Princess of Dragons

Chapter 61

Lodin looked up when the door to his office suddenly opened, expecting it to be Ciara again. He was sorely mistaken.

"Victoria." Of course it was her; Ciara would never have the sheer audacity to saunter into his office so nonchalantly.

She merely smiled as she closed the door, leaning pointedly against it.

"I do not have the time for this now." He just as pointedly turned away from her and back to his work again.

He couldn't focus when he saw her silently move closer, however. He watched from the edge of his peripheral as she traced her slender fingers along the desk. He didn't dare move to get a better view as she slithered out of his sights and behind him. He didn't even flinch when her hands slid down on his shoulders, groping his chest from behind.

"I am feeling lonely, Lodin. Will you not offer me some company?"

He squeezed his eyes shut and began massaging the bridge of his nose.

"I already refused to see Ciara."

"Perfect," she purred, quickly gliding around the chair separating them and onto his lap. "It has been so long since we did this." Her words were halfway muddled as her lips moved against the skin of his neck.

He tensed when he felt the sensation of her tongue gliding across, followed by a breath of air that had his skin tingling.

"Surely you must be tired, Lodin. You deserve a break." She pressed herself closer. She held his head still with one hand as she trailed small kisses up his neck and jaw.

"Victoria." He grimaced at how little strength his voice held.

"Tell me what you need."

"I need you to stop."

She only laughed, nimbly drawing his earlobe in between her teeth.

"Enough!" He shot to his feet, forcing her to do the same.

"What?" She stared at him.

"I will not be in need of your services in the foreseeable future," he said. "If ever again."

"What?" she asked again in an entirely different tone of voice.

"You should go back to your room." He sat down in his chair again, preparing to get back to work. Or at least pretending to. All while doing his best to ignore her burning eyes.

"Really?" she asked. "Are you really going to do this after so long?"

"Yes."

"How can you do this after all this time?" She dramatically threw her arms out. "What about my family?"

"Nothing will change for you, Victoria." He finally looked up at her. "Your family will still get what they always have. Your status in my castle will be mostly the same; your social life will not suffer," he promised. "The only difference is your liberation from your work with me personally."

For a long, hard moment, she simply stared at him.

"Does this have something to do with her? With that girl?"

In truth, this was something he should've done a long time ago. Even before he found out about the relationship between the two women. But it hadn't been a talk he'd been actively seeking. Now there was no way around it. Ciara deserved this much, at the very least.

"Why?" Victoria asked when he was quiet. "What can you possibly see in someone like her?"

He sighed, smiling lightly. It was a good question that he didn't know if he had the right answer to.

"Should I not be seeing anything in her?" He watched the otherwise collected woman gape like a fish. "She is upfront and genuine." He moved his gaze to the desk and rearranged some of the tools that were lined up. "She never walks in a wide arch around me like most others in this castle," he pointed out. "It is refreshing."

Just then, Kaisog roared from the outside as though he'd heard what Lodin had said.

Victoria glanced at the door as well, her expression rather sour.

"And what about those beasts? Are they 'refreshing' too?"

"I suppose you could say that." He chuckled. He wasn't too certain that word could cover half of it.

Victoria sighed audibly after a moment of silence between them.

"You should return to your chambers, I still have work to do," he repeated himself.

She looked at him, lips set in a grim line. "I suppose."

They both looked up when a sudden noise erupted in the hall. Several running footsteps and then one sound he couldn't place.

"Hey! You cannot go there!" the guard outside his door yelled, but seemed to have been ignored in the end.

The door sprung open and revealed a sight Lodin hadn't expected in a million seasons.

Basuril.