Page 36 of Crimson Bond

“You’re damn right it is. But every time I think about him putting his mouth on you, I want to punch a wall. Or the dashboard—or whatever inanimate surface is handy.”

“It only happened once,” I began.

“Twice.He kissed you in the clinic—I was there, remember?”

“Yes. Clearly. You made your presence—and your disapproval—obvious to everyone involved. As I was saying, it only happenedtwice,and it won’t be happening again. I don’t feel that way about Shane, and his kisses don’t even begin to compare to yours. They’re not even the same thing.”

Reece grunted, apparently pleased.

“So how long is this kiss-ban of yours going to last?” he asked in a bruised-sounding tone. From this distance I could no longer see his face, but I knew he was pouting.

“As long as it takes. I don’t like it any more than you do.” My tone softened. “You know I want you, but I could never be happy with just fooling around with you or having cheap sex behind Imogen’s back. As long as you’re under her rule, you’re not free to be my mate. I love you too much to be anything else to you.”

“I love you, too,” he said, sounding resigned. “But for the record, I would have settled for the cheap sex in the meantime.”

I couldn’t help it—I laughed. “You’re incorrigible.”

“And you’re gorgeous. And sweet. And sexy. And you’re going to drive me insane before we get to Canada and get back home again.” He let out a surprising roar and gripped the bedsheets so hard they ripped.

When I stopped laughing, I said, “I’m sorry. It’s not easy for me, either. I’ve wanted you for so long, but we have to be patient. Sadie will know what to do. She’ll help us.”

Reece was quiet for so long I thought he’d fallen asleep, but then he spoke, sounding as wide awake as I was.

“What if there’s another answer?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“What if Imogenwasn’tqueen anymore?”

“She’ll never give up the throne—not for a few thousand more years anyway.”

“I wasn’t talking about voluntarily.” He shifted, pushing up to an elbow and turning toward me. “I’m going to tell you something you’re not going to like—and then I’m going to suggest something I hope you’ll like very much.”

“I’m listening.”

“Okay, first for the bad news.” Reece hesitated but went on. “My mission isn’t to gain an audience with Sadie and ask for her cooperation and partnership. It was at first—that’s the mission I initially suggested to Imogen before the bombing of the VHC headquarters—but things changed. Imogen sent me to assassinate Sadie.”

I sat bolt upright in bed, so stunned I could barely breathe, much less respond. Minutes earlier I had been making out with Reece. We’d probably have been making love right now if I hadn’t put a stop to things. And all along he’d been planning to kill my mentor? I felt sick.

“You were going to usemeto get close to her.”

“I know you’re upset,” he said quickly. “Just hear me out. I never felt great about it, but Imogen’s the queen, and I didn’t really think I had a choice. And accepting the mission was the only way I knew of to get you out of the Bastion and out of Imogen’s hands. If it had come down to Sadie’s life or yours—well, you know how I feel, so I’m not even going to say it. The point is, I have no intention of going through with it now. Maybe I never would have.”

I was still a little bit in shock. “If youhadgone through with it, I don’t know if I could have—”

“We’re never going to have to find out, okay? I’m not going to hurt Sadie. I have a better plan. Instead of asking Sadie to join forces with Imogen, who cannot be trusted, we can ask her to help usoverthrowImogen.”

“And become queen of the Crimson Court?” I said. “She’ll say no. She has no interest in that.”

“Actually I was going to suggest someone else for the job. You.”

My jaw unhinged, falling open. “What? No. That’s ridiculous. I may have queen DNA or whatever, but I have no idea what I’m doing. Plus, aren’t queens just as forbidden from taking a single mate as drones are? I remember that stuff you told me the night of the Inception Ball. I don’t want to mate with a never-ending succession of Bloodbound drones.”

“For which I am eternally grateful,” Reece said. “But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now we can just take care of the first part of the equation, deposing the tyrannical leader. And who knows? Maybe Sadie will change her mind about the queen thing. She doesn’t have the VHC anymore. She’s in hiding. She might welcome the opportunity to live in safety and lead the vampire race.”

“She would be a fantastic queen,” I conceded, starting to get into the idea. This was a plan I could get behind. “Sadie would be so much better for our people. She’s selfless, andshewouldn’t be constantly pressuring me to turn a human. I’d actually be happy to follow in Sadie’s footsteps.”

“Either way, we can’t let Imogen stay on the throne—not if we ever want to be together.”

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