CHAPTER SEVENTEEN #2
My heart raced as I thought about the body I needed to find. I still wasn’t sure how to break the curse. My stomach churned with unease, and a shiver ran down my spine. I couldn’t bring myself to face Lucien right now. Not yet.
I stared down at the table, hands clasped together tightly.
I thought about summoning him, but there was hesitation, an unspoken fear of what I might face if I did.
The emotions from last night, the kiss, his closeness…
now knowing without a doubt that my grandmother cursed him…
it made things more complicated. I wasn’t ready to confront that yet.
I glanced at the window, the fading sun taking with it, the fragile peace of the castle. He would be expecting me to summon him, upset if I put myself in danger… again.
Finally, after a long breath, I gave in. I couldn’t keep running from this. I needed answers. And if I was going to find them, I needed him.
I stood, my hands trembling slightly as I moved toward the center of the room.
“Lucien,” I called into the still air, barely above a breath.
A chill ran over me and my heart thudded in my chest. I waited, holding my breath. The silence stretched, and for a long moment, I thought perhaps he wouldn’t come..
Then, I felt it—a presence, unmistakable, just behind me. It was him.
I didn’t turn immediately, not yet. I wasn’t ready to look him in the eye again. But his presence was comforting and overwhelming all at once. I knew he was there. And whether I was prepared or not, I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
“Mia,” Lucien’s voice came softly, his tone warm, but there was something deeper—something I couldn’t quite place. His voice was always like that, like the calm before a storm.
I turned slowly to face him, taking a deep breath, though it did little to calm the whirlwind inside me. My heart raced, the words I had been rehearsing in my head suddenly felt foreign on my tongue.
Hells, he was beautiful.
“I’ve been remembering some of the visions,” I said, my voice trembling slightly. “The ones from your past. Pieces of them, anyway.”
Lucien didn’t say anything at first, but I could feel his attention sharpen, his presence leaning in just a bit more. His dark eyes watched me patiently.
“I’m starting to put the pieces together,” I continued, trying to push through the hesitation.
“There was an argument. Between you and Serena. She… she was so insistent about the engagement. She wanted you to marry her. But you—” I paused, feeling a strange pang in my chest as I thought about the pain in his expression during the vi sion.
“You didn’t want to. You told her you couldn’t.
That you couldn’t love her the way she loved you.
And she…” I trailed off, unsure of how to phrase the next part.
“She seemed so determined. Like she thought she could make you love her somehow.”
Lucien remained silent for a long time, his gaze unwavering. I felt the weight of his eyes on me, as if he were searching my face for something, answers, maybe, or the truth of what I’d seen.
“And the letter,” I continued quietly, ashamed at my accusations. I remembered that vision clearly. Lucien reading the letter and Serena’s signature on the bottom before age and decay had erased it.
I cleared my throat. “The letter was from Serena too.”
I left out the vision of my grandmother, unable to face the betrayal I knew he would feel… not yet. I couldn’t.
He stared at me, his expression neutral. I had hoped he would grin or tease me for accusing him of being a rake, but he didn’t. His gaze dropped to the floor as he crossed his arms over his chest. The silence reached on and I shifted uneasily.
“I am sorry,” I finally managed, filling the silence with my weak apology. Sorry for everything.
He shrugged, a tight smile playing on his lips.
His eyes softened just a little, though the tension in the room didn’t dissipate.
“I know, little witch,” he replied. His voice had an edge of sadness to it that clutched at my guilty heart.
All hesitation, all the guilt, all the lies I was keeping faded away.
My feet moved without my permission, closing the distance between us. I reached up, my hand hesitating for a moment before I cupped his face. I thought he might pull away at my touch, but he didn’t.
His dark, penetrating eyes held mine, searching, curious.
Without thinking, I stood on my tiptoes and brushed my lips against his. He stiffened— but for only a moment.
His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me against his hard, warm body.
His mouth moved over mine softly, gently at first. Then, he deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping between my lips, tangling with mine.
A sound deep in his chest vibrating against my breasts, sending hot shivers down my spine.
My hands tangled in his hair and I pressed into him further, desperate to be closer. His mouth left mine and I nearly cried out from the loss, but it stuck in my throat when his lips found the curve of my jaw, trailing warm, heated kisses down my neck.
“Lucien,” I breathed, his name low and husky on my lips.
He stilled, his name breaking the spell. Slowly, he placed small kisses on my neck then pulled back, resting his chin on top of my head as he held me to his chest .
“I’m sorry—“
“Stop,” I said, still trying to catch my breath. “Don’t apologize.”
He smoothed my hair with his hand and I felt his lips brush over my head.
“I remember other things too,” I admitted, tilting my head back to look up at him. “I may have been influenced by the potion, but…” I hesitated, my cheeks warming.
He searched my eyes, his heavy with something dark, passionate, hungry. “But what?”
“I meant what I asked for.”
His gaze fell to my lips briefly before his mouth found mine again with one, gentle, lingering kiss before I felt his arms tighten slightly as my feet left the floor. I blinked, the world falling away as we moved through space and time. When I opened my eyes again, we were in my bedchamber.
I sucked in a deep breath, but before I could shake off the disoriented feeling, his lips were on mine again. I melted against him, a small sigh escaping me. Whatever would come, could wait. I wanted this… needed to savor one last memory with him before my betrayal tore us apart.
The future be damned.