Part 14 (1/2)
”Sebastian, what did you do?” Kat couldn't resist giving him the partly patronizing look she often reserved for Blaze.
”Why does everyone always a.s.sume I did something?”
”Sebastian . . .”
”It is all your fault actually. I just took your advice.”
”And what advice was that?”
”Reminded Dya Vlad that his son was just as guilty of 'extracurricular activities' as I was.”
”Oh G.o.d, how?”
”There may have been some pictures . . .”
Kat's mouth dropped open in disbelief. ”When I said to remind him I meant a comment, a joke, maybe even a strongly pointed look. I never said splash pictures across the tabloids.”
”There were no tabloids,” he protested. ”And only one picture. I just slipped it into a presentation he was making, that's all.”
”To who?”
”Just the family and some state officials. Baba never saw it he caught it before he even started.”
”And the picture was . . .?”
”Of me and Anton. Celebrating.”
Kat just shook her head. ”I can't believe you did that. Wait, how did you even do that?”
”I do have friends you know. Apparently in my absence Prince Vlad and the King gave Sergei a royal dressing down for him to deliver and he's not overjoyed with me at the moment.”
”So you just let him put you on house arrest?” Kat wasn't sure if she should laugh or be properly chagrined.
”A royal picks their battles, Kat.”
”Hmm, I see. Are you afraid of Sergei?”
”No. I'm afraid of my mother. Sergei I'm just wary of. I cannot function on my own and he knows it.”
”Well what about letting me in? Won't that make him angrier?”
A wolfish smile appeared on Sebastian's face as his hand slowly brushed against her. ”I told you I pick my battles.”
”You'd go to battle for me?” she asked cheekily. ”Who am I, Helen of Troy?”
”Always,” he answered, ”and far more beautiful than that homely Greek.” His hand came up to stroke her cheek, slowly drawing them closer, and the mood changed. She turned but it didn't stop his lips from descending against her jawline.
”I like this too,” he murmured thickly, resting his head against her temple, darting his tongue out to dance along the curve of her neck. She remembered all too well. When his teeth sc.r.a.ped lightly against her earlobe she couldn't stop a small sound of enjoyment from escaping. She felt his satisfied smile against her skin.
”What are you doing?” Kat asked, barely managing to get it out around the desire stuck in her throat.
”I missed you,” the Prince said. ”Hasn't anyone ever said 'h.e.l.lo' to you before?”
”Not like that.” She put a hand on his chest and pushed him away. He didn't protest just leaned back, far enough for her brain to start working again.
”Then you're missing out on all the fun.” He wiggled his eyebrows devilishly at her and she had to laugh. She also had to move, getting up from the couch and putting as much acceptable s.p.a.ce between them as possible. His grin meant he saw right through her. But before he could comment on it, the front door opened and Sergei entered.
He was talking rapidly in Sezynian but stopped when he saw them both there. His eyes narrowed slightly on Kat and she s.h.i.+fted self-consciously under his scrutinizing gaze. He clicked his heels together, bowed rather formally to her, to them both, and then left the room.
”I have something for you,” Sebastian said, completely ignoring Sergei's interruption. He inclined his head to the table where a neatly wrapped box sat, just slightly bigger than the last one he'd given her.
”Doesn't look big enough to be the s.h.i.+rt you still owe me,” she said, peering at it critically. ”You really have to stop giving me gifts.”
”We'll just see about that. Open it it might be just the thing you've always wanted.”
”You got a happily ever after into this box?” Kat asked tartly. She picked it up and rattled it near her ear nothing made a sound.
”That's what you've always wanted?”
”That, a clawfoot tub, and serving trays that clean themselves. That pretty much sums me up.”
”Does it really?” Sebastian asked, his voice just a tiny bit chiding. ”Your deepest desire is a clawfoot tub?”
”What's wrong with that?” she argued, dropping the box back on the table and turning to him. ”They look relaxing and calm and romantic. Plus, privacy you have enough room for one of those it's not stuffed into the only bathroom you share with a football team. And ”
Sebastian had a strange smile on his face and she clammed up at the sight. She'd revealed way too much of herself in that statement. Next thing you know I'll be confessing the family secret, having heart to hearts about the way I felt when my mother left, Kat thought. She chided herself for feeling involved.
Kat didn't know where to look and her eyes dropped to the floor, scuffing the toe of her shoe against the carpet. He got up from the couch and came towards her, reaching around her to retrieve the box. ”Open it,” he said. ”I guarantee you'll hate it.”
She smirked and rolled her eyes. ”You have to stop giving me gifts,” she said, taking the box and throwing it back down on the table. ”We have other things to do anyway. I want to talk to Sergei.”
Sebastian watched her square her shoulders and walk purposefully across the apartment, whispering her thoughts out loud, but he didn't pay much attention. He considered the woman before him, a huge ma.s.s of contradictions. He still didn't know why she kept coming back. Every morning that he woke up and she was still talking to him was a success in his book. He picked up the box and tucked it into her bag for later. He couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face at the thought.
”May I have a word?” Kat asked rather formally at the door to Sergei's office.
He looked up from his computer with a shrewd glance and nodded his head. ”Please come in.” He stood, gestured towards a chair, and she dropped into in.
”You don't like me,” she said, getting straight to the point, not in any mood for formality, ”and I want to know why.”
Sergei sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers as he studied her. She resisted the urge to squirm. ”It's not that I don't like you.”
Kat laughed. ”Oh, then you show your affection so well. Give me a little credit. You definitely don't approve of me spending time with the Prince.”
”But approval and affection are too very different things.”
”They aren't different at all.”