Page 53 of Obsidian Prince

She opened her third eyes to see the image of herself burning in Alexander's mind like a torch flame with the blaze of his passion. His one strongest thought was that she wanted to have sex with him, and her bed was only a few feet away. Only three things kept him from sweeping her up and carrying her straight back to her bed. One was his iron self-control, which allowed him to let the other two rule his actions. He had promised both her and himself that they would have at least one proper date. He wanted to know more about her than that she made him feel like a horny teenager and she could kill the strongest lion-kin in the pride.

Neither of those would have been enough to restrain him without the third reason. He didn't want to risk the short-term psychological effects of her venom. The idea of losing control of his mind and his actions, even for a few minutes, disturbed him deeply. Even so, his deep desire made him wonder if it might not be so bad to lose control for a while with her.

Liliana smiled, delighted. "I did okay, then."

"You look breathtaking." He extended his arm like a perfect gentleman, but she’d seen the barely restrained fire behind his brown eyes.

He had given her a compliment. She was supposed to complement him in return. He wore his dress blues, the jacket so dark it was almost black, the pants brighter blue with a gold stripe down the outside of his legs. "You always look elegant. You look even more elegant than usual."

That seemed acceptable to him. So far, so good.

The car waiting for them wasn’t camouflage painted and didn’t have gigantic tires. It was sleek and small with a long, curved hood that flowed into a smaller curved cab and trunk. It reminded her of cars she hadn’t seen in many years, but this one was practically an artistic sculpture with wheels. It was a lovely shade of green like pine needles.

Alexander held the door for her as she sat down low in a cream-colored leather interior. The dash had analog gauges. There was no sign of a screen or an auto-drive.

“I like this car,” Liliana said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a car like this.”

He started it up with a softvroomthat most cars these days didn’t make. “My dad was big on Jaguars. It’s a classic E-Type in British racing green. We used to work on it together when I was a kid.” He pulled away from Liliana’s house, his car smoothly taking the corners. “When they changed the emission laws, I modified the engine to run on hydrogen and hybridized it. The trunk is full of batteries.”

Liliana petted the leather interior. “It’s lovely. My second mother was jaguar-kin.”

He chuckled. “My father would probably have been delighted to meet her.”

Liliana smiled to herself, imagining what Ixchel would have thought of a man whose favorite kind of car was this graceful, agile vehicle named after her kind. She would have been intrigued, at least.

They didn't speak as Alexander drove to Raleigh, driving with a hint of a smile, both hands on the wheel. He seemed relaxed, content to guide the pretty machine along their route.

Liliana checked on the Green man. He’d settled to sleep near the roots of a dryad's tree. He would do no more harm tonight.

Alexander looked over at her at some point. His lips curved in a small, pleased smile.

Liliana tilted her head. "What did I do that pleased you?"

"I just realized another thing I like about you."

"What is that?"

"When you have nothing to say, you don't say anything. You don't feel the need to fill silence with meaningless words."

"People who do that can be very tiring." While grateful to her friend for all her help, the day had been exhausting with Janice talking to her every moment. Liliana much preferred the nice rabbit-kin woman in smaller doses. "When do they ever have time to think?"

Alexander chuckled. "Exactly."

The restaurant he took Liliana to was crowded in the front with people waiting. The spider-kin made a small sound of distress. She tried to hide behind the prince's taller body.

He put an arm around her shoulders to pull her in close to his side instead.

Liliana closed all her eyes. She let him guide her. She focused on keeping her hands still. Janice had admonished her repeatedly not to play with her clothes. Apparently, it was unladylike. Liliana had to avoid doing it during her date or she would embarrass Alexander.

She opened one human eye as he stopped walking.

He spoke to a tall, elegant woman who wore a black dress a lot like Liliana's, except the woman was tall enough in her spike heels to almost look the prince in the eyes. The top of Liliana's head didn't even reach his shoulder. The woman looked comfortable in her black dress.

The spider seer had to remind herself that the prince had his arm around her, not the other lady.

"Reservation for two. Bennett."

"Yes, of course, Colonel. We have your table ready."

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