72. Chapter 72
CHAPTER 72
Lucenna
L ucenna intently scrutinized the glazed cakes and fruit pastries displayed on the fancy-tired plates set upon the desert table, ignoring her friends prattling on about the spectacle Cassiel was going to make of himself. She might have stepped in his way in the past, but with so many elves in attendance, the fool stood to make a fool of himself on his own.
She had no interest in making herself one.
“I suggest the lemon cake.”
Lucenna stiffened at the sound of Klyde’s voice behind her. “Why is that?”
“I find them to be the perfect amount of bitter and sweet.”
Was that supposed to be a euphemism about her of some sort? Or was he toying with her again? She truly hoped he hadn’t already seen her eat three of them.
“Sounds as if that would suit your tastes better,” Lucenna retorted as she faced away from the table and took a sip from her goblet. She kept her eyes trained on the swaying bodies moving across the dancefloor.
“It certainly does,” Klyde murmured.
Lucenna’s face warmed at the way his low reply seemed to rumble in her ear. She took another drink, and the cloying taste of wine settled heavily in her stomach. Gods, she refused look at him. Which was completely ludicrous. This man should not have this much power over?—
The moment Klyde stepped into view, all of Lucenna’s thoughts vanished. Her heart dipped in her chest and fluttered wildly as she took in his face… free of the mangy beard he’d sported all winter. She visually traced the chiseled cheekbones and the fine angles of his perfect jaw.
He wore a fine waist coat in midnight blue, the collar detailed in gilded filigree, accompanied with pristine black trousers and boots. He’d been ruggedly handsome before but this … this was absurd.
Klyde’s blue eyes gleamed in the low candlelight and his mouth curved as he took in whatever expression was on her face, making his dimples appear.
She swallowed. Damn it.
“Do you need something?” Lucenna asked dismissively. She moved so he was no longer in her view.
Klyde chuckled. “Well, I do have a request for you, love.”
She sighed. “Are you to ask me what I think of your hairless face again? Do you wish me to brandish you with praises of how handsome you believe you are?”
He flashed her a grin and his finger trailed over her shoulder as he adjusted her fallen dress strap back into place. The unexpected touch left tingles n her skin. His gaze roamed over the thin fabric of her dress clinging to her body. “If I’m drunk enough, I may end up singing a ballad of praises about a moonlit lass.”
Lucenna’s face flamed, and she looked away. She never knew what to say when he said such things. He was only attempting to get a rise out of her. “What do you want?”
The question seemed to weigh more than it should have. His lips curved in a half smile, small and rueful. There was an answer in his gaze that made her stomach tight. She suddenly felt hot all over.
Klyde took her goblet and set it on the table. “Well, could I interest you in a dance?”
“No.” Lucenna snatched her drink back. The last time she danced with him, she’d almost fallen for his coquetry. “Go find another mindless girl to toy with. I am busy enjoying my wine.”
But before she could take a drink, Klyde downed the rest of it, his throat shifting as he swallowed. She gaped at him angrily.
With a smooth move, Klyde twirled her to the dancefloor. “Indulge me for a song before you lose function of your feet again.”
“I think you would trip over yourself first. That goblet was near full.”
“You’ll find I have more practice holding my drink.” Klyde dipped her with the next turn. Her heart lurched as he hauled her up with his easy strength and brought her close to his chest again.
Klyde’s gaze flicked past her, and she followed it to the King’s table as Cassiel excused himself and Dyna. Everyone stared as they left the ballroom.
Lucenna exhaled an annoyed breath and moved to follow but Klyde stopped her.
“They need to resolve it out for themselves.”
“What is there to resolve? Cassiel betrayed her.”
Klyde sighed. “He lied to protect her, lass, and he unequivocally regrets it. There is nothing he wouldn’t do to take it back.”
Lucenna glowered. “As you said, he lied . And he has yet to tell her the truth as to why he did this to her in the first place.”
His brow furrowed as he searched her eyes. “It’s a terrifying thing to bear your heart to others and reveal every truth and lie … because what if they can’t forgive you for it? What if the truth is so unbearable, speaking it aloud will destroy everything you’ve come to love?”
