Fear tugged on his mind at that moment. What if his past didn’t allow him to let Adalia in? What if all of this was too good to be true? Could he truly allow himself to have relationships here in Lucius?
“Stop,” Hadassah whispered. “Don’t go there. Tell that doubt to leave. Let her in . . . let me in . . . let us love you.”
Matthias smiled softly at his mother. “I’m trying.”
After another hour of chatting, Matthias bid his mother goodbye, promising to return soon. But something still tugged at the back of his mind. Turning in the doorway, he asked, “The man, you said he had yellow eyes?”
Hadassah nodded, jostling her sandy coloured tendrils. “Yellow eyes, and thin, blond hair falling from beneath the hood of hiscape—and a glove, but just one. I would have believed he was a phantom with how silent he moved.”
The prince swallowed the large lump of anger that rose from his chest. He knew exactly who his mother had seen that fateful night, and it made him loathe the creature even more than he already did. The thoughts running through his head were building, creating a mass of chaos that he didn’t want erupting in front of Hadassah. He needed some space to think things through. Matthias left his mother’s home and took to the skies. Adalia