Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
“This is all I need,” he whispered.
“Then we’re good,” I said.
“Yes, we are,” he said much more firmly.
Then he kissed me before he called to the lights to go out, pulled the covers over us and tangled us up in bed.
Proof.
I couldn’t sleep without him, because last night, I didn’t.
But in the dark in his arms, within seconds, even after our most recent deep conversation, after we murmured goodnight to each other, I was out like the lights.
Chapter 43
Fireworks
One could say, over the last month, I’d learned a good deal about what my life would be as Night’s Fall’s next queen.
And most of that was awesome.
But some of it wasn’t all that great.
And the worst of it, I found that next evening, was having to stand in a receiving line.
Okay, meeting the royalty of the realms from all the other continents who’d flown in for this fête, after seeing them in pics and on tapes for decades, I’ll admit, I was starstruck.
And since I was a homebody and didn’t get out that much at night, I’d never had the opportunity to hobnob with many vampires, but everybody knew, they were the glam of the glam.
Done up for the Masque, they took your breath away.
All the rest?
Good gods, it was horrible.
Standing there, in heels, wearing a heavy gown, a perfect smile pinned to your face, having people bob and bow and blather and slaver. The speculative looks. The constant attention.
Totally the worst.
Fortunately, there were staff to keep the line moving along so we could get through as many guests as the hour we were to stand in that receiving line would allow before we joined the rest in the Masque. Therefore, it wasn’t like I was forced into seven hundred conversations.
It still sucked.
What didn’t suck was that we wore our masks through it, considering there was a big ta-do later when everyone would be taking them off, which meant I had a modicum of protection against the attention.
What sucked a whole lot less was Aleksei’s mask.
He wore a black, silver and purple dragon mask that had a long, proud nose that covered his own as well as part of his mouth, horns shot up from the top and curled spikes came out of the sides.
I didn’t care how kinky it made me, I wanted him to fuck me while wearing that mask.
Seriously.
This was such a good thought, it got me through the first fifteen minutes of the receiving line.
The rest was mostly torture, but outside the glitzy vampires and toney royalty, there were a few bright spots.
The first was the parade of all the masks and gowns others wore, some of them slinky, some of them inspired, some of them miracles of construction, all of them fanciful.
This was due not only to an extreme level of one-up-beingship, but also the many photographers who would broadcast each to every corner of the planet. They’d been given access to the proceedings, their flashes constant outside the Palace and along the receiving line, as the trail of crafts cruised down to let the noblebeings, aristocrats, diplomats, dignitaries, businessbeings and celebrities onto the silver-dusted black carpet that looked like a welcome of stars.
The second was Madam Garwah coming through the line. I’d missed spending time with her, of course. But also, she was wearing this swan getup with a mask that had a swan neck and head that rose three feet above her own. It was outlandish, and not altogether attractive, but it was attention-getting and so very her.
The deep curtsy she gave me choked me up. And the affectionate clasping of my hand in both of hers nearly had me losing it.
The last was meeting the royal family of Land’s End.
King Niall, Queen Laoise and Princess Rowan were warmly greeted by Aleksei, Queen Calisa and King Fillion, and they warmly greeted me. My dinner partner the night before had been Bainon, who I found was an interesting and often amusing male. Even so, throughout dinner, I’d noted Prince Cormac seemed quiet, watchful and reserved, almost broody, like Tanyn.
His family was the exact opposite, which was a relief.
But that was the end of the list of the highlights of the receiving line.
The day had been busy. I’d made the decision to trail the queen and Aleece around, because this would one day be my responsibility, so I might as well dig into learning how to pull it off without delay.
This meant I hadn’t had any time for my gals that day, and since they were staying at the Palace, they hadn’t gone through the receiving line.
I was dying to see what they were wearing.
Though, Errol was back, looking peaked and discombobulated, even with this obscured by his raven mask.
I was surprised at how easy it was to pretend I didn’t know all he’d done to me. But he’d laid the groundwork by not being friendly or approachable, so I just kept playing at that.