Lucenna’s chest hurt in a messy confusing way as she considered that. Her gaze dropped to his gentle hold on her hand. She had witnessed too many betrayals in her lifetime. From Ava snubbing Lucien, her father siphoning her mother, the empire segregating sorceresses, and the injustices of life itself.
Perhaps the greatest betrayal was the way her heart reacted to the touch of someone who wasn’t Everest.
Trusting others was another form of vulnerability.
But loving them tore off all armor.
She could never leave herself open to feel the inevitable pain of a knife in her back.
“Sometimes,” Lucenna whispered. “The greatest testament to love is letting it go.”
After a breath, Klyde’s hold slipped away. Lucenna strode quickly for the glass doors leading to the courtyard. She needed air. She needed space. She needed to not feel this way about a man she had no business wanting.
Lucenna’s heels clacked on the paved ground as she ran alongside a glittering fountain toward the sunset. Light rain fell, tricking on the leaves. The view of the garden blurred with her stupid tears.
Why did she have to be this pathetic?
She arrived at a gondola made of stone. It sat beneath the cover of wisteria trees, enclosed in a curtain of purple petals.
“Lucenna!” Klyde called. His footsteps rushed up behind her and she spun around.
“Tell me something true,” she blurted.
“What?” His brow furrowed. He looked perplexed, worried, and so handsome in the rain.
“Tell me something true,” Lucenna repeated, her voice breaking. “I have already lived a life of lies. For once, I need something real.”
That wasn’t what she had wanted to ask, at least not in those words, but a look crossed Klyde’s face that told her he understood her anyway. Her heart pounded wildly as he stepped closer to her. The last rays of the sun shone like gold through the gondola, gleaming on the edges of his face.
“I am possessed by you,” Klyde admitted quietly, and her heart stopped. “From the very first moment I laid eyes on you I was done for. You have occupied my mind everyday sense. When nights falls, I wish on every star I see that I can have the girl who shines like the moon.” He drew her closer and his hand slid up her arm, making her shiver. Her pulse jumped at the way his eyes focused on her, yearning and unwavering. “When sleep takes me, I dream of losing myself in every inch of your body and kissing these lips that refuse me.” His nose trailed across her cheek, and his mouth hovered above hers, so close she could feel them. “But I gave my word,” he whispered. “That I wouldn’t until she asked it of me.”
All her hesitations evaporate, all her worries and uncertainties—maybe it’s because she could feel it was the undeniable truth, or the way she simply always felt safe with this man. So everything that held her back, Lucenna let go.
“Klyde…” she whispered.
“Aye?”
Her lips trembled. “Kiss me.”
His hands curled around her waist, palms warm as they moved up her back, drawing her close. Leaning down, he brought his face close to hers. She closed her eyes as their lips come together, an exhilarated rush through her like a current of lightning. His hand slid to her face as his mouth moved over hers in a way that stole the last of her breath. Lucenna closed her fingers around his wrists and rose onto her toes, wanting more—and he responded in kind.
His hands tightened around her waist and slid to the small of her back as his lips crushed against hers with a demolishing kiss. Her mouth parted, moving with his, and he swallowed her gasp as she felt his tongue move smoothly over hers. Caressing. Tasting. Electricity shot straight through her to his grasp on her hips. Her pulse raced, molten heat expanding through her center. She had been kissed before, but this was something else. It was deep. Ravenous. As if he was starved.
Lucenna didn’t realize he was pushing her backward until her back met the wet column of the gondola covered with leaves. She yelped and Klyde’s boot slipped down a wet step, leaving her lips cold as his disappeared. He caught himself on rail and she stifled a laugh.
He looked so charming standing there in the rain, face flushed and amused. But she wasn’t finished kissing him yet.
Lucenna was already reaching for him the same time he was. He lifted her off the steps as she wrapped her arms around his neck and yanked his mouth back onto hers. He hooked her legs up around his waist and carried her off deeper into the garden out of sight and out of the rain, kissing her as they went.
