Why do I always feel like I am talking to myself? She thinks, as she looks at him. Had everything she'd said gotten through?

She sets her purse down at a table by the door and steps out of her shoes.

"Then I will stay."


Asa puffed his cheeks and mock glared at her and exhaled. All the arguments would lead to the same conclusion: Ishani had never wanted him to be Prince. Even though they both knew there hadn't been anyone else, she was right in saying their relationship would be the currency spent to pay the price of power.

He gave her a serious nod, to let her know that he understood.


Ishani steps forward and wraps her arms around his neck, kissing hin long and deep before pulling back and looking into his eyes. She could spend centuries losing herself in those eyes. She vaguely wondered what it was like for all those mortal woman, losing themselves to those beautiful eyes, drowning in them.
Asa savored the kiss, and his hands were already on her clothing's fastenings as she looked at him. They froze as she spoke.Eyes wide with surprise and shock looked at her smile, and his brow knit as he struggled with her words.

Asa wasn't sure what he was saying, or asking, or disapproving, or meaning. He smoothed her hair away from her perfect features, and traced her jawline, as he tried to settle his emotions.


She tries to think past the feeling of his finger tracing her jaw. Tries to think past his eyes forcused on her and knowing what was running through his mind. This was a serious topic and she did not want a sensual distraction to get the better of her judgement.


The words went unsaid. Apparently he had caught her off guard and wasn't going to press the subject when it seemed like it had never occurred to her.

He gave a dismissive shake of his head and a shrug, done with that topic. That, and he was getting impatient. There was a reason Ventrue had a natural connection with the gifts of Animalism. Or, perhaps that connection provided the reason. Either way, it had the same effect, and his hands returned to her clothing's fastenings as he kissed her.


"Asa!" Ishani says, pulling his hands away from the clothing fasteners and holding them tightly.


"Ah..." Asa said, not knowing how to respond. Considering the ramifications of something in abstracts, in bits and pieces over time, was one thing. Having to consider it as more than an abstraction and making a decision was another.

What do you want? She's always asked you this.


Ishani watches him carefully as he responds to her very direct question. Was there something she was missing here?


Asa bent to kiss her, soft and deep, and ran his tongue along one of her fangs, then teased her tongue up against the sharp edge of one of his own.


The only thing in her world at that moment was her and Asa.


Right now, there was only Ishani.