Fuck.
No.
No, no, no, no.
That can’t be. It just can’t be.
I try to take a hesitant step away from Keane but his hands keep me held firmly against him. His brown eyes gaze down at mine with a fiery intensity, everything about him willing me to understand the seriousness of the word.
No.
I’m not a royal. I’m not high born.
Shit.
Queen...
What do I know of being a Queen? I hate the politics of everything surrounding the Kingdoms and the way they dictate actions. Keane is out of his damn mind.
“Keane,” I breathe heavily, shaking my head as my arms start to tremble at my sides.
“What did you think would happen here, Alexis?” Keane holds my gaze earnestly now, “that you would be with me for your years, give me children, and that I’d just move on? When I tell you forever, I meanforever. For your life as well as my own.”
Ancients.
This is too much. Way too much.
When we love, we love,Alanna’s words echo deep in the back of my mind.
WhatdidI think would happen after tonight?
I didn’t.
I still haven’t let myself fully comprehend what this meant to me, what this meant to Keane and the two of us. The status of how it all workedcompletely escaped me. I didn’t think on thehowof it, only knew that we would be together in the years to come.
Queen?
I shake my head again and let the anxiety wash over my face.
“I know nothing,” I cry out quietly, “your life, the way you live, and what is asked of you… it is not known to me.”
“It’s truly not so different from yours, Alexis,” Keane smiles down at me softly, “I’m not asking for you to engage in the politics, though I truly believe that you are ready to embrace them. I know you’ve inquired with Princess Clair for books into the Ancients and the other Kingdoms of the Old World, and I’ve seen you challenge beliefs and the standard way of living with a fire only a few have. You get heated when you hear of wrong-doings and want to fight, want to see change…”
Keane lets his hands on my waist hold me tight as he continues, “if you want to stay out of all that, I can understand, though I suspect you won’t. Your fire is too strong, Alexis, too heavy and pushing to get out. But if you do choose to dim it, then I only ask that you stand by my side as I remake Disce to that of Warrior, because it is whateveryonein this Old World deserves.”
My heart stops at his words.
This fucking man.
“You know I want that, Keane,” I tell him quietly, feeling the pull towards him and his words that call for change.
Keane’s hands give my hips a squeeze, “then forget the rest. Forget the title and the stigma around it. Let it come as it comes. It’s you and me, Alexis. That’s all that matters.”
I open my mouth to tell him that there’s no way I’ll ever be able to forget the title, but Keane dips his head quickly, capturing my lips on his as he brings his hands roughly up my back. He takes advantage of my surprise and slips his tongue into my mouth, claiming my unspoken words. His hands come up to the back of my head as he deepens his kiss, his desire so heavy and heated that I have to surrender, surrender and follow his movements as I bring my own shaking hands up to the back of his hair and pull his head down to me.
Keane groans as his tongue demands mine, our kiss growing in intensity as I move my hips into his. My body is calling to him, knowing that he is the only reassurance I need to get through all the thoughts in my head.
Keane swiftly releases his hands from my hair and rakes them down my shoulders to my lower back, moving past my rear to my thighs as he lifts me off the ground. I fluidly hook my legs around his hips as our kiss continues, the two of us so hungry and passioned that I already begin moaning against his lips.
