by Karen Lynch
“After watching you knock out Fafnir and Dariyah, I’m not sure anyone would survive five minutes with you,” he teased.
I leaned away to look up at him. “You would.”
Heat flared in his eyes, and an answering fire ignited low in my belly. He smiled, and it was as if the last twenty minutes had never happened.
“I missed you,” he said gruffly.
I frowned. “Were you gone? I hadn’t noticed.”
He brought his hands up to frame my face, and he captured my mouth in a scorching kiss that left me dizzy and boneless.
“Okay… I might have missed that,” I panted.
Lukas chuckled and silenced me with his mouth as his hands slid down my body to cup my backside. He lifted me, and I eagerly wrapped my legs around him without breaking our kiss. I barely noticed he was walking until my back was pressed against the wall.
His mouth left mine, and I rested my head against the wall, intoxicated by the sensations flooding me. Every time he touched me, it was better than the last, but this felt different. There was an urgency to our kisses that said we were headed toward something and I would never be the same after.
“Look at me,” he ordered roughly.
I lifted my heavy-lidded eyes to his, which were dark with desire.
“If you are not ready for this, tell me now. We will wait as long as you need to. Otherwise, I am going to take you to my bed, and we are not leaving it until I know every inch of you.”
My body quivered at the promise of what was to come. This was what I wanted, but I was also a little scared. I trusted him completely, and I knew he would be a skilled lover. What if I was so bad at it that he didn’t want me afterward?
“Jesse,” he said in a gentler voice. “It’s okay if you need more time.”
I licked my kiss-swollen lips. “No. I mean I don’t need more time. I want you now.”
Lukas searched my face, and whatever he saw there made his lips curve into a carnal smile. His eyes took on a predatory gleam that sent my heart into an erratic rhythm. A tiny primeval part of my brain urged me to flee, but I pressed closer to him instead.
He let go of my bottom, and my legs, strong from weeks of training, held tightly around his waist. He slid his hands with tantalizing slowness up my body, his touch setting my blood on fire as his hands skimmed my ribs and along the outside curve of my breasts through my clothes. I wanted more, but his hands continued their path to my shoulders and along my arms, which were clasped around his neck. Before I knew what he intended, he had my hands imprisoned in one of his above my head.
His free hand cupped my chin and tilted it up to him. I managed a small sound before he claimed my mouth with a hungry possessiveness I’d never sensed from him before. He pressed me into the wall, and the feel of his arousal made me squirm as a hot bolt of lust went through me.
“Lukas,” I whimpered against his lips, unable to verbalize what I needed.
He released my hands, and I clung to him as he carried me to his bedroom. My legs loosened around his waist when he reached the bed, and he lowered me to the floor.
I pushed up the bottom of his shirt and ran my hands over the taut lines of his stomach. Satisfaction rippled through me when he inhaled sharply and ripped the shirt off over his head. Emboldened, I kissed one of his pecs while my hands played over the hard planes of his back, and I was rewarded when a tremor went through him.
Lukas took a step back. I opened my mouth to protest, and it died on my tongue when he stripped off the rest of his clothes and stood before me in all his naked perfection. My gaze moved down his body, and I averted my eyes when I caught myself lingering on a certain part of him.
He reached out and gently turned my face toward his. “I love it when you look at me.”
I swallowed hard. “Lukas… I’ve never been with anyone else.”
“Do you want to stop?” he asked softly.
“No,” I blurted. “I thought you should know in case –”
I didn’t get to finish because he pulled me flush against him and bent his head to speak gruffly into my ear. “Feel how much I need you, Jesse. By the time this night is over, you will never again doubt that you are the only one I want.”
He kissed me, slowly at first and then deeper until I could no longer remember why I’d been afraid. I felt drunk when he broke the kiss long enough to slip my top off over my head. His expert hands freed me from my pants, and I shivered when his warm fingers brushed against the bare skin of my stomach.
