Chapter 6

LUCIEN

^I’m a legend. I’m irreverent. I’ll be revered. I’ll be so far up.^

My mind was reeling. Dr. Danes had been right, there was another portal. And now that I found it, I needed to know who made it.

I saw the Zaxonian silver swirling inside it. Meaning it had been created in my realm. Someone was messing with my kingdom, taking advantage of its natural resources without my permission.

~Fucking rat. I’ll cut their head off.~

I likely wouldn’t get any answers out of Nicolette. Not here, at least. After I had lost my cool when I saw the Zaxonian silver in the mirror, she started avoiding me, retreating behind other visitors or the professor himself.

I could tell she was trying to compose herself, acting as if I hadn’t intimidated her. And as if I hadn’t made her hot and wet before that.

“Your Highness, I thought you’d only stay for an hour?” Dr. Danes asked.

“I will stay longer. I am investigating something.” I looked past him to Nicolette’s gorgeous back, visible behind a glass case.

He turned to trace the path of my eyes, then scoffed. “Oh, you’re investigating alright.” He turned back to me and smirked.

I snarled at him and changed the subject. “I want that Malta mirror. Have it delivered to my suite before this night is through.”

The professor’s smirk faded. “The mirror? You mean the one Ms. Holland donated?”

I didn’t even honor him with a nod. I just looked at him as if to say, “Shit, is my command not obvious enough?”

“But it’s university property now, Your Highness. I can’t just take it out of the museum without informing Professor Mallorie or the university president. What’s so special about it anyway?”

“It is Zaxonian property, Doctor. Not Ms. Holland’s. And certainly not the university’s.”

“Zaxonian? But I thought it came from Malta.” His brows furrowed.

“Do what I ordered you to do,” I said with a deadly glare. “Tell the university president and your colleague that I will pay a good sum in exchange for that mirror.”

He bowed his head low, giving in. “I’ll do as you wish.”

When he left, I searched the room for her. But she was nowhere in sight. My desime was trying to slip away~.~ But I needed answers from her. I darted for the stairs.

She couldn’t have gone far in those heels, and when I caught her, I wouldn’t let her get away again—not without giving me the information that I required. Even if it meant locking her up. Or making her moan. Whichever came first.

By the time I arrived in the foyer, I saw a cab veering away from the curb. She must have been inside.

I groaned. ~Dammit, she is fast. ~But I liked it. A man with my looks rarely got the thrill of the chase. I called for the valet to quickly bring my Maybach.

“You have taken good care of my toy,” I said when the boy parked it in front of me. I pulled out a wad of cash and shoved it in his hands.

He gave me a toothy grin. “I could be your driver, if you need one, boss.”

I grinned back at him before slipping into the driver’s seat. “Finish college first.”

Just like that, I was off the school’s premises in less time than it would take a woman to unzip my fly.

~Yellow taxi. Toyota. 2014 model. Plate number APT 3242.~ Isearched the road ahead and caught sight of it turning into a side street. I stepped on the gas and my engine roared.

Traffic was on my side, and I cut into the yellow cab’s path and stopped, its tires screeching to a halt just inches away from my bumper. Lightning fast, I climbed out of my car, ran to the cab, and flung open the door to the back seat.

I scowled at who I saw there.

A blond with double Ds wearing a skin-tight skirt. Not my desime. A nobody. A surprised nobody, biting her lip, liking what she saw.

“Ooh,” she purred, tucking a loose strand behind her ear and leaning toward me to show her cleavage. “Can I help you?”

I slammed the door right in her useless face.

~Fuck! Where is she?~

NICOLETTE

I just had to get out of there, and away from ~him~, so I used the back gate. The moment I got home, I drew a hot bath. Soaking in the tub, my mind wandered. To the mirror, the mirror world, his violet eyes, his hand around my throat, the way it felt when he touched me.

I was afraid of Mr. Ozric’s intentions—he was clearly dangerous—but as the warm water rose and fell over my body, and as I thought about how I could possibly avoid him from now on, a greater fear began to grow in my mind.

~What if I never see him again? Never again feel his skin against mine? Never know what it’s like to kiss his beautiful lips?~

My fingers trailed along my stomach, lower…lower… The more I pictured his eyes, his face, his body, the farther my hand crept. Just as I was about to touch the spot that ached the most, I pulled my hand away.

~What are you doing, Nikki? That man is trouble! He’ll hurt you, ruin your life. He went from dashing to dangerous in a split second! Who knows what other horrors he’s capable of? You need to avoid him at all costs.~

By the time I got out of the bath, I had resolved to get any thoughts of him, especially the arousing ones, out of my head. I even resisted the temptation to Google him.

My irrational side wanted to find anything and everything about this Darien Ozric. It wanted to know how he got his business empire and what the media said about him. But my rational side ordered me to stop.

I had just tucked myself into bed, praying that I wouldn’t dream of him, when my cell phone rang. I grabbed it off the nightstand. Unknown caller.

“Hello?” I said hesitantly. My mouth turned dry when the caller spoke.

“Ni-co-lette,” Mr. Ozric drawled my name like I was a fly that just got caught in his web.

~Shit. Be cool, Nikki. ~“Mi-ster Oz-ric,” I drawled back, mocking him.

I figured he’d find me eventually, but not this quickly. He must have really needed something from me. And I doubted it was sex. I bet he had a long list of ready-and-willing women waiting for a booty call.

“How did you get my number?” ~Or more likely: how quickly did Professor Mallorie give it to you?~

“When one is a multibillionaire, my sweet, everything is delivered on a golden platter. Your number included.”

~Thought so. ~“What do you want, Mr. Ozric? I already told you everything I know about the mirror. Are you just going to stalk me now?”

He let out a chuckle. “No, believe me, Nicolette, I am no stalker—stalk is not the right word.” He chuckled again, this time breathy.

I could have sworn I felt a breeze on my neck. Goosebumps formed from head to toe. I wanted, needed, to keep him talking.

“Then what is?” I asked, this time more soft and playful.

As if he knew I was desperate for it, he didn’t give a response, and dirty thoughts began to flood my mind.

If I had let my primal side take over, I would have cut to the chase and initiated phone sex that instant. His phone voice was ~that~ orgasmic. My fingers began to twitch with the desire to explore.

Then he spoke. “I will answer your question, if you have a date with me.”

“A date?” I choked on the words. “What for?”

“I want you to educate me about archaeology.”

I scoffed. “You mean you want to ask a litany of questions about that mirror, questions I have no answers to, right?”

“Heh. You catch on fast. I like that.”

~As expected. He’s only interested in that stupid mirror. ~With that thought, my arousal was gone.

“Well, Mr. Ozric, I don’t want anything to do with you. I don’t tolerate violence—by the way, thanks for the sore neck. You’re just a spoiled pain in the ass!”

I considered hanging up before he could respond, but then I heard a long exhale escape his lips. It gave me chills.

“You know, you are the first person who has ever had the gall to say something like that to me,” he said.

A triumphant grin grew on my lips.

“But worry not, Nicolette,” he continued. “I will not be shoving my cock into your tight rear. Is that what you meant by pain in the ass?”

~Oh my God, he did not just say that. ~My cheeks burned with anger. Or was that arousal again?

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“At least, not yet.” And with that, he hung up the phone, leaving me shaking with outrage. And a mounting desire.