The Villa: Part 2 and 3

Author’s Note: As promised, here’s the rest of the Ikenna + Reed bonus chapters that are exclusive to paid subscribers to my substack.

Again, they take place after the duology wraps up. If you haven’t read THE BLOOD GIFT yet be ware that there’s some spoilers.

Happy Reading!

“Are you hungry yet?” 

The aromas of maple-glazed yams, cinnamon-roasted plums, and blackened red fish hit me before I look up from the romance novel in my lap. Darius stands in the archway that leads out onto the third-story terrace. He’s holding a silver platter that contains the traditional Khanaian breakfast dishes. There’s a carafe of honeywine on it, too. Usually, I don’t get excited about food.  It’s merely sustenance that I need to function, stay in top shape, and keep my power levels operating at peak levels. But that attitude goes out the window when Khanaian food is so near that it teases my senses and makes my mouth water. I eye the platter is Darius’ hands. “I’m surely famished now. Did you cook that or have a droid deliver it?” Neither is an option where I lose. As I’ve discovered during our second jaunt here, the city of Lusian isn’t only home to some of the most infamous criminals on the planet. It’s also a culinary heaven; the city is home to cafes owned by master chefs that pride themselves on serving cuisine from all corners of the planet that is nothing short of exquisite. 

Darius gives me a flat look. “Don’t insult me. The Khanaian food here is good. Mine is better. Why the hell would I settle for the inferior option?”

I smirk, filing a new thing I learn about Darius away. The man doesn’t bother to openly sling a huge ego around about most stuff, but apparently those cooking skills Dannica and Haynes once mentioned are an exception. Speaking of Dannica… I swipe my Comm Unit off the glass foot table in front of the egg-shaped wicker chair I’m lounging in, snap a picture of the platter, and shoot it to her simply to be an asshole. “Dannica is going to be so jealous. She’s going to beat your ass for leaving her out of this,” I tell Darius.

“If you didn’t just send her that photo, she wouldn’t know about it,” he shoot back, sounding preemptively exhausted. “Why do you hate me?” I feel a smidge bad about the chaos I’ve sown. Actually, no I don’t. Dannica giving Darius shit is always a hoot. Plus, it’s good for him.

I toss Darius the sauciest, sexiest look I’ve got in my arsenal. “We both know how I feel about you is the farthest thing from hate. Now get over here and feed me because you’re being a tease lingering in the doorway.”

 Amusement glints in his cobalt gaze as he strides forward. He’s wearing a pair of loose-fitting sweatpants that rest low on the hips of his V- tapered physique. Other than that, he’s barefoot and shirtless. He also looks freshly-showered after his early morning run. Plus, his skin is still deliciously bronzed from extended time among the microstates’ scorching climate, and it glistens in a way that makes me almost forget about the food and hunger to taste Darius instead. The dark, proud, ornate ink of the black Xzana bands adorning his sculpted biceps along with the tribal inktats dancing across his pecs and down his delicious abs morph into an entrancing source of magic as he closes the distance between us. Darius’ sexy-as-hell ink weaves a spell around me, enthralls me like always, and beckons me to saunter over to him, drop to my knees, and worship every inch of his flawless body.  The need to lick every inch of him is so bad I can already taste Darius on my tongue.