LIANA
m glad that Lucian and I have smoothed things out. I couldn’t stand the feeling of something putting a wedge between us. I’m just orry there’s no time for us to kiss and make up right now. Lucian had planned to work once we got home and has several meetings Cheduled–which leaves me to my own devices for a few hours.
need of a relaxing activity, I once again find myself in the library. Libraries have always been my safe place, somewhere I can go and el surrounded by warmth and comfort even though I’m alone.
Wandering the stacks, I stumble on the Lycanthrope History section and browse through the leather–bound titles. A book catches my ye: The Reign of King Shelby and Queen Annalise, and I extract it from the shelf. Even though I’m not a great one for history, this one night just be worth a read.
Out at the pool, I swim a couple of laps, still reeling from the beautiful tale I’ve been reading about Shelby and Annalise. Their story is andeniably romantic. Their marriage was an arranged one, not welcome to either of them because each was in love with someone else.
At their first official meeting, they discovered that they were already acquainted. They had been having a secret affair with each other all along, blissfully unaware they were due to be each other’s betrothed. It couldn’t have worked out more perfectly for them. They lived to The ripe ages of 425 and 430, only having to spend five years apart before reuniting once again in the afterlife.
It’s strange to think that, now that I’m a lycan, I might live as long as that or even longer. A lifespan that long almost feels like Immortality. I wonder if Lucian and I will always be as madly in love as Shelby and Annalise were, until their deaths, I can’t imagine it any other way. Now that I can link with Lucian and feel his every emotion and physical sensation, it’s like he’s become an extension of my own body and soul.
For a second, I allow myself to think about the fact that Lucian may only have another two hundred years or so left, while I may have as many as four or five hundred. Fear and grief blaze in my heart but I shut them down. One day, I may have to live without him, but that is so far in the distant future, it’s not worth thinking about now.
On my lap back, Lucian is crouched poolside with a smile.
you do anything without looking utterly irresistible?” he teases, and I chuckle while trying not to suck in water. He laughs, then stands as I approach and starts pulling off his clothes. I rest my arms on the pool’s edge to admire the view,
“Likewise, my king.” I tease right back, causing him to give me a mock scowl while I hide my smile in the crook of my arm. Stepping back to the edge, he sits himself down before slipping into the water. With smooth strokes, he swims up behind me and wraps me in his
have you b
“What have you been up to then, my little beauty?”
The library. I found a shelf full of biographies about lycan royalty.” I sigh with contentment as we drift around in the water.
“You did, did you? So studious.” He chuckles quietly and we float some more. It’s almost as if he’s forgotten that only a few hours ago he was so worked up that he had to leap out of a car and tear away in his wolf form to shake off the thought of me in the arms of another man. “Oh, I must mention, Charlotte asked if we wanted to go to dinner tonight.”
“Off the estate?”
“Yes, she has found a new place in the mountains. Very exclusive apparently,” he says in mocking tone, and I slap his arm playfully.
“I’d love to. I need to find something to wear.” I tread water, quietly contemplating the fact that I really have nothing that is in any way “fancy”
“I am glad you said that, my queen.” He twists me in his arms to face him, and I wrap my legs around his waist. He smiles mischievously as I roll my eyes. “There’s someone waiting for you upstairs,” he says with a wink and a hint of suggestion in his voice. I scrunch up my nose but he just chuckles before popping a kiss on its tip. “OIf you go, my love. Daddy’s gonna have a swim.” He winks again and 1
as he gives my ass a firm squeeze before pushing me off and gliding through the water.
Tkle, rolling my eyes, and swim to the edge before pulling myself out with ease, no longer needing to use the steps as I once did.
“Lycanhood becomes you, my love,” Lucian calls from the other end of the pool, I smile over my shoulder as I gather my things from the lounger. Zeke’s outburst and my father’s angry words keep trying to rise to the surface of my mind, but 1 keep pushing them back down where they belong. I’m not going to let them ruin things.
2624 14
LIANA
Once in my bedroom I’m completely taken aback by the sight before me as I call out quietly. “Hello?“”
From behind dozens of hanging racks that are completely packed with glossy, sparkly, rich–looking fabrics, a very camp but drop–dead beautiful man pops out, with the biggest, brightest smile I’ve ever seen.
His eyes sparkle as they take me in and look me up and down.
“Magnifico!” he cries out in relief and hops his way toward me, pulling me into a very informal embrace. “Finally! A canvas worthy of my work! My queen!” He bows in a very extravagant gesture, making me giggle like a schoolgirl at his what I assume was put on Italian accent.
