She flew down to the ground and sat at the foot of the bed, blushing and toying with her hair as she found herself unable to look him in the eye.
"I— I was…nothing. I'm sorry I woke you."
"Don't you sleep during the day?" He asked.
"According to that clock, it's still morning."
"I couldn't sleep," she muttered.
He brought himself up on his elbows. He looked at her for a long time, and then his mouth opened to say something, but no words came out.
"What is it?" She asked. "What do you want to say to me?" Her voice carried a bit of hope.
He shook his head. "I find it hard not to treat you as a woman. I have to constantly remind myself of what you are."
"I am a woman," she said, looking down at the stained carpet.
"You are also one of the worst villains in history," he reminded her.
"You're responsible for more death than few ever could be—and horrible deaths, too. Even before you were claimed by the forces of evil, you did unspeakable things in the name of war."
"What if I changed?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes at him. "Would you treat me like a woman then?"
"I have no idea how I could verify such a change. And your crimes cannot and should not go without punishment, either," he told her.
But she found him staring at his face with a softer look in his eye than usual.
"And yet…I feel conflicted about it." He let out
She bit her bottom lip and crawled over him, and he didn't stop her. She planted her ass on his stomach, and they made long,intense eye contact.
"Treat me like a woman now. You have my permission."
She smirked as she felt the proof of his arousal poke her in the ass after she said that, but the Voss's face contorted in a look that would have been funny if it weren't paired with rejection.
He picked her up by the waist like she was some small animal and set her aside.
"What are you doing?" she asked with irritation.
"Maintaining my virtue for one more day."
She blinked. "You're not a virgin, are you?"
He laughed at that. "Hardly. I had a rather wild start to my career as—"
She found her fingers covering his mouth independent of her own thoughts. "Do not finish that sentence," she hissed, her eyes wide and glowing with warning.
"I don't know what I would do if I were made to picture you with another woman."
It was the closest thing to a real declaration of love she'd made, and it wasn't lost on her adversary. Alaric slowly guided her hand away from his mouth as he studied her with a furrowed brow.
"The spell that binds us together seems to have come with unexpected side effects. This is trouble."
"Trouble?" she growled. "Why is it trouble?"
Alaric actually smirked at her for a second before returning to a more somber expression.
"Because I doubt I can fight you off forever."
Her eyes widened with hope at that. "Alaric—Laric—I was thinking. Maybe we should forget our past and just…have a fresh start. We're in a new place, a new time, and three hundred years have passed since our battle.
The world has surely forgotten us. Even God and the Devil are likely to leave us alone."
He seemed to give it some thought, but ultimately shook his head, making her heart sink. "It's not that easy, Vladira."
She grinned at him anyway. "You can just call me dira if you prefer to use my given name now."
Alaric nodded slowly, his eyes never departing from hers. "Very well.Dira." He winced as he said it, and she had to admit it did seem strange coming from his lips—but not in a bad way..
She straddled him again without meeting any resistance. She planted her palms on his chest and wiggled her butt playfully as she looked at him, not sure what was the right thing to say.
"Well, it's a good thing we're on better terms now, at least," she told him at last. "Imagine what we could achieve as partners, after all."
He grimaced at the thought. "I don't think I want to achieve any of your goals."
"Oh, I don't know," she giggled. "Right now I've got just one, and I like to think you'd enjoy it too."
Once again, his dick hardened to the point of poking her in the ass even through his pants and the bedsheets, but he said nothing.
She went on. "I have an idea!" she said, clapping her hands together.
"How about we try and improve our standing with one another by exchanging praise."
Alaric cocked a brow at her in bemusement. "No."
Vladira's face fell abruptly. "Please?" she pouted. "Praise me!"
"You're…" His voice trailed off and he blinked a few times. "You're not as heavy as you seem like you should be."
Her mouth opened to say something, but the smile was gone. "That was—the worst."
"So don't ask me to do it again," he muttered.
"Well, now I'm demanding. You have to do better than that."
His brow crinkled. "Very well. You are a formidable combatant."
"You know that's not the kind of praise I want," she muttered, moving her hands up and down his chest.
She batted her eyelashes at him and jutted her lip out. "Please, Laric? I need to hear you say it."
He looked away. "You are not…taxing to my eyes," he muttered.
"I should bite you now," she hissed, climbing off of him. She walked toward the closet and opened the door, then went inside and closed it behind her.
"Wake me up at night."
Alaric was at a loss. Just a few days ago, the thought of finding himself growing begrudgingly fond of the Countess would have been unthinkable.
His mind told him, even now, that entertaining her suggestions and giving
in to her temptation was wrong. But he wanted her. And not just for her body, either.
She was charming and uncommonly cute.
He had trouble keeping his eyes off her, and even more trouble forcing himself to keep his hands off her. He wanted little more than to let her have her way with him.