Titus left Desdemona’s rooms, his mind burning. Her rejection had sent him into a tailspin. He hadn’t expected her to refuse his bite. If he had, he wouldn’t have taken her in the first place. His blood boiled so hot he felt as if he might combust. He had to calm himself down. There were more important things to attend to. The Silverdrake clan needed a leader. The humans of St. Louis needed protection.

At the very least, he’d planted his seed inside her, and with any luck it would grow. An heir was all that was required by the clan for him to maintain his position as Alpha. Claiming her as his mate was not. If she produced a child for him, and decided then to leave him, he would let her.

He entered his own rooms, his mood black, his heart sinking into the pit of his stomach. For centuries he had wondered what would’ve happened if he’d handled things differently. He’d carried the guilt in his heart all this time. Through all of Orion’s cracks about never finding a mate and all his years of loneliness, he’d kept the flame burning for her all this time. Then to finally have her in his arms with his cock buried deep inside her virgin warmth, only to have her reject him?

Titus recoiled at his own pathetic stupidity. The girl had always been flippant and stubborn. What had made him think she would be any different now? He was an Alpha immortal, one of the oldest on Earth. And she was but a child who played silly, childish games. No, he would not allow her to play with his heart. Not again, not ever.

He slammed the door behind him too hard, sending a reverberating crack through the penthouse. He knew she must have heard it, but he didn’t care. What did it matter if she knew he was angry? He no longer cared to impress her. Titus sank into the bench at the end of his bed, staring at the holographic painting across from him. Sorrow slid over his shoulders and coiled up in his brain. His pride wouldn’t not let him feel it. He was done being her fool. If she wanted Kyran, then he’d let her have him.

Titus stood from his bench, the thought of Desdemona and Kyran together burning his brain. He gritted his teeth and growled. His inner dragon reeled with disgust. No, he could never let Kyran have her. He would always protect her. He would always see her as the delicate beautiful flower she truly was, despite all her flaws. Deep in his heart, Titus knew that Desdemona belonged to only him. He could never let her go. Even his momentary flash of anger made him feel ashamed and disloyal.

He battled with himself for quite some time as he paced back and forth in his room. The fight between his pride and his heart raged deep into the night, until he finally drank himself into a stupor and passed out on his bed.

When he woke in the morning he had regained his resolve. After a shower and dressing in a tailored suit, he left his rooms. He went to the dining room where his Goudy servants had already put out a buffet breakfast with coffee and fresh baked pastries. He grabbed a croissant and a cup of coffee and sat down in his chair to read the latest news on his glass pad.

As he was reading about the latest updates on the battle for Paris, Desdemona walked into the dining room wearing loungewear, her hair still damp. She dished up a plate from the buffet and brought it to the table to sit across from him.

She looked sheepish and tired, but the youthful glow had not left her bright cheeks. He knew that, after last night, everything had changed for her. He had awakened her sexuality. Now she was truly a woman. He wished things had gone differently, but her rejection had cut too deep. He could not stay in the room with her a second longer the night before.

“About last night,” she started.

“There’s nothing to explain,” he said, flicking his finger up the screen of his glass pad.

“Titus. I don’t want this to be a thing between us now. I should have said yes.”

He stared at her for a long moment, examining her expression and sniffing the air to pick up her scent. It smelled of anxiety, and he could pick up the subtle scent of himself still inside her.

“But you didn’t say yes. If you had, we’d be having a different conversation.”

“I’m sorry. I was overwhelmed.”

He waved his hand, silencing her.

“All I have ever wanted was for you to be safe, Desdemona.”

“You were so angry last night.”

“Let me just say, I don’t take rejection well. Especially from a woman who begged me to make her a birthing goddess for five years.”

“I understand. I’m a bitch. What can I do to make it up to you?”

“There is nothing required of you. You don’t have to make anything up to me. But until the child is conceived, we should continue to make love.”

“Okay, if that’s how you want things to be.”

“That is how things need to be. If you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to.”

“Titus. Please don’t be angry at me.”

“I’m not angry at you, Desdemona, my dear. I’m angry at myself.”

“All this time I had no idea that you wanted me, Titus. I believed you never had. You have to just give me another chance. This is all new and strange to me. I can’t help but feel like a prisoner here.”

He turned to her, hearing her words. It soothed the pain in his heart. Perhaps he should give her the benefit of the doubt. He was being impatient and uncompassionate. It hit him all at once and he crossed the room to her, grasping her hand where it rested on the table. He lifted her to her feet. She looked up into his eyes, her face open and receptive.

“I’ve been hard on you, haven’t I?” he said. “Sometimes I forget what it’s like for humans. You must be very confused. I accept your apology, and I hope you will accept mine. When I come back, we will try again.”

He could feel her shaking his arms. She leaned her head against his chest. He held her close, not wanting to let her go or leave. But he had to confront Kyran Blackrose before the vampire returned to Chicago. There still was no word on Titus’s energy device shipments and no records of it after leaving the port of Chicago. With everything happening with Desdemona, Titus couldn’t help but suspect Kyran of foul play.