“Please, call me Liana”
“I am Alejandro! Designer, artiste, miracle worker!” I give a wholehearted laugh that he returns while tucking my hair delicately behind my ear. “You, my dear, are a very lucky woman.” He winks and takes my hand, pulling me through the gap between two racks of silk items and into what appears to be the heart of his world. We are completely surrounded by fabrics, so colorful and rich I can barely take
them all in
Sitting me down on the bed, he starts fussing around me, pulling out several dresses,
“Now. Our king has asked me to dress you for this evening. I am thinking …white? Holding up a pearly white dress beside me, he shakes his head and tosses it aside. “No!”
I laugh as I watch him go back to rifling through the racks.
“So Alejandro, how long have you known Lucian? I ask, curious about this flamboyant, bright young man as he continues his search.
He doesn’t look very old at all, maybe a similar age to me. He’s tall and slinky slim, with dark amber hair and warm, brown eyes. He clearly uses fake tan because I doubt a redhead would be such a beautiful bronze,
He looks over his shoulder with a small smile and goes back to searching.
“Lucian’s team actually rescued me from a death fight,” he answers, obviously trying to keep his voice sounding chipper.
“I’m so sorry, Alejandro… I didn’t know…”
Turning, he sighs and comes to sit beside me on the bed. “It’s okay. Your Majesty. Not many people know. I prefer to keep it that way for business.” He runs a hand over the left side of his chest as though remembering a painful wound. “I was captured while on a run with my lover… They got us both. Sadly, I was the only one to make it out.”
“Oh, Goddess, I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have asked you such a thing…
“Nonsense, it’s okay, Your Majesty. It was a long time ago. People, especially our kind, were not so happy that I would not be taking a female mate… Thankfully times are changing… Ooh!” He suddenly hops up, making me flinch as he fishes through a rack and pulls out a stunning blood–red, form–fitting silk gown with a very risqué neckline. “Perfecto!”
I smile at him and the dress, seeing clearly that he would like to move on from his confession.
“Can I try it on?” I ask, and he brightens up immediately.
“Absolutely! Allow me to assist?” he asks, and I nod, now really understanding the reason behind Lucian choosing Alejandro. I smile, shaking my head, and begin to undress while he searches for some heels to match. “Ah! Perfecto!”
I turn around to look at the shiny gold heels he’s holding and nod excitedly.
Alejandro helps me step into the dress and kindly zips me into the glossy material.
LLULITID
…this feels unwzing!”
“Did you make it? I ask as he helps me perch on the bed’s edge and gets to his knee to put on my shoes.
“I did. Do you like it?”
Llove it. You have incredible talent”
2:24 PM c
“That means a lot to me, mi amore.
a pleasure to dress such royalty,” he says with his signature bow, making me smile. “Now, with such natural beauty we will not hide any of this,” he says with a gesture to my face. “But may I style your hair?” He’s so genuinely eager that I’m happy to oblige,
Standing. I move to my dresser and perch carefully on my stool as he gets to work fluffing and pinning my hair.
***
As I descend the stairs, I hold my breath but keep my chin up high and proud. Alejandro did an amazing job at making me presentable, and I want to show Lucian how proud I am to be his queen as well as just looking the part.
Lucian stands by the main doors, his back to me while he adjusts his suit in the mirror. I smile to myself at the warmth that flows through me because he gets to look in the mirror now and see himself, even doing a simple thing like adjusting his tic.
He must feel my heat too and turns around, his eyes landing straight on me as if they are programmed to find me, wherever I am. They widen with lust as they burn through me from my legs to my chest before landing on my eyes.
“What do you think?” I ask, purposely shy.
“You make me want to throw you over my shoulder and march you right back up those stairs…” he replies in that husky, dark voice that sends a shiver down my spine.
I smile in a shy but sultry way as I sashay toward him, working my hips a little more than usual. His shoulders roll back as he tries to relax, but I can see the tightness in his jaw as I approach and I know my performance is working.
Stopping just a step from him, I place my hand flat on his chest, feeling the thick muscle beneath his shirt, and look up at him from under my lashes.
“As much as that offer…excites me…” I whisper. He growls softly at that, his hungry eyes eating me alive. “We have our friends waiting for us.” As if by pure magic, the waiting car beeps outside.
Lucian growls deeper and glances at the door in obvious frustration.
“You tease,” he groans, and I chuckle, stopping him a moment as he turns away for the door. Lifting onto my tiptoes, I bring my lips just beside his car.
“You might want to hide this,” I whisper, lashing my tongue around the shell of his car and grasping his hardened cock through his dress slacks. Sucking in a breath, he gasps and tries to grab me back before I slip past him. I tut in teasing disapproval. “No messing up Alejandro’s masterpiece,” I tell him with an extra flick of my hair.
He groans and shoves a hand down his pants to adjust himself. I giggle proudly to myself before slipping out of the door and heading for the waiting car.
