Page 33 of House of Mages and Raven

Louis laughed. “Barbie, Barbie! You’re so raw. Don’t ever change.”

“I won’t,” I promised.

“Let’s start over, then,” he said, seeing that I’d softened toward him after receiving a gift. “I think that I owe you an apology for treating you as a servant boy, but I didn’t know you were a girl. It was just a big misunderstanding. I’m glad to see that you no longer hold a grudge against me. That’s a good thing. Also, you need to realize that I’ve never apologized to anyone before, so this is huge for me to even say sorry to you.” He smiled at me as I cut my burger with a knife and fork. “Now I get why I had to fight such an urge to bite your lips or neck every time I saw you, even though you pretended to be a boy and fooled everyone, including me. At that time, I thought it wasn’t natural for me to crave you, as I’m not into boys.” He chuckled. “The joke was on me. But now we’ve gotten everything sorted out. All is as clear as crystal.”

“Even though it’s as clear as crystal, you aren’t going to bite my lips or anywhere else,” I said firmly. “You need to remember that I’m a bride candidate and a law-abiding student in Shades Academy. My attorney and rep, who is Prince Cade, has told me that I have rights.”

Louis arched an eyebrow, probably at the law-abiding statement.

“It’s true,” I said. “I’m under the protection of the House of Mages. You can check with Prince Cade, and he’ll tell you that he has a strict rule against any vampire biting a mage in his house without the mage’s consent.”

“I’m not going to bite you, Barbie,” he said. “I’m seeking you out to show you that I’m a different person. I’ve been sober for two weeks.”

I blinked. “Do you restrain yourself from indulging in booze and drug, or do you refuse blood now?”

He rolled his eyes. “Alcohol, of course.”

“But alcohol doesn’t affect vampires,” I said. “There might be an alcoholic mage, but I’ve never heard of an alcoholic vampire. You guys don’t go to rehab for that.”

“You missed my point,” he said. “What I was saying is that you make me a better person.”

I stared at him, forgetting my burger. “I do? I don’t remember ever making anyone a better person before. People always complain that I bring out the worst in them.”

“They’re wrong,” Louis said firmly. “That’s why I plan to properly court you. I’ll ask you out on a formal date, the opposite of that terrible speed date in the House of Chaos with Killian being a control freak and his poltergeist spying on us. It’ll be just you and me having fun in an upscale place. There’ll be another gift delivered to you before the date.”

My face lit up at the sound of more gifts, as did Sy’s. “Really?”

He nodded. “I’m a simple man. I don’t beat around the bush.”

“What bush?”

“I think you might be my fated mate,” he drawled, waiting for my reaction. “I’ve never felt such a connection to anyone else, Barbie.”

“No offense, but you used to drink directly from my veins and recklessly take my life force into you, so of course you felt an amazing connection to me. When I eat, I feel connected to my food too. Like this burger I’m eating was made of the fine meat of a cow. Do you think that cow felt amazing at being made into a burger and eaten?”

Now it was his turn to blink at me. He ran a hand over his silky blond hair and shook his head.

“This is different and you know it, Barbie,” he said. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone else, even when you fooled me as a fake boy. I fought the urge, but I no longer have to fight it. There’s no conflict in me anymore. What a relief. You’re more of a girl than any other girl, Barbie. But I have to tell you this: for a vampire, we can only know if the one is our true mate or not when we take and drink from her at the same time.”

“Did you just make an excuse for sleeping around?” I asked.

“I fucked a lot,” he protested. “But I haven’t fucked everyone.”

Shit, I was his next target.

“Bloody hell!” I called in alarm. “Are you planning to use this official date to make me comply legally, so you can fuck and drink from me at the same time?”

Every table around us was suddenly quiet, as they’d all heard my outcry. A good number of girls shot me jealous glances mixed with resentment. I bet this was giving my opponent good material to work with. Soon, Grace would spread the rumor and call me a blood whore.

Louis gazed at me, heat simmering in his pale blue eyes. “What? No, Barbie. No. That’s not my intent.”

“I know how you big boys with big cocks think,” I sneered. “I was a boy once, but everyone disrespected me and judged me because they thought I had a tiny cock, just because I’m on the short side and have small hands!”

Gunnar snickered. He lingered not far from the heirs’ table, clasping his hands in front of him, his chest puffing up. He’d always looked down on me. Even now, he secretly disapproved of his prince’s interest in me, but he dared not speak up.

Louis shook his head, then laughed, then sighed. “I should’ve known better. This conversation is getting derailed again.” He grabbed my hand between his. “I swear that I just want to date you properly and treat you right, as you deserve.”

“I do deserve it. And you mentioned earlier about delivering a gift to me before our date?”

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