They arrived in a secluded corner surrounded by flowering bushes and trees. Her feet landed on soft grass as he pinned her to the wall. His hands wove into her hair, holding her head as he explored the shape of her lips. A rough sound rumbled in his throat as she ran her up his chest. His heart raced beneath her palms, and she was glad not to be the only one barely holding on.
Lucenna tipped her head farther back as his mouth moved on to her throat. The stroke of his tongue and gentle nip of his teeth dazed her senses. Then his mouth returned to hers, taking what he wanted, and every part of her was ready to surrender to him and the fire he’d ignited.
Lucenna found their way under his tunic, her nails lightly gliding over his bare stomach. His answering shudder and deep groan filled her with tingling thrill. Klyde paused, panting heavily, heavy lidded eyes gazing at her. It was a look of craving. Of undeniable desire that flushed heat through her body and fluttered in her stomach.
It made her wonder what kind of lover he was. If he was rough or gentle. Whatever the answer, it made her body tremble. It could be that happiness scared her but by the gods did she want him.
More than she ever thought possible.
Biting her lip, Lucenna reached for the buttons of his tunic. His heady gaze held hers and her pulse sped with each button she released until she exposed his chest to the cool air.
Good gods. He as well be sculpted from stone. It was suddenly very difficult to breathe as she admired the endless plane of strength and masculine beauty. Klyde’s lashes drifted closed at the first graze of her hand. She lightly traced his scars over his chest, trailing her fingers over his perfectly honed abdomen to his navel.
“Lass…” Klyde caught her hand. “I’ve had too much to drink tonight to maintain the pretense that I’m a gentleman. If you continue to touch me like that, there’s no telling what I’ll do.”
Tremors fluttered on her skin with the warning. But any resistance she once held had long fallen away. There was only him, the gentle patter of rain, and his scent on the evening breeze.
“What will you do?” she whispered.
Taking her waist, he pulled her flush against him and his hips where she could feel very clearly the undeniable effect she had on him. She quivered at the flush of heat it sent through her.
Klyde’s nose skated her cold cheek to her neck, breathing her in. Then his lips met her ear, and the heated rumble of his voice sent an electrical current to the very center of her being with his confession.
“Every ungodly desire I’ve ever imagined doing to you.”
Lucenna’s pulse climbed with the ardent sincerity burning through his words. She playfully dodged his next kiss and moved around him toward the garden. Holding his heated gaze, she kicked off her heels. His chest heaved with a breath as she reached for the ties of her corset. She watched his eyes dilate as she tugged at the laces. He didn’t make a move, but she felt his anticipation hovering on the surface. The strap of her dress loosened with the corset and slid down her shoulder.
Klyde swiftly cut the distance between them and caught her hands again. “Love, your beauty could topple a nation. But if you remove that dress, I may not survive it.”
“Hmm… tempting. Don’t move.”
He remained still, allowing her to slip the tunic completely off his shoulders and it landed at their feet. Lucenna canted her head, continuing her perusal. She heard his intake of breath as he watched her pale hand move over his tanned chest.
Klyde groaned faintly and lowered his nose along her shoulder. His hot breath wafted along her skin. “I am trying to hold restraint but you’re making it very … hard.”
Lucenna laughed softly. She curled her fingers in his hair and brought his face to hers, holding her mouth a breath away from his. She held him there, not allowing him any closer.
Klyde growled in response, gripping her hips tightly. “Don’t play with me woman. Last warning.”
His voice was strained. All of him shook, his body hot, and she knew he was on the verge of falling over the edge because of she did to him. She felt it in the way he held her, in the undeniable in the press of his hips against her. And Lucenna fed off that power. His chest rumbled as she slowly ran her nails across his back, and she pressed her mouth to his throat.
Klyde’s control snapped.
He grabbed her possessively in his arms as he kissed her wildly. They ended up on the grass, a tangle of limbs and lips. His rough hands slipped up her thighs, roaming over her heated skin, leaving tendrils of fire in their wake. His mouth possessed her, demanding entry. She gave into him, accepting of his caresses and touch, clinging to him with as much desperation.
