Page 36 of The Ruthless Fae King
It was improper to be seen without a chaperone. If household staff caught us, they could start rumors. But I didn’t care. I cared more about what he heard me say and what he thought.
“I’m sorry for butting into your private family matters,” I began as he watched me with those glowing eyes, a storm no doubt raging inside. “But if I am to be queen, your wife, the mother of your children, I must feel safe in my own home.”
His chest heaved and he seemingly fought for breath. I swallowed hard, unable to read his reaction so I went on. “Your father and I have spoken and he has agreed to attend a discreet elvin sober infirmary that I know of, and if he cannot stay off the wine he will go to the mountains and live out the rest of his life alone.”
Lucien didn’t move and didn’t speak. I was starting to internally panic. Did he want to call off the wedding? Had I gone too far?
But when I looked at him,reallylooked at him, I could see that he was terrified. Stepping forward, I cupped his jaw in my hands. “He can’t hurt you anymore. Not while I’m here,” I whispered.
I didn’t think Lucien was afraid of his father, he was more powerful than him, but he was afraid of himself. Lucien’s power, like mine, was tied to his emotions. But I had a wonderful childhood; my emotions were stable and controlled. Lucien’s were not. This fear was that if he reacted too strongly to his father, like he really wanted to, like he had all those years ago, he would kill us all, freeze us to ice. That fear was paralyzing him, and clearly had for years when it came to his father.
Leaning forward, he inched closer to me and I froze. “I’m in love with you,” he breathed against my mouth, and then his lips crashed into mine. I wasn’t prepared for that and so I whimpered in surprise and joy.
I kicked his father out of his home and he loved me? The things I saw as flaws and overstepping, heloved. I parted my lips as his tongue came to stroke against mine and then he stumbled backwards into a set of doors that swung on squeaky hinges. I opened my eyes for a second to find we were back in the library. His hand gripped my hip with an almost painful urgency and heat bloomed between my legs. When my back hit the library bookcase, I moaned in surprise. Right now he was rough, and I liked it. This desperate need to be together only made my own passion grow. I boldly reached under his tunic and allowed my fingers to caress his bare chest muscles.
The guttural moan that came from his throat left me breathless.
This wassoimproper,sobeyond protocols for a royal marriage, and yet… I wanted to bed him right here and now. In the library. I’d saved my purity for my wedding night and this kiss with Lucien Thorne made me want to give it up right here among these books.
My mother told me it would be a tight pinch the first time, sometimes a little blood, then a lot of pleasure if you were with a man who knew what he was doing. I had a feeling Lucien knew his way around a woman’s body.
But I also wanted that night to be special, something saved for a man I loved. I had no hope of marrying for love with the knowledge that my father would one day pick a suitor for me. But now… I knew it was possible.
Pulling away from Lucien, I looked him in the eyes. “I’m in love with you too,” I declared. “And we will most definitely be bedding for more than just making children.”
The full-fledged grin that graced his face made my stomach flip over. To be able to have that effect on him, it brought me great joy.
Lucien’s lips were pink and swollen as he released me and smoothed his tunic. Then he let his eyes rake over my dress. “You should go before I rip that dress off of you and do something very naughty,” he said, and my cheeks blushed.
Thinking of leaving him tomorrow made me suddenly sad. “Let’s get married next month. I don’t fancy a long betrothal,” I told him boldly.
Lucien’s eyes went half lidded. “No. A month is far too long. Let’s marry this same day next week. I’ll put my staff on overtime and everything can be ready.”
My entire face lifted with a smile. “Next week it is.”
Seven days to return to Fall Court, gather all my things and say goodbye to my childhood home. I would be sad to leave them, but I knew now Lucien wouldn’t mind frequent visits. And now that I had a taste of what my life would be like as a married woman, I wanted it.
Now.
“Goodnight, Lucien,” I told him breathlessly as I stood in the library doorway.
“Goodnight, sugar plum.”
I smiled all the way back to my room.
NINE
The next morning Piper and I came down for breakfast and there was an urgency in the air. Lucien was shouting commands at a guard and the palace staff were running around in a frenzy. My mind went into panic mode. After getting to my room last night I’d written a letter to my elvin friend to arrange a stay for Lucien’s father discreetly. I had given it to one of Lucien’s guards to deliver. Had it somehow caused an issue?
“What’s happened?” I asked.
Lucien spun when he saw me, his eyes looking a bit frantic. He reached for the crook of my elbow and dragged me into an alcove away from the rest of the staff. “For a few weeks now some Winter Court fae have gone missing.”
I nodded. “Same with Fall. We assume they ran off to Cinder Mountain.”
When a person wasn’t happy with their lot and wanted to leave, they always went to Cinder Mountain in Embergate. It had become a safe haven of sorts for all the different races and hybrids.
Lucien shook his head. “A week ago, one of my most powerful soldiers went missing. Then Raife, the elf king, showed up here saying that the Nightfall queen had a device that stripped a person of their magic.”
