Chapter Twenty

"You forgot your lipstick." He kisses my forehead and goes to pick the lip balm from the bed.

My heart stops for a full second and starts up again in pace so fast, a hummingbird would be jealous. Seeing the balm in his hand fills me with dread and an aching hurt that spreads through my whole body.

I have to remind myself to breathe as he walks towards me with the weapon of his destruction. I'm too busy panicking to notice the calculative look in his eyes.

"You know, we haven't talked about what happened in the bathroom and where you had run off to after you left me?" He comes to stand in front of me and narrows his eyes; my breathing stops completely. "Why is your heart beating so fast? I already said I would never hurt you. Are you afraid of me still?"

I open my mouth to reply but the sight of that thing in his hand is scrambling my thoughts. "Uuh.. Umm.." I swallow and make a show of rubbing my throat. "My throat is a little sore." He already gave me an excuse so I'll just go with it. "You are the king and can do whatever you please with very little to no consequence so I can't help but be a little wary of you."

That is utter rubbish. He makes me feel safe, cherished and may I say, loved and it's making it hard for me to go through with this. I'm having second thoughts which could get me caught if I don't pull it together soon.

"That is why were suddenly so cold to me in the bath? You ran off to God knows where for a few minutes because you are wary of me?" He tilts his head to the side and it is the cutest thing I have ever seen. His tone is of genuine curiosity, making me wonder if he is getting suspicious of me or not.

"I already explained myself before. I was just really sore in the bathroom and I didn't have anything to do while waiting for you to finish so I decided to look around for a bit. What else do you want me to say, Lucius?" I use his name at the end to placate him and by the way his shoulders relax slightly, It works.

I could have just looked through his room; there are a lot of things to marvel at since this is the king's room obviously. So many antiques and century old souvenirs; there's even an extremely tall bookshelf to the left of the king sized bed.

Thankfully he doesn't know much about me to know how far and wide my curious nature stretches.

He hums while looking at me with speculative eyes; his hand coming to rest on my waist as if it belongs there. He lifts the other hand holding the balm to my cheek making me wince internally but I keep still.

His forehead wrinkles in a frown as his fingers barely caress me. "You weren't this skittish a few hours ago when you were moaning my name so loudly."

My face might as well melt off with how bright they burn and I look away in shame. The hurt in his voice makes my eyes sting. I'm ruining us both by delaying this any further.

"Is it the lipstick? You don't want it?" He goes to put the balm on the nightstand but I stop him by grabbing his hand.

"I want it. I'm just a little tired, that is all?" I keep my gaze on his neck; afraid that he might see everything if our eyes make contact.

He stares at me in deafening silence for a few seconds. "Alright," He drawls unsurely. His confusion is palpable and I can't say I blame him. I'm confusing myself as it is.

He twists open the lid and holds my head steady by gripping my chin. Each swipe of the lip balm across my lips is accompanied by a shaky breath.

Once it's fully applied, he closes the lid and throws the balm to the side. He releases my chin and pulls me closer by the waist with a very clear intention of kissing me.

"What are you doing?" My heart beats faster with each inch of space he covers and I'm almost lightheaded by the time he is a quarter inch from my lips.

Can't he see that the he is heading towards his imminent death? He's the king of one of if not the most powerful kingdom in the supernatural world for goodness sake! How did he even survive this long if he can't read even manage this?

I close my eyes and the decapitated bodies of my parents flash before my eyes and the years we had to live without them. Sarah grew up without her parents and we were all orphaned because of this man. This is right; he deserves it.

He will suffer painfully in agonizing silence for years, decades, centuries; even a millennium until he fades away into nothing and then I'll be satisfied that he has paid for his sins in full.

I open my eyes and look at his face for the last time. His face looks angelic as the warm rays of the morning sun hits us just perfectly. His eyes are closed, his lips are slightly parted and his hands are caressing my waist in a soothing manner that makes me sigh.

This man, I think to myself and chuckle wryly. What have you done to me?

Barely a second before his lips touch mine, I turn my head to the side and he ends up kissing my cheek. We both sigh, albeit for different reasons and he buries his face in my neck.

"The food is getting cold. Let us eat," He rasps and pulls away from me. He looks into my eyes for a few seconds, searching for something; what? I do not know.

My brother is going to be furious at me and my parents are probably rolling over in graves. If they were alive, father would scowl at me and yell until his face is red while mother would look down at me with sad eyes and give me the silent treatment for the rest of the week.

I miss them. I miss them so much but they'll gone now. Avenging them would just add one more heartbreak and I don't think I can survive that. So for once, just this once, I'm going to be selfish.

It feels like an eternity had passed when he gently takes my hand and leads me towards the bed.