Her loose dress strap slipped down her shoulder. The cool air fell over her bare skin. Then he was there. His mouth brushed over the curve of her breast. Inhaling her. Kissing. Licking. Lucenna gasped and her spine arched, pressing against the length of him, wanting more of him and everything he could give her.
His knee pressed between her legs and a rush of desire swept through her with a moan. Klyde suddenly paused. He panted as he stared at her with heavy lidded eyes. Perhaps debating whether they should do this here.
“Don’t stop.” Lucenna pulled his face back to her. His grip on her dress tight, possessive, and she heard the fabric tearing in his shaking fist. Yes, that’s what she wanted, for him to tear it off and take her here and now. He kissed her but it wasn’t deep enough for her liking. She kissed him harder only for him to pull away again.
“Wait…” Klyde blinked at her and slowly his eyes rose out of the fog of lust, and he sat back.
Lucenna rose up on her elbows, biting her lip. A ball of insecurity gathered in her chest. Had done something to ruin the mood? “What’s wrong?”
He looked away and shut his eyes. “I can’t.”
Her heart pounded, shock and confusion washing away the heat from her body. “Can’t do what?”
Klyde rubbed his face and moved further away from her. She wasn’t prepared for how much the action stung. “I shouldn’t have done this. We both had too much to drink tonight. This was a …”
“A mistake?” she whispered.
A pained looked entered his eyes and her breath caught.
Anger surged first, but it simmered beneath a surface of humiliation and hurt. The sharp emotions slapped her in the face, startling Lucenna so much she was horrified when her eyes burned. She tried to swallow it away. Tried to bury it because she refused to cry in front of him. Getting up on her feet, she turned away from him and adjusted her dress.
“Lucenna...”
She hated the sound of guilt in his voice and how utterly exposed she suddenly felt. That was the thing when one removed their armor. Without it, nothing else protected you.
She knew that. She knew and she stupidly let him remove it.
Klyde said her name again and then he took her face in his hands, making her look at him. His blue eyes shadow further at the tears he found in hers.
“Did you mean everything you said to me or were you simply attempting to bed me?” Lucenna asked. She hated how weak and pathetic she sounded.
“No.” His expression tightened. “That’s not what I meant. Listen, please, I am trying to explain.”
“You already did.” She took his wrists and pulled them down. “This was a mistake.”
She grabbed her shoes, fighting to keep her damn tears from spilling over as she put them on.
“Lucenna, wait—” He reached for her hand, and she tore it away.
“Don’t touch me!”
His face crumbled at her scream. “Lucenna I—it wasn’t supposed to happen this way. I can’t have you like this.” His gaze dropped to her ring glittering in the moonlight. “I am trying to do what’s right.”
“Because of this?” She held up her hand and scoffed harshly. “When I attempted to contact Everest, I had planned to end the engagement. I felt so terribly guilty because I realized I never loved him. Some stupid part of me I thought perhaps I might know what that felt like with you.” She smirked airily, shaking her head. “ Thank you for completely eradicating that absurdity. Gods, I don’t even know why I wear this anymore.” She grabbed the ring to yank it off, but Klyde gripped her hand, stopping her.
“Don’t take it off,” he pleaded. “Not for me.”
That infuriated her so much she slapped him. The sharp blow imprinted pink handprint perfectly on his cheek. “Don’t pretend to care now. The ring certainly didn’t stop you from seducing me.”
Klyde shut his eyes. “I’m sorry…”
Her fists crackled with violent electricity. “If you come near me again, I truly will rip off your nethers.”
Lucenna stormed away and Klyde didn’t attempt to follow.
Good.
It wasn’t as if she expected him to. She didn’t need him or this. Her face burned and an ugly feeling she couldn’t name bubbled up her chest.
Casting an invisibility spell over herself, Lucenna found another set of courtyard doors into the castle and made her way through the winding corridors for the west wing. The only thing she wanted right now was a bath and a private place to cry.
Because damn him, his rejection truly cut deep.
