Shakespeare.”

“You know it?”

“Yes. I read a lot of Shakespeare when I was younger.”

“You did?”

I laugh at her surprise. “Yeah. It’s full of the good stuff. War, blood feuds … love.”

I kiss her shoulder. Then her upper arm.

She leans into the touch, her face still looking out over the horizon, over the sparkling lights of the bay. “It’s so beautiful here,” she says softly. “If only my time in this city could have been happier.”

“You talk as if you’ll be leaving soon.”

“I will. No way can I stay here. My stepmother will always be a danger to me.”

“You’re safe with me,” I say.

“I can’t stay with you forever.”

I give a low laugh. “Why not? I think I quite like having you around.”

She pulls back and looks at me. “Quite liking me being around is not something I can base my future security on. Anyway…” She glances away again. “I want more. At some point I want love. Marriage, even. Maybe.”

“Kids?” I ask, the sudden fear at her answer taking me by surprise.

She intrigues me when she shakes her head. “Not sure if I want kids of my own. There’s already a kid out there who needs me. It’s another reason I want to leave. I want to take my brother Cade with me.”

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