The black and greens of this room coupled with the open ceiling and jutting pines…
Everything here compliments him so well… as does the serious glance he now sends my way. That brown stare is no longer cool and calm in its indifference, but instead thoughtful and almost vulnerable in its intensity, making me shudder under his gaze.
Keane parts his lips in an exhale and finally drops me down to the floor. His hands linger on my sides for a moment as I regain my footing, his steady grip falling away from my hips as I walk to the chair and grab the blanket on top to wrap around my shoulders.
“Storm?” I ask quietly.
A small caw reaches me from a corner in the room. Stormfall is sitting at the top of the pine next to the large table, his yellow eyes holding mine from above in quiet affection. I give him a small smile and wrap the blanket tighter to my front, then take a deep breath and look back at Keane and his intense eyes.
“I had him handled…”
Whatever Keane thought I’d say first, that was not it. His brows dart up in slight surprise before they relax in approval.
“I know it,” he nods.
I turn away from his stare, not wanting that approval. Another man’s hands were on me.
“I would have killed him if he didn’t back off,” I say quietly, looking into the fire.
Keane takes a hard step at my back, “I know that, too.”
“You would have had to deal with that, Keane. Deal with a Discerni Lord dead at the hands of a human.”
The Prince moves swiftly to stand next to me, his voice steady. “That rule is archaic and long past its life of being overturned, Alexis.”
Stormfall caws in agreement from his perch above. Keane reaches a hand out to my face and pulls my chin his direction, his voice going soft.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you.”
I sigh at the look of pity in his eyes, not wanting that, either.
His thumb reaches up to caress my cheek, “this isn’t pity, Alexis...”
I swear he’s a mind reader like his father.
“It’s just a deep sadness for a woman who may be lost to me because another man tainted this place for her…”
“I’m already lost to you,” I quickly pull my chin out of his grasp and turn back to the fire, “I became lost last night when you found out about Troy.”
Keane visibly stiffens next to me at the words, his voice going deathly quiet.
“Is that what this is, Alexis? Is that why you’ve been avoiding me all day?”
“How could I not!” I turn to him in desperation, “how can I expect anything from you after learning that? How can I welcome any touch from you when all I feel is a harrowing shame at the thought?”
Keane furrows his brows, his features turning cold as he takes a step
back.
“Ancients, Alexis,” he runs a hand though his hair, “fuck!”
He shakes his head in anger, his eyes on me so dark and cool that I have to look away. He abruptly reaches for his tunic and throws it to the floor, stalking off to the other side of the fireplace where a small table holds multiple different decanters. He quickly pours himself a glass of whiskey and then swallows the drink whole, dropping the empty glass on the table with a thud before he pours another. He scowls at the drink and then places both hands firmly on the table in front of him, his head bowing low as he grips the wood hard.
I watch him from the fireplace in silence, watch his troubled features that mimic my own. He leans forward with a heavy breath and closes his eyes, the tenseness of his body finally leaving on a deep sigh. He runs a hand through his hair again and then reaches for a second glass, filling it to the brim with water before he turns back to look at me. His brown eyes burn with an emotion that I have no name for yet, never leaving mine as he commandingly steps in my direction.
“It makes me sick to think of him with you,” he tells me with a hard look.
I blanche at the open honesty but nod my head all the same. It would make me sick, too, if everything was reversed.
