Chapter Seven
For the first time in a long time, when Calissa woke up she didn’t despise the fact she was once more pressed naked against Lee’s chest. She had no desire to push him away. No sense of anger filled her stomach at the sight of him. Instead, a tender love had filled her heart, something she hadn’t felt for him in a long time.
As Lee stirred around her, she pressed closer to his chest with a soft noise of protest. He laughed around her, and the sound warmed her heart.
“Come on, Leesi. We have to wake up,” he whispered to her, his hands gently combing through her tangled curls. “We have work to do. The Council is likely to show up tonight or tomorrow. They aren’t patient people,” he reminded her gently.
Slowly, he sat up, with Calissa in his arms, and pressed a gentle “good evening” kiss to her lips.
“I have all the proof I need…” Calissa said. If she could just negotiate five more minutes of time wrapped up in his arms, then she’d be happy.
“True,” Lee agreed, as he kissed her nose. “But do you know what to wear? Do you know how to speak with them? They are going to try to get out of having to send their guards however they can. If that means taking advantage of you, a new ruling monarch, then that’s what they’ll do.”
“Wouldn’t they want to help?” Calissa asked in surprise.
“Not if it means they have to do any work,” Lee disagreed. “These are very old vampires. Vampires that appointed themselves Lords before humans ever posed a threat. They don’t believe we are having trouble with this.”
At this, Calissa frowned and huddled that much closer to Lee’s chest. If the Council didn’t care about the different struggles of each individual coven, what was the point in having one to begin with? Instead of voicing this thought aloud, though, she pressed a kiss to Lee’s neck and then got to her feet.
“Alright, Lee. Help me get dressed and let’s figure out what needs to be said to the council.”
He nodded and got up beside her, taking her hand in his own. “Viktor will listen to you,” he said, as he opened up a dusty-looking closet and revealed the regal clothing of past coven monarchs. An all-lace, black dress caught her eye but, before she could grab it, it was in Lee’s hands, as if he could read her mind.
“Here. Try putting this one on,” he said, as he went over to his own personal wardrobe and pulled out a lace pair of panties, similar to the ones Calissa had worn the previous day.
“You kept those?” she asked incredulously, though she slipped them on without question and unzipped the skin tight, lace dress. As she pulled it on, Lee continued.
“It’s Arjin I’m worried about,” he admitted. He was briefly distracted as his eyes roamed all over Calissa’s voluptuous frame and the way the lace dress clung so perfectly to every angle and curve of her body, but he stopped himself before his looking turned into touches. “See, Angulic and Arjin are a married, mated pair. Anything he says, she’ll agree with. David is so soft spoken that his opinion rarely makes a difference.”
“Help me with this?” Calissa said, once she’d gotten the dress all the way on save having it zipped. She turned around to face the wall and hummed as Lee zipped her into the dress. “So, what you’re saying is if I win Arjin over—”
“The rest of the Council will likely follow,” Lee finished. He turned her around once he’d zipped her in and looked her over with a smile. The dress looked as though it’d been tailored specifically with her frame and size in mind, it fit her so well. Slowly, he pressed a kiss to her lips.
“How hard is it going to be to convince Arjin to send in the guard?” she asked hesitantly.
“Extremely.”
A knock sounded at the door then, and Calissa’s heart sank. The vampire on the other side of the door claimed the Council was there in their foyer.
“I thought I’d have more time to prepare for this!” she gasped. Fear shone in her eyes as she looked up at Lee, but, as he pressed a comforting kiss to the top of her head and pulled her into a warm embrace, her nerves settled.
“You can do this, Calissa. I know you can. And don’t worry,” he said, looking down at her with a wink. “Call for an ambassador, and I’ll get to be by your side the entire time.”
“Promise me?” Calissa whispered.
“I promise.”