Page 38 of All for the Beast

“Katy, I’m sorry …” He reached for her hand.

She dipped it below the table, then pushed the chair out to stand. She stopped him from standing with a hand outstretched, her voice commanding and forbidding.

“I need to think some things over before I respond to you,” she said, not meeting his eye. “Can I leave these here for now?”

V nodded without a word, and she clicked away, her heels tapping against the stone ground and serenading their end.

He wanted to offer to drive her somewhere, to the pier, to the forest, anywhere, so they could talk it all out, but all he could do was sit there like a bump on a log. He heard her speaking to his driver, and instantly, she was in the driveway, climbing into the back seat.

V felt like he was moving through mud as he stood at the edge of the terrace, watching the car zip away, swallowed by the brother suns. He lifted a hand into the air and, without thinking much at all, crashed it down upon the cobblestone of the terrace.

“FUCK!”

V’s howl echoed in the hidden pastures of his property, a long line running like the breaking of an earthquake down the front of the terrace all the way to the bottom floor. If he really wanted to, he could destroy the mansion with his bare hands, but he knew that sort of vexation wasn’t going to get Katy to come back to him.

She was his mate. He knew that the moment he’d laid eyes on her. He’d tried to step back and let her make the first move if there was going to be any at all, so he wasn’t applying any pressure for her to follow along with his ancient traditions. But he’d believed that she was falling for him in the way he was falling for her.

Had he waited too long to communicate his feelings to her? Had he simply assumed that she felt the same way, but in reality, it was all just some fun sexual fling with an alien to her?

V paced inside of his bedroom until he made imprints in the carpeting. He held his hands behind his back, thinking, wondering, scolding himself, sometimes scolding her, but at the end of the day, he knew only one thing: his heart beats for her, and that is all it would ever do.

He stood there, squeezing his hands, feeling the blood throb in one from the smashing he’d done against the stone. He really only had a few options, and those were to either keep everything he’d been feeling to himself or to go out like a dying star, bursting and full of energy and light.

V was born into a family that rarely did things out of order. It was important for all of them to be proper. But V didn’t want to be that way anymore. He needed her to let him know whether she felt the same way or she didn’t. It would crush his soul, but at least he would know that he tried his damnedest.

SEVENTEEN

KATY

So they’re sleeping together now. It’s no big deal. She always knew it was in the cards. Even when they met, she thought he was handsome and probably good in bed. Knowing that for a fact didn’t change anything.

She was always going to leave before the cruise, and that wasn’t going to change now that their relationship had heated up.

It’s not a big deal, she told herself. So why was she so angry about this?

She walked around the harbor fuming, her footsteps heavy, her mind set on things she couldn’t change. It wasn’t just Vharlk she was furious at, although he was the main culprit. She was also furious at herself. But why?

She stopped in a small coffee shop to refuel. She had a long day of dealing with things she hadn’t had to deal with for many years … a relationship, her job breaking down, moving to a new place … and it all took its toll. The only thing that would clear her mind was a double-shot espresso with whipped cream.

As she stood in line, a woman called out her name. Katy turned to look and saw a tall brunette wearing heart-shaped glasses striding over with the gait of someone who was completely aware of the space she took up.

“Katy! Wow, I didn’t expect to run into you.”

“Uh,” Katy managed, at a loss for words. “Thanks? Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met.”

The woman put a hand to her heart. “Goodness gracious, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Melyn Nolterjee, another cruise enthusiast. I heard you were working withthePrince Vharlk, no? Youmusttell me everything.”

Katy laughed. She didn’t expect to be assaulted with her bad decisions the moment after she’d finished making them, but here they were.

“Yeah, that’s me. Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude …”

“Nonsense,” Melyn said. “You’re as cute as a button and a hoot to boot, from what I hear. Let me get you that drink you’re in line for.”

Katy was immediately caught up in Melyn’s gravitational pull, an earth to her sun that lit up everything in its bath. She was glad to be swept away.

The line halted despite how the last automated teller was free, and Melyn took the opportunity to push to the front. “’Scuse me … coming through … don’t mind me, cher … Prince Vharlk’s entourage … move, please …”

Katy felt a guilty thrill at the way people stepped aside for them, in the same way they did when it was for Vharlk. It might not have been right to like being treated this way, but it certainly switched things up from her normal boring routine. She just planned the cruises. No one knew it was her that chose the flower arrangements or what entertainment was on board. No one on any ship even knew her name.

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