Page 67 of Dark Prince's Mate

“The dress is beautiful.”I trace the tiny silver flowers on the bodice.“That was very thoughtful of her.”

He goes toward the cleansing room, pulling his tunic over his head in the walk.“It’s her way of making amends, or at least trying to.”

I suck my lip between my teeth, admiring the well-defined planes of his broad chest.

He tosses the tunic in the wicker hamper in the corner.“It’s also part of her duties as queen.”

I raise a brow.“To make sure the royals’ dress code is up to standard?”

“To be a good hostess until you’ve had time to select and employ your own dressmaker.”

That sounds over the top.“Does Gaia have one?”

“Every royal female has one.”

That’s a lot of staff.“Where do they all stay?”

“Some of them live in the staff quarters in the palace.”He brushes his hair back from his face, making his upper arm muscles bulge.“Others live in the village.”

I tear my gaze away from his impressive biceps.“Well, your mother has excellent taste.She’s always immaculately groomed.Come to think of it, she doesn’t look a day older than Gaia.She must have a great skincare routine.”

He chuckles.“My mother is nearly three times my age.”

“What?”I gape at him.I remember what Gaia said, that Aruan was five years old when I was born—which means he’s twenty-seven.“That makes her just over eighty!”

“I take it that’s old in human years,” he says over his shoulder, amused, as he continues on his way.

“It’s obviously not on Zerra.”I follow him into the cleansing room.“How long does the average Alit live?”

He sits down on the bench to pull off his boots.“At least ten times my mother’s age.”

“Holy cow.”I stop in front of him.“Will I live that long as well?”

“Yes, my sweet.We’ll grow old together.”

I’m struggling to wrap my mind around the stupefying fact.“That’s almost a thousand years.People on Earth don’t live much longer than a tenth of that.”

I can’t even begin to imagine how it must be to live that long.

His gaze darkens when I undress and get into the pool that’s already filling with warm water, which must be Aruan’s doing, as I’m not testing my new powers.I can’t deny that his reaction to my body pleases me.It’s good to know I affect him as much as he affects me.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he says in a gruff tone.“Not unless you want me inside you.”

I roll my eyes, ignoring the way his words heat my belly.“You’ll make me think you only have one thing on your mind.”

“With you?”He raises a thick, dark eyebrow.“How could I think about anything else?”Openly staring at my breasts and then lower, he adds in a low, dark voice, “I could never get enough of your body.”

I flush hotter, then remind myself that he wants me because we’re mates, which is a result of our programming.The mating system is ingenious from a biological point of view.It not only ensures procreation but also prevents the messiness that comes with breakups and divorces.Yet I still wish he liked me for me and not because some ancient programming in our DNA predestined us to be together.

His gentle question pulls me back to the present.“What are you thinking about that puts such a deep frown on your pretty face?”

“What you told me about the priests’ theory.”I sit down on the bench and stretch out my legs, enjoying the soothing warmth of the water.“About the tiny smart particles and all that.”

“Oh?”He rakes a gaze over my body as he sheds his pants.“Do tell.”

The sight of him naked always does things to me, things that make it hard to concentrate.I know where our bath is going to end if I don’t get my mind out of the gutter, so I force myself to focus on his handsome face.

“I think those priests are right.On Earth, we’re currently developing what could eventually become similar technology—some combination of artificial intelligence and nano-implants.So if that’s what happened here, then you and I—and every Alit—are products of a highly advanced ancient technology, the end result of a merger between humans and AI.”

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