Picking me up, he placed me on the bed, and I knelt facing him. Smiling, he ran his fingers through my hair and let it fall across my shoulders.
“I don’t know what I did to please the goddess, but she blessed me when she brought you into my life, Jesse James.”
My throat tightened, and I choked out the words I had been holding close to my heart for so long. “I love you.”
“I love you, mi’calaech,” he said huskily. Then he lowered me to the soft coverlet and spent the whole night showing me how much.
Chapter 18
From my seat on the right side of the throne room, I watched Lukas speak quietly with the king, Korrigan, a male I recognized as one of the king’s advisors, and a female I didn’t know but who looked familiar. Their voices didn’t carry to me, but their solemn faces told me the conversation was not a pleasant one.
The advisor said something, and Lukas responded with a firm shake of his head. This prompted the female to turn her head and shoot me a look of angry resentment that was so much like another’s I knew immediately who she was. Dariyah’s mother, Marceline. That meant the male advisor beside her was Dariyah’s father, Tyrion.
I had heard Dariyah’s parents’ names mentioned numerous times in the week since the incident in the gardens. Word had spread quickly, and soon the entire court had been buzzing with the deliciously scandalous story. The people who didn’t like Dariyah – and there were many of them – were delighted to talk about her fall from grace and speculate on how it would affect her parents’ elevated positions at court.
By now, everyone had heard about how Lukas had run after me, thrown me over his shoulder, and carried me to his quarters. We had emerged a day and a half later and had spent every available hour together when he wasn’t dealing with court business.
I was too happy to care about the rampant gossip. I spent my nights with Lukas and woke up every morning in his arms. Soon, I’d complete the job Aedhna had given me, and the damage to both worlds would be repaired. I couldn’t wait to tell Lukas everything and bring him home to visit my family.
I met Lukas’s serious gaze as he crossed the room toward me. He sat beside me and leaned in to say in a low voice, “They are bringing her in now. It’ll be over soon.”
As he spoke, the king took his throne, and Korrigan stood behind him on his left. Dariyah’s parents moved to sit opposite from us on the other side of the room. Normally, every seat would be occupied for something like this, but King Oseron had limited it to only the people involved out of consideration for his friend Tyrion. As long as the end result was that I no longer had to deal with Dariyah, I didn’t care how it was done.
The door opened at the back of the room, and Dariyah entered escorted by Faolin. It was the first time I’d seen her in a week because she had been confined to her quarters. Her arrogant demeanor was gone, but she walked with her head high, her gaze straight ahead.
They stopped ten feet from the king, and she dropped into a graceful curtsy. When she rose, she lowered her eyes to the foot of the throne, and silence fell over the room as we waited for the king to speak.
“Dariyah.” King Oseron said her name as if he was speaking to a misbehaving child. “I have known you your whole life, and it saddens me greatly to have you before me like this today.”
I tensed at the familiarity with which he spoke to her. He didn’t sound like someone about to mete out a punishment.
Lukas’s hand covered mine, and I relaxed a little. He had ass
ured me Dariyah would not get away with her actions this time, and I trusted him. I didn’t have the same faith in his father, who, until now, had favored Dariyah as a potential mate for Lukas.
“Fafnir confessed his part in your scheme and provided Faolin with the name of the elf servant who gave Jesse the drink laced with menak.” The king’s expression changed to one of censure. “Under interrogation, the servant admitted he was also the one to slip Jesse acca berries on her first night here, making her very ill. He said you had threatened his family with banishment when you became consort if he did not carry out your bidding.”
I gasped audibly. I wasn’t surprised to learn Dariyah was behind the acca berry incident, but to threaten banishment to a servant if he didn’t go along with her schemes was beyond cruel.
“As king, I have many responsibilities, but none are more important than protecting the welfare of every Unseelie citizen, no matter their station. Causing harm to another or using a position of power to threaten someone weaker than you are two things I cannot condone.”
