Lily and Verakko both took a few preliminary turns while she attempted to argue with her own eyes to remain focused on the board and not on the way his streaked blue hair curled gorgeously over one eyebrow. An intimate image of them together on a sun-streaked patio, him sitting in a chair and her standing in front of him trimming his hair, sprang to her mind and expanded her chest with warmth. When the image shifted into a much-naughtier scene, wherein her shears had been abandoned and the chair toppled, the heat traveled from her chest and pooled in her core.
“How is Alex?” he called from across the room.
Her cheeks heated, as if she’d been caught doing something rather than just daydreaming. “She’s…not great but not bad either, I guess. I told her we’d come visit as soon as we could. Would that be alright?” She raised a brow.
Verakko paused for a moment before answering. “I’ll make sure you get to see her. Yes.”
Lily’s chest deflated. He’d phrased it that way because the person taking her to Sauven would depend on her decision about him, she realized. If she chose not to stay with him, whomever her guardian turned out to be would take her. She pushed those worries from her mind and focused on him again.
Verakko made his move, and Lily noticed the piece he was floating across the board was colored a different shade of gold than the rest. It looked older, more rudimentary, if it was possible to say such a thing about a flying object that had seemingly no wings or propellers.
She spotted an opening and jumped one of his pieces, then clapped her hands together.
Verakko grimaced, eyes roving over the board in frustration. “You enjoyed the spa?”
“Very much. Thank you again for setting it up.” She chuckled. “No massages for me, though. I was too nervous about it.”
A flash of fang accompanied his grin. “I can’t say I’m upset. If you need to be massaged anywhere, I’d be happy to oblige.”
Lily shivered, feeling her nipples harden under the silky material of her dress. Before she could stop herself, throaty words were spilling out of her. “I suppose I do have a few kinks you could work out.”
Verakko’s gaze darkened, and he licked a fang.
His lost piece that she’d just jumped drifted toward her, and she stepped away, thinking it was heading behind her to land somewhere. Instead, it hovered in front of her hands as though expecting something.
“I forgot to mention. These pieces are special. For each one you win—” Verakko grinned and tapped a finger against his controller, “—you get a prize.”
Lily squealed in delight as a compartment on the top of the round object emerged, revealing what was unmistakably a piece of candy. “Candy?” she asked, wanting to make sure, even though it was already halfway to her lips.
Verakko’s shoulders shot back triumphantly, and he nodded.
Over the next few minutes, they joked and flirted and played checkers, each earning themselves delicious sweets. Lily made her final move with an exaggerated frown directed toward a joyous-looking Verakko.
He jumped her remaining pieces, then punched the air, reveling in his victory.
Lily giggled and chewed on the last of the unfamiliar fruit-flavored candy that was somehow both chewy and juicy. While Verakko did the same, she peered down at the pile of checkers and studied the odd-looking one.
Along the top of the round object were sloppy vertical symbols.
“The Super Bandit version two,” Verakko intoned from the other side of the room. “I found it in the storage cube my father had packed my things into.”
Her chest grew tight.
He pocketed his controller and crossed to her. Smile fading, eyes growing serious. Looking at her with drawn brows that urged her to believe him, he said, “I wanted to show you that the things we shared…what I shared with you…they were real.”
Lily swallowed and gazed up at him, knowing in her heart what he said was true.
A half laugh, half sob escaped her, and she nodded, throat too tight for words. She twined her arms around his neck and kissed him. Strong arms wrapped around her waist. He lifted her, drawing her chest flush with his, and slanted his mouth against hers to deepen the kiss. The sudden purr that erupted from his chest vibrated through him, tickling her tongue and lips as she clung to him.
One week, her mind hissed in the background. Do I know what side of the bed he sleeps on? No. Do I know the name of his first pet? No.
Her grip around his neck tightened. With an answering groan, his hand rose to fist her hair.
I know what he’s like in a bad mood. I know he’ll sacrifice himself to protect me. I know he loves tinkering and hates heights. I know he can be shortsighted and pompous and rude.
Do I know he’s mine? Yes. Lily sighed, melting against his warm, rumbling chest.
Do I know that I love him? Yes. Deep down, she felt it. Somehow, someway, the bond was real, and despite everything she’d been through, she could feel it pulling them together inextricably.
This man was hers. It’d come as a shock earlier to have someone else point out the feelings she’d so viciously denied, but there was no doubt left.