At the very least, the Blackrose coven owed the Silverdrake clan cooperation in finding his missing property. It was last seen in a port under Kyran’s control. This was the way they had done business for millennia, yet Kyran was being uncooperative. The thought of his eyes on Desdemona the day before made jealousy boil in Titus’s gut. He didn’t want to let it color his decisions, but he knew it would.

“I want to try again,” Desdemona said, pulling back to look up at him.

He kissed her softly and then with more fervent passion. And when he let her go, they were both smiling and breathless. That was how he wanted to see her. He hoped that now they were turning a new corner in their relationship and could move forward.

He drove across town in his Lamborghini to where the Blackrose coven were staying in one of the Silverdrake clan buildings, care of Ajax of course. Ajax had been less than helpful in regard to almost everything. If he weren’t his brother’s son, he would have demoted him in the clan. But Orian still had power as the previous Alpha, and technically Ajax was the next in line.

In many ways, Titus felt as trapped as Desdemona by the expectations of the world. The weight of his position as Alpha hung heavy on his shoulders. In the beginning, he had hoped to make things easier for everyone. And maybe it had. For everyone but him.

When he arrived at the hotel, he parked in front of the building and tossed his keys to the valet. On his way into the lobby, he met the Blackrose coven walking out. Kyran was dressed in a long black coat that contrasted deeply with his pale skin.

The vampire’s eyes shined on Titus and a smile curved on his red lips.

“Titus Silverdrake, what a pleasure,” Kyran said.

“We need to talk, Kyran.”

“Here and now?” Kyran asked extending his hands.

“In private.”

“We just checked out.”

“I have offices in this building. Follow me.”

Kyran and his entourage followed Titus down the hall and around the corner to the private offices the Silverdrakes kept in this building. Titus nodded for the rest of the coven to wait outside while he and Kyran went in. The offices downstairs near the kitchens were sparse, but the clan kept them for organizing events in this building. There was a simple waiting room and a single office in back. Titus walked into the office and sat behind the desk, motioning for Kyran to sit across from him.

“Usually I would meet you at my high-rise offices, but this will have to do.”

“What is it, Titus? I don’t have time for this.”

“I came to Chicago last month to discuss a missing shipment with you. That shipment still hasn’t been located. Since it was last seen in a port under your control, you have a responsibility to help me find it.”

“This isn’t about the shipment, is it, Silverdrake? This is about the girl.”

“Leave her out of it.”

“I think we both know that is impossible.”

“That isn’t what I came here to discuss.”

“Oh, but that’s what I want to discuss. All those years ago, you ignored that girl. You broke her heart and made her feel small. She came to me and she told me what she wanted. It wasn’t unreasonable. If she wanted to have a bunch of babies, then why not let her? I would have given them to her. But you didn’t want to let me. You took her away from me.”

“I didn’t take her away from you. Gama took them all for her spell.”

“Don’t bring the goddess into this. She has nothing to do with it. You rejected Patrice. Why don’t you just admit it and stop blaming everyone else for your mistakes?”

Titus slammed his fist on the desk, causing a hairline crack to grow in the cheap fiberboard surface. He gritted his teeth and stared at Kyran with violence in his heart.

“She needed more time, Kyran. If you truly cared about her, you would have known that.”

“Why do you think you get to decide what she needs? How was that your job?”

“It’s my job because she’s mine,” Titus said.

Kyran stood, laughing. “Not yet, as far as I know.”

“The Silverdrakes and the Blackrose have been allies for thousands of years. Don’t jeopardize our alliance with your jealousy. Desdemona came with me from the temple. She will be my bride. You will not interfere again. And if you have any information about my shipment, I suggest you tell me before I take this up with the allied counsel. I’m sure your brother and the rest of the counsel will be impressed with how you’ve handled this situation.”

Kyran’s expression went dark, and he stood up straight and still like a statue.

“The truth is I know nothing about your shipment. I investigated it myself. From what I can tell, it left the port as scheduled. I know what is happening in my own port. If I were you, I would stop focusing on me, and start looking at possible suspects around the lake. Keep your own house, Titus. And if you want to keep Desdemona, I suggest you keep her well.”

Kyran turned with the grace only a vampire could exhibit and left the room. Titus with left with a storm of emotions ranging between anger and regret. Kyran was right. About more than one thing. He had to believe the standing leader of the Blackrose coven when he told him that the shipment left the port. Titus had been too narrowly focused and perhaps he had been with Desdemona as well.

By the time Titus emerged from his office, the Blackrose coven was already gone. It was a relief to have Kyran leave town. Titus didn’t want any chance of he and Desdemona bumping into each other again. For all the difficulties that he and the little witch had, Titus knew that she was his. He knew it more now than ever. Desdemona had told him herself that she had never really loved Kyran.

If she truly did love Titus, then she had to accept how he loved her. Even if that meant he didn’t always give her exactly what she wanted. How could he when she was so very young, and he was so very old? Protecting her meant something she didn’t understand. Kyran didn’t understand it either. Titus had always believed Kyran had gotten involved with Desdemona simply to annoy him. His opinion on that hadn’t changed.

But despite their old rivalries, it was time for Titus to stop suspecting Kyran in the disappearance of his shipment.