CHAPTER NINE

“ A ll good, captain?” Craig pressed off the wall and strode alongside him.

The sun was now high in the sky, so they took the internal route back to their rooms. It was the longer way, but meant they didn’t turn to ash, which was helpful.

If the cloud cover was thick enough, vampires could go outside at the beginning and end of the day. It was the direct sunlight that fried them. Literally.

And like the circadian rhythm in humans, where they rose and slept with the sun, the opposite was true for vampires. The moonlight gave them energy, and the sun brought on lethargy.

“Besides having a fuckton of work to do now?”

“Yeah, there’s that. I’ll rally the team.”

Brayden pressed his hand on the security panel to open his apartment door, then shoved his foot into the gap.

“It’s getting late. Give the SLCs a heads up and get some sleep. I’ll do a full briefing with them later.”

Craig reported directly to him and had a team of four senior lieutenant commanders—the SLCs—who they’d both personally trained over six hundred years ago when he’d offered the guy the top job. He trusted every single one of them with his and the king’s life.

Craig gave him a mock salute. “Roger that.”

“And commander”—he held his friend’s stare for a long moment—“don’t ask me questions about her again. She’s off limits. You got it?”

The guy swore and shook his head. “Brayden, you—”

“No. I’m pulling the prince card.”

Craig went still, then nodded. There was a clear and formal structure to the Royal Army, but Craig and Brayden were friends. As close as brothers in many ways. They had been through some major shit together.

The guy was dark and dangerous, one of the reasons why Brayden had chosen him for the role of commander. Speaking as a prince and silencing the guy was a dick move, but well within his rights as sovereign. He knew it would raise suspicion, but he was out of patience after that damn meeting.

Spending time with Willow before they departed was now a priority. Second to the king’s protection, but a priority, nevertheless. And fuck the one-week agreement. Brayden intended to spend every minute he could with her. He’d question his motives later. Much later.

“The security won’t be a problem,” Craig said, his lips tight.

No. It wouldn’t. Craig and his team could pull it together with their eyes closed.

“I know.” He laid a solid hand on Craig’s shoulder and bade him good day.

Yeah, he heard the muttered curses as he closed the door. Turns out it was possible to frown and smirk at the same time.

Craig was right to be suspicious. Brayden wasn’t a shack-up-with-a-female-for-a-mini-relationship kind of vamp.

Occasionally one came along who he enjoyed on a more frequent basis, but his role as prince and captain always came first. The time he was spending with Willow was being noticed, he realized that.

And setting those boundaries with the king and Craig? Yeah, that was drawing attention.

As commander of the army, it was Craig’s job to protect the prince. He fully expected Craig to ignore his warning, not out of insubordination but from loyalty and commitment to his job.

He’d do the same to him.

Still, he’d said it all the same, and knew Craig would balance his request as a friend and his need to do his job.

He didn’t envy the guy.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket. It had been burning a hole in his pants all morning as he thought about Willow messaging him. Eagerly turning it on, he watched the screen. Nothing.

Oh.

Brayden glanced at the clock on the wall. Eight thirty. He smiled. She was likely sleeping in after their active night.

Or was she?

He lay down on his enormous bed, after downing a pouch of blood, and stared at the ceiling. He looked around the room and took in the custom-made blinds which were fitted throughout the property to keep the light out while they slept. Voice-activated lights lit the corners of the room, giving a hazy, calm ambience upon his instruction.

Brayden suddenly wished Willow was there, tucked against his body, or ideally, under his body. Hell, even over his body. His cock twitched.

Why hadn’t she messaged him? Had she changed her mind? He picked up the phone again.

“Lights on,” he instructed before he dialed her number. Explaining a moody bedroom scene would be a little hard at this time of the morning.

“Hello.” Her face appeared on the screen, and his chest relaxed about fifty percent.

“Good morning, gorgeous,” he said, his voice husky.

“Oh, hey!” She grinned. “Are you at home?”

He nodded and wished like hell he could kiss those beautiful lips.

“Did you see my note?”

She nodded and blushed. He may have added some details about what he was going to do to her body tonight.

“I meant the phone number.” He smirked.

More blushing.

“Yes. I was going to message you in a few hours. I didn’t want to come across as too eager, but you beat me to it.”

Yeah, he had, hadn’t he? Too fucking bad. Did he feel desperate? No. She needed to know how he felt.

“Oh, baby, you know I’m eager. There’s no hiding how much I want you. All of you.”

She shook her head in faux exasperation.

“All right, before this becomes video sex, I have to prepare for a meeting at nine.”

He smiled, loving how his words impacted her. She would be thinking about him during her meeting and all day.

“See you tonight.”

“Shall I come to your place?” she asked hopefully.

Shit, no. As he imagined all the chaos her showing up in his world would cause, an idea came to him.

“I’ll pick you up. I’m taking you to the ballet.”

It had been well publicized that the New York City Ballet was in town, and he had tickets. Well, he didn’t have them yet, but he would in a few hours. He had a feeling it was the sort of thing his pretty human would love.

“You do? For the Nutcracker?” Willow’s face lit up. His instincts had been spot-on.

“Mm-hmm.” He nodded, feeling like he’d just taken down superman—which, had the guy been real, he totally could.

He smiled at his skill in sidestepping her request to see his home while enchanting her.

“And can we go back to your place afterward?”

Fuck.

“One step at a time, princess,” he replied, inwardly groaning. “I’ve got to go. See you tonight.”

Turning the lights off, he lay back down and let out an enormous sigh.