“So Inaya will have human blood for us?” she asked to distract herself. “Or only live donors?”

“I imagine she’ll have both. She will provide everything we need. It is expected of her as a hostess.”

“Why do I feel like we’ve invited ourselves to a party someone else has to plan?”

“Because we have.” Lucien smiled and stroked lazy fingers over her knee. “Don’t worry about it. Inaya is a very good diplomat, and she understands hosting royalty.”

“And that’s what Saba is to vampires.”

Lucien nodded slowly. “She is.”

“Will we be safe there?”

“My mother’s human guards traveled ahead of us,” Lucien said. “They came two days ago to prepare for our arrival, but we won’t really need them. Saba doesn’t sleep much. She’d wake if there was a threat, and Inaya’s compound is mostly underground.”

Makeda nodded, crossing worries off her mental checklist. “And humans?”

“Inaya knows we have a young vampire with us. I’m sure she’ll remember, though you should be mindful of challenges. She enjoys provocation, and she’ll find you very beautiful.”

Makeda’s eyes went wide. “Oh?”

“Be prepared. She might want to test the newest member of Saba’s retinue, especially once she knows you’re connected to me.”

“How would she know?” It wasn’t that she and Lucien hid their relationship, but they had been isolated on the island. Among friends. She wasn’t comfortable with public displays of affection, and she hoped he would respect that. Skin contact was personal. Intimate. She had no reason to broadcast it to others.

“She’ll smell my blood in you,” Lucien said. “All vampires will.”

“So much for privacy.”

“Did you ever think we had it?” He raised an eyebrow. “On the island?”

She was just going to have to get over her reticence. “I suppose not.”

“It’s not a… repressed court. Just be prepared for that.”

“I thought Saba said something about Ziri being Inaya’s lover.”

“He is, but he’s like my mother and Arosh. Ziri doesn’t expect monogamy. Inaya would be insulted if he did.”

Makeda grew silent, knowing the question she wanted to ask would betray the growing depth of her dependence on Lucien.

“I do,” he said without prompting. “Expect monogamy. I expect constancy and faithfulness from my lovers. I do not share.”

“I see.” Her jaw ached as her fangs pressed against her gums. He expected faithfulness, but did he have the same expectations for himself? Just thinking about Lucien with another woman made her want to snarl.

“I take after Kato in that. I can’t ever imagine wanting to share your attentions with another.”

“You didn’t want to share my attention with my next-door neighbor,” Makeda snapped. “Even when you were indifferent to me.”

“It’s rather obvious at this point that indifference wasn’t the problem, don’t you agree?”

She ignored the reminder of their antagonistic past. “If you expect faithfulness from me, then I will expect it from you.”

“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.” He sat up and leaned into her side, running the tip of his tongue from her bare shoulder up to her neck. She shivered when he bit down with his dull front teeth. He wouldn’t break the skin, but he would leave a mark. “I expect you to tear my skin off if I ever look at another woman the way I look at you. I expect you to bite me. Hard.”

“You like it when I bite you.” Her voice was rough and desire lay heavy in her belly.

Lucien reached down and cupped her between her legs. “You wouldn’t make it feel good. Not if I disrespected you.”

“Lucien, we don’t have time—”

“Take me right now,” he said, “before we enter her reception hall. Bite me and make it obvious. Keep your distance in public. Ignore me if you will. But take me now, put your scent on me, and leave your mark on my skin.” He bit at her neck again. “I want it. Let them whisper behind their hands in our presence. Let them speculate what we are. I want them to know I’m yours.”

“You want me to mark you like property? Hang a sign around your neck?”

“Some signs are more pleasurable than others,” he said, stretching out beside her and licking his tongue along her thigh. “As for you, I plan to make you scream so loudly no vampire in North Africa will question my claim on you.”

“You can try.” Her blood was already running.

Lucien smiled against her skin. “Oh, Dr. Abel, I do so love a challenge.”

If the guards who escorted them had heard anything—and Makeda had a hard time imagining they hadn’t—it didn’t show on their faces. She and Lucien were escorted to a vintage Range Rover and driven out into the desert east of the port town. The moon was full and the sand rippled around them, the land a vast, empty wilderness with no one watching but the stars.

She saw the lights in the distance and watched the low walls of Inaya’s compound come into view. The car dipped under a sand-colored wall before a dull thud echoed behind them. Makeda turned and saw that a heavy metal gate had lowered as soon as they passed.

Lucien sat beside her, her bite still red and angry just under the line of his freshly shaven jaw. He wore a crisp linen shirt with intricate embroidery around the collar matching the elaborately decorated caftans both Saba and Makeda had been given for the evening. The flowing garments suited him even with his pale skin. He raised an eyebrow when he caught her staring.