I recoiled as if he’d slapped me. I wanted to retreat to the bed where I couldn’t hear any more of the conversation, but my feet refused to move.
“Father, we have discussed this,” Lukas replied in a low, angry voice.
“You are drawn to her. I understand that. She is lovely and spirited and brave. Were I your age, I would find her appealing as well. But in the end, I would fulfill my duty to Unseelie.” There was a quiet pause before the king said, “Think about it, Vaerik. Remember Onagh.”
Onagh? Lukas had never mentioned that name before. Who was he, and what did he have to do with Lukas and me?
The sound of the door closing sent me tiptoeing back to bed. I lay down and pulled the blanket up a few seconds before Lukas came into the room. I debated whether or not I should pretend to be asleep and decided I wasn’t a good enough actress.
He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at me with apologetic eyes. “How much did you hear?”
“Enough to know your father doesn’t hate me, so that’s something,” I said lightly.
His mouth tightened. “My father’s intentions are good, but he is too set in his ways to see past his vision of the future for his children. He does not consider what we might want.”
“What do you want?” I asked, realizing we’d never talked about that.
Lukas’s head dipped. “This,” he whispered against my lips, and then his mouth took mine in a slow, drugging kiss. I floated on a cloud as his lips blazed a trail to the hollow of my throat. “This,” he said before his tongue darted out to taste my skin. I let out a tiny moan as every nerve ending in my body lit up.
“Lukas,” I breathed. I wanted his mouth back on mine as much as I wanted him to not stop what he was doing to me.
He pulled away, and then he was on top of me. He raised up on his forearms, but the rest of his hard body pressed me down into the bed. The possessive gleam in his eyes sent a shiver through me as he recaptured my mouth, telling me without words that I was his.
I was breathless when he moved to lie beside me, propped up on one arm. His lips continued their assault as his free hand tugged the covers down to my waist.
My breath caught when his fingers touched the shirt button between my breasts, and he lifted his head to look at me. I nodded my permission, and he smiled as he flicked the button open with ease. His warm hand slipped beneath the soft material, and I arched into his touch when he cupped my breast.
“I’ve wanted to touch you like this for so long,” he said thickly.
I reached up to pull his head down to me again. “Then don’t stop.”
Our lips had barely made contact when the bell sounded. Lukas groaned and fell onto his back beside me. “If that is my father, I am going to disavow him.”
A pained laugh slipped from me because I shared his frustration. He went to answer the door while I lay there reliving the most sensual experience of my life. I imagined what would have happened if the bell hadn’t rung, and I silently cursed our visitor, who had the worst timing ever.
Lukas came back to the bedroom, carrying a small bundle of clothes. “Roswen sent Gelsey with a change of clothes for you.” He tossed the clothes on a chair. “You won’t need those for a few hours.”
My heart thudded when he rejoined me on the bed. He rose up on his elbow and leaned down to brush a featherlight kiss against my lips. “Now where were we, mi’calaech?”
Mi’calaech…my fire flower. The translation of the endearment formed in my mind, and I wrapped my arms around his neck to kiss him back wantonly.
The sound of the bell again had Lukas pulling away from me, swearing. I pitied whoever was at the door this time because he looked a little scary when he strode from the bedroom. He returned with a resigned expression and carrying a food tray, which he set down on the foot of the bed.
“My mother sent breakfast and hopes you are feeling better this morning.” He arranged the pillows behind me, and I reclined against them. Picking up the tray, he settled it over my lap and sat facing me. “We’d better eat before it gets cold, or she will want to know why you didn’t touch the food.”
I grinned and picked up a pastry. “That sounds like something my mom would say.”
Lukas moved up to sit beside me. “What would you like to do today?”
“With you?” I asked around a bite of pastry. Last night was the most I’d seen of him in days, and I assumed the king would keep him even busier after what had happened.
He laughed. “Yes, with me. I have more free time for the next week, and I intend to spend it with you. We can do whatever you want…as long as we stay in Unseelie.”
My chest expanded so much I thought it would burst. If not for the tray on my lap, I would have straddled him and kissed the hell out of him.
“I’d love to see more of the valley. It’s so beautiful from up here.” I would have been happy walking to the lake as long as I did it with him, but it would be nice to get away from court for a few hours.
“A day outside sounds perfect,” he said.
After breakfast, Lukas went to let his men know of our plans while I showered and changed into the clothes Gelsey had brought. In the living room, I found my favorite combat-style boots I used for outdoor training and made a mental note to thank Gelsey. I was lacing them up when Lukas returned looking a little put out. My shoulders slumped as I waited for him to tell me he couldn’t go out after all.
“I hope you don’t mind some extra company,” he said, walking to his bedroom. “Roswen stopped me to ask after you, and I foolishly told her our plans for today. She’s meeting us outside.”
“Oh, good! I haven’t talked to her since I got back from visiting my family.”
Lukas said something I couldn’t make out.
“What was that?” I called.
He appeared in the bedroom doorway. “I’m glad you two like each other, but this was supposed to be our time together.” With that, he yanked off his shirt, giving me a tantalizing view of his hard chest and defined abs before he disappeared into the room. I stared dreamily after him until Kaia jumped onto the couch and jolted me to my senses.
When he emerged ten minutes later, his hair was still damp from the shower, and he was dressed in riding clothes like the ones he’d worn the night he had gone out searching for me. We left his suite, and I was surprised none of his men were waiting for us. I couldn’t believe they would let him leave the court with only Kaia for protection.
It wasn’t until we exited the mountain that I saw Conlan and Faris waiting for us with Roswen and a group of others. I recognized Roswen’s personal guards, but who were all of these other people?
“Jesse!” Roswen grabbed someone’s arm and pulled him over to us. I didn’t recognize him until they were standing in front of us.
“Jesse, this is our brother, Kellen. Kellen, meet Jesse,” she said.
I smiled at the sixteen-year-old prince. “It’s nice to meet you, Prince Kellen.”
“Hello,” he said stiffly as if we were at a formal event. I couldn’t tell if he was a snob or socially awkward.
Roswen waved a hand dismissively. “Call him Kellen.”
Kellen shot her an annoyed look, which she ignored. He huffed softly and walked away to pick up the reins of a beautiful white tarran. The animal lowered its head to him, and he rubbed its forehead affectionately. I forgave his rudeness when he took a treat from his pocket and fed it to the tarran.