When Darkness Ends by Alexandra Ivy Page B

contract. But she couldn’t force the words past her lips.
    Did she think that by refusing to admit out loud that she had no choice but to give in to her father’s demands would somehow alter her future?
    Thankfully Levet was moving to poke a claw at one of the bags as his nose twitched.
    â€œIs that food?” he demanded. “Something smells delicious.”
    Cyn held the bag out of reach, glaring at the tiny demon. “Go away, gargoyle.”
    The wings twitched. “But—”
    â€œI said”—Cyn leaned down, flashing his long, lethal fangs—“go away.”
    â€œFine. I will hunt for my dinner.” Blowing a raspberry toward the scowling vampire, Levet paused to offer Fallon a low bow before he was waddling toward the stairs.
    Fallon sent her companion a chiding frown. “You truly have no manners.”
    Cyn shrugged. “I never claimed to be a gentleman.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Of course not. You enjoy being a brute.”
    He lifted his brows, his smile taunting. “Is that any way to speak to the man who holds your nectar?”
    Fallon’s stomach rumbled and her mouth watered as she abruptly realized she was desperately hungry.
    Still she resisted the urge to snatch the bag from his hands.
    Nectar didn’t just appear out of thin air.
    â€œHow did you get it?”
    â€œLise is a vampire of many talents.”
    An unexplainable anger darted through her as she sucked in a deep breath and caught the faint scent of a female vampire clinging to his clothing. The same female vampire who’d been in the lair earlier.
    â€œI can imagine,” she said, her voice cold.
    His lips twitched. “No, you truly can’t.”
    Tiny sparks of magic warmed her palm. Her powers involved an ability to manipulate the environment around her.
    Including creating small fireballs, as well as the blinding blast that could destroy most demons.
    Not that she wanted to kill Cyn.
    But she could singe the tips of those braids that framed his smug face.
    Instead she held out an imperious hand. “May I have the nectar?”
    He held the bags out of reach, his jade gaze skimming over her slender body. “What do I get in return?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œQuid pro quo.” He stepped closer, his expression mocking. “I have food and nectar and clothes. What do you have for me?”
    Her anger amped up another notch. Why did he take such pleasure in teasing and taunting and mocking her?
    Was it because she was Chatri and her father had tried to separate his friend from his mate? Or was it because she was a naïve maiden with no knowledge of the games played between males and females?
    No doubt his vampire friend was a master at pleasing a male.
    Her hand dropped, her expression rigid. Full princess mode.
    â€œIt’s your duty as my host to provide for my comfort.”
    â€œThis isn’t a hotel and I’m not your host,” he drawled.
    â€œWhat do you want?”
    A slumberous heat darkened the jade eyes. “A kiss.”
    Her pulse spiked at his low words, heat flowing through her body.
    â€œI don’t know why you’re determined to punish me,” she muttered, trying to pretend that it was annoyance that stained her cheeks pink. “This situation isn’t my fault.”
    He stepped forward, his gaze lowering to the unsteady line of her lips. “You think kissing me is a punishment?”
    A punishment?
    No. The thought of kissing him was . . . terrifying.
    Gloriously, heart-stoppingly terrifying.
    She took a deliberate step backward. “Where’s your lover?”
    His gaze narrowed as he tracked her sharp retreat. “Did you want her to join us? I didn’t think a threesome would be your thing, but if you—”
    â€œYou’re disgusting,” she interrupted.
    â€œA kiss, princess,” he pressed. “I dare you.”
    Later she would blame her reaction on a