Dariyah appeared to shrink under his reproachful stare. Watching her, I realized that until this moment, she thought she would get off with a slap on the wrist. Her father was a close friend and advisor to the king. She had been raised to believe she was better than most and groomed to become the consort one day. I would bet she had never been punished for a single wrongdoing in her life.
King Oseron pressed his lips together as if it pained him to say what came next. “You will leave here tomorrow morning and travel to your family’s estate in Galia. Henceforth, you are forbidden to return to this court.”
Dariyah made a small choked sound and looked at her parents. Her father wore a grim expression, and her mother couldn’t have looked more devastated if the king had sentenced Dariyah to death. Lukas was right. This was the worst possible punishment Dariyah could have been given. It didn’t matter that she would live in luxury at her family estate and be able to come and go as she pleased. The one thing she wanted would be forever denied her.
“This will not sever your ties with your parents. They are free to visit you whenever they want,” King Oseron told her kindly, clearly misinterpreting the reason for her distress. “Your father is needed here now, but I will understand if he and your mother wish to live with you away from court after the barrier crisis is over.”
I watched Dariyah’s parents for their reaction. Tyrion’s expression hadn’t changed, but Marceline looked decidedly uncomfortable. Based on what I’d heard about her this week, she loved her prominent status at court, and she was quick to remind people that her mate was one of the king’s most trusted advisors. She was not giving that up for anyone, including her own daughter.
A wave of longing hit me. I wished I could hug my mom and tell her how lucky I was to have her as my mother. She was strong and loving, and she would do anything for her children. I couldn’t have asked for a better role model.
“Have you anything to say before you leave?” the king asked Dariyah.
“No, Your Majesty,” she answered in a subdued voice. Dariyah wasn’t stupid. She knew nothing she said now would change his ruling.
He nodded once. “You have the remainder of today to pack and make your farewells. You may go.”
It was over. Faolin escorted Dariyah out of the room, and the king rose from his throne to speak to her parents. Lukas stood and held out a hand to me. I took it, and we quietly left the room.
“I’m glad that’s done,” I said as we walked to Lukas’s quarters. “How far away is Galia?”
He chuckled. “Far enough. I suspect Dariyah will be spending more time in the human realm once travel is permitted again.”
My heart leapt. “When do you think that will happen?”
“I can’t say for certain, but our tests have shown a slight strengthening in the barrier since all portals were closed.”
I stopped abruptly to stare at him. “You are only telling me this now?”
“I learned of it this morning. We are waiting on Seelie’s tests results.” He smiled ruefully. “I should not have mentioned it until after they confirmed it.”
“I’m glad you did.” Elated, I resumed walking. The ke’tains were starting to repair the barrier. I wished more than anything I could tell Lukas the truth, but there was no way around the gag Aedhna had put on me. It felt wrong to start our life together on a lie, and I prayed that when all this was done, she would finally allow me to confide in him.
Queen Anwyn was due in four days for more discussions. Lukas had told me that they’d made little progress during the meetings in Seelie because the queen was still set on the idea of sealing the barrier for good. She couldn’t do it alone so they were at an impasse.
“What would you like to do today?” he asked when we neared the lift.
“You’re free?” The king had been pulling Lukas back into meetings the last few days to prepare for Seelie’s visit, so I had expected to not see him until dinner.
“I’m all yours for the rest of the day.”
“In that case…” I lowered my voice so the guards couldn’t hear me. “Can we stay in?”
His answering smile made my breath quicken. “I think we can arrange that.”
* * *
I winced at the pain in my wrist and shoulder as I dressed after my shower. It served me right for agreeing to spar with Parisa. That girl was a savage when you put a weapon in her hands, and she handled the staff like it was a part of her. Thank God I wasn’t practicing with blades, or she would have sliced me to ribbons.
