With her hand outstretched, Zurie pointed as she informed us, “The house is over there. Feel free to come back for dinner in an hour if you’re hungry and feeling up to it. You’re always welcome to come and go. Let us know if you need anything in the guest house.”
I wanted to follow where her hand was pointing, because I just knew it was going to be a gorgeous home, but I wasn’t willing to look far enough away that it caused me to not be able to keep my eyes on the cloud beneath me.
“Thank you,” Lucien ground out, his voice rumbling deeply and reminding me that he was struggling with his control right now.
While he was holding me right now, this seemed to go deeper than his usual need to hold me. If I knew him as well as I thought I did, whatever was happening was compounding with his sudden feeling that we weren’t okay or that I was ashamed of him.
With Zurie’s goodbye and the reminder of Lucien's state, I forced my somewhat shaky legs to cross one in front of the other as he guided us to our destination. With my absolute distrust of the clouds, I wasn’t willing to prolong the trip.
Honestly, I wished more than anything that my fear would go away so I could soak in the beauty of this moment. I mean, we were walking on freaking clouds in the most beautiful realm I’d ever laid eyes on, and here I was walking like a newborn giraffe on unsteady legs.
“I would never let you fall, angel. If you don’t trust Zurie or see that we are okay so far, trust in that.”
In my panicked state, I hadn’t realized how tightly my hands were fisted in his shirt. His words instantly brought me out of the haze in my brain that was convincing me of the quick and ugly demise that surely awaited me.
I would never let you fall.
He would never let anything bad happen to me. In that, I could absolutely trust.
Swallowing the anxiety bubbling up from my chest, I released my death-grip on his shirt and forced my eyes to slowly crawl up from the ground, inch by inch.
What awaited me was even more breathtaking than I could have ever imagined.
Nestled within a surreal expanse of billowing puffs of clouds sat the most ethereal structure I’d ever seen. The home itself seemed to be a blend of elegant, curving architecture and whimsical fantasy with vines growing around the white walls, seamlessly merging with the ever-shifting mist that enveloped it around its base.
The misting clouds surrounding the guest house caused it to glisten like a precious gem being inspected beneath a magnifying glass and beam of light, refracting in fleeting, small rainbows as we walked closer.
I was so enraptured by its appearance and soothed by Lucien’s words that the distance that seemed so expansive moments ago was suddenly gone as we stepped onto the porch. He was quick to open the door and usher me inside, leaving my mouth gaping all over again.
A beautiful iron staircase spiraled upwards from the middle of the home, revealing intricate railings stretching along the open second floor. If I turned my head the right way, I could just glimpse a library and several closed doors up there. Giving the main space of the first floor a quick glance, I found that the interior somehow seamlessly matched the outside of the house. The interior was a mixture of pale, muted colors, mirroring the soft hues of the surrounding cloudscape. Gauzy white curtains billowed gently in the breeze from the two open windows that framed the massive television. The furniture was elegantly minimalist, like the inside of their main home, and it sat atop the same polished, reflective floors.
“I’m in absolute shock,” I breathed out, twirling around to take it all in. It was absolutely gorgeous and surreal.
The heart of the home was a central atrium, its ceiling a magnificent dome that you could follow the staircase up to see. Potted plants and hanging gardens seemed to flourish here, existing in every room I could easily see from here.
As I came to a stop, focusing on Lucien leaning in the doorway staring at me, I opened my mouth to begin our conversation. He cut me off as soon as I did.
He rushed over to me and gripped my face in his large, calloused palms, bending to gently touch our foreheads together as we breathed each other's air for a moment.
“Angel, the way you look at this home is the way I look at you. I’m in constant awe of every little facet that makes you, you. I’m so utterly yours that sometimes it kills me to think that maybe it’s not the same for you when you’re embarrassed by my behavior.”
Suddenly, I felt wetness on my lashes from the tears that sprang up at his words. They fluttered over my cheeks as I closed them, sitting heavily against them. I was right–I’d hurt him deeply with my words to Zurie.
“I’m sorry, Lucien. So sorry. I shouldn’t have said that to her.”
It took me a few moments of soul searching to figure out why I evendidsay that. But when the realization hit me, it felt like a weight of bricks against my spine.
“I sometimes forget that we’re in realms where things such as soulmates, mate bonds, and multiple partners for one person exist–I didn’t think about the fact that she would understand your behavior. I was raised in a realm of humans, where everything was very traditional and anythingnottraditional was frowned upon. Women constantly apologized for every little thing, and while I always did my best to try to stay true to myself, the need to conform and please society engrained itself into my psyche.”
My words all came out in a rush, and I wasn’t sure if Lucien would even understand where I was coming from, having never experienced this for himself.
When I finally opened my eyes, it was to see him pulling back to take me in completely. His look was intense, as if he was trying to imprint every blemish on my skin to his memory.
My voice was soft as I asked, “Does that make sense? It’s not an excuse for my actions, and I promise to learn from this and be better for you.”
His hands slipped to wrap around my waist, firmly yanking me forward until my front rested against his. “I know everything from your life in Ordinarius, remember? It just comes to me, as if in creating us you shared your experiences and knowledge of the world. It makes sense, now that you’ve said it.”
I let out a heavy sigh, relief coursing through me and causing my body to slump heavily against his.