But when Lucenna entered their shared bedroom, she found Dyna on the couch, arms wrapped around her knees, crying so hard she was gasping for air.
Lucenna rushed over. “What happened?”
Keena worriedly fluttered around Dyna’s downturned head. “I don’t know. I found her like this.”
Dyna looked up, face a mess of tears and snot. “Why must love hurt?”
Lucenna sighed and sat beside her. She laid her head over Dyna’s as her own eyes grew wet. “I wish it didn’t...”
“I’m afraid of having my heart broken again. But how do I move on when I can’t cut him out of me?”
Keena settled on a velvet cushion with a sigh. “My mother once told me no relationship is easy. They come with deceits and qualms and other muddled things that hurt.” She shrugged her tiny shoulders, scattering a sprinkling of gold dust on the green upholstery. “You must decide if loving him is worth that.”
Lucenna sat on the floor with her back resting against the couch. “We can’t tell you what to do about your relationship, Dyna, but I think I’m finished with men. The whole damn lot of them can piss off.”
Dyna arched her brows at her. “Did something happen with Klyde?”
“Why do you assume he has anything to do with it?”
Keena giggled. “Lucenna, your squabbling was clearly flirting. Your hair has leaves in it and your lips are flushed. You kissed, didn’t you? It was bound to happen.”
She groaned and dropped her head on Dyna’s lap. “I allowed him to lure me in with those infuriating dimples and cocky charm. All he cared for was the chase. How much of an idiot can I be? I was never this blind.”
“Are you all right?” Dyna asked her, brushing her hair from her face.
“Of course.” Lucenna scoffed, ignoring the lump in her throat. “I have more important things to do than brood over some man .”
Dyna wiped her eyes and rose to her feet. “Gods, you’re right. We have lost sight of what’s truly important. The only thing that matters right now is Lord Norrlen.” She marched toward the door, throwing up her arms. “Everyone else can piss off!”
“Where are you going?” Keena asked.
“To find some wine. We need a drink!”
Well, Lucenna wouldn’t argue with that.
“Whatever happened between you and Klyde, I doubt it was only about the chase.” Keena’s tiny slippers padded on the velvet upholstery as she sat on the edge of the couch by her nose.
She arched a brow at her. “You’re defending him? I thought he wasn’t one of your favorites?”
“Eh, I find him amusing but I like to make him think he’s not.”
Lucenna smirked. That must really vex him.
Keena smirked back. “One of the benefits of being small is that no one notices you there when you’re paying attention to them. And he is always looking at you, Lucenna. I don’t mean like a lustful fool, but like someone who worries and cares.”
Lucenna didn’t know what to think about that.
It didn’t make sense because Klyde would say one thing and but does another to contradict himself. Why kiss her then call it a mistake?
The lump in her throat turned to a burning that threatened to rush up her nose. It was too confusing. And embarrassing. Regardless, he was right.
Involving herself with him the dumbest thing she’d done.
The fairy princess canted her head, staring at the fireplace thoughtfully. “The world is so big but at times it seems so small. Tarn is Dyna’s sworn enemy and somehow you ended up meeting his brother in the middle of an unlikely place.”
“Actually, I first met Klyde in the Port of Azure.”
Keena’s hazel eyes turned to her with astonishment. “Would you consider that coincidence or fate?”
Lucenna rolled her eyes. “Coincidence.”
They simply had been in the same place at the same time. A witch’s den, oddly enough.
“Then Klyde joined you to take out his brother for his nephews’ sake. But Tarn is dead, right?”
Lucenna sighed. “Yes.”
It was probably a good thing Klyde hadn’t told Tavin about him. It would be too difficult of a conversation.
“With his brother no longer a threat, that means Klyde lost his reason to be here anymore, Lucenna.”
She blinked at her, realizing she was right. Klyde had only joined them to hunt down Tarn.
“Haven’t you wondered why he hasn’t returned home?” Keena smiled at her startled expression. “What reason could he have now to stay except for you?”
Then the fairy flew away toward the tired plate of honey cakes on the sofa table, leaving Lucenna to stew over that.