I never thought the day would come when I’d wish I was training with Faolin. He and the others were busy preparing for Seelie’s visit tomorrow, which had left me training alone until Parisa had offered to show me some of her techniques. It was no wonder she was Roswen’s head of security.
Kaia growled softly and jumped off my bed to run out of the bedroom. Seconds later, the bell rang. I smiled at my reflection in the mirror and hurried after her. Lukas had said he’d be here for dinner, but his work must have finished up early. No matter how many times I told him he didn’t have to ring the bell, he did it anyway. It was all a part of the courting thing.
I swung the door open, and my smile froze at the sight of the male standing there. “Your Majesty.”
“Hello, Jesse,” King Oseron said pleasantly. “May I come in?”
I came to my senses and moved aside for him. “Of course.”
He entered my quarters, and I noticed two of his personal guards standing behind him. They took up positions in the hallway, leaving me alone with the king of Unseelie.
“Would you like to sit?” I discreetly rubbed my damp palms on my pants. I could think of only one reason why he would visit me, and it wasn’t good.
In the weeks since Lukas and I had become an official couple and he’d informed his father he was done with the matchmaking, the king had been very quiet on the matter. I hadn’t believed he would give up that easily, but whenever I mentioned it to Lukas, he told me not to worry and that he would handle his father.
I trusted Lukas, but the fact that I hadn’t spoken to his parents since we got together told me the king was not happy about our relationship. Now, he was here to take matters into his own hands.
“Yes. Let us sit,” he said warmly. He took one of the large chairs and looked around him. “I have not visited private quarters on this level since before I was king. That was so very long ago.”
I perched on the edge of the couch, too anxious to relax. My throat had gone dry, and my stomach was twisted in knots.
If he noticed my emotional state, he did not show it. “Are you comfortable here?”
“Yes.”
“Faerie is very different from your old home in the human realm,” he noted. “You must miss it.”
I nodded. “I mostly miss my family.”
“The separation must be difficult for you. I am sorry about that.”
I heard the sincerity in his voice, and I m
anaged a small smile. “I’m hoping I’ll be able to see them soon.”
“I hope that as well.” He settled back in his chair. “I have often wished I could visit that world. When I was young, I loved to travel. I would have been happy to do it my whole life if I had not become king. Did you know I was not the original heir to the throne?”
My mouth fell open at that revelation. “No.”
He smiled at my reaction. “I am not surprised. It was so long ago that most have either forgotten it or were born after that time in our history.” He touched the round eyranth medallion, which was only worn by the Unseelie king or queen. “Queen Belisande, the last monarch, is my mother, and she ruled Unseelie for eight hundred years. When she stepped down, my older brother Onagh became king.”
I didn’t say anything as my mind raced. Had Onagh died? What other reason was there for the current king to take his brother’s place on the throne?
“My brother had been groomed and trained his whole life to be king, and he did everything our mother asked of him but one,” the king went on. “Before she abdicated, she selected a high-born female to be his consort, but Onagh refused her. He was in love with a non-royal named Asherah, and he took her as his mate and consort.”
My stomach bunched into a knot because I knew where this story was headed. I said nothing, and he continued.
“Seven years after they mated, Asherah gave birth to a daughter, and Unseelie celebrated our new heir.” King Oseron sighed. “Fae infants are most vulnerable in their first three months, so she was under constant watch. Sadly, she did not thrive and died before she was a month old.”
“Oh, no.” I covered my mouth.
“It took fourteen years for Asherah to conceive again. She bore another girl, and this baby lived. We soon discovered, however, that the child’s magic was weak. A son came seven years later, and like his sister, his magic was not strong enough for him to be the next monarch.
“People soon began to worry because the strength of Unseelie depends on the strength of its leader. Onagh was strong, but he and Asherah were unable to provide a successor, which made our future uncertain. Fear spread, and there were calls for other high-born royals to challenge for the throne. There were some who were only too willing to wear the crown, but those challenges would have fractured Unseelie. We could not allow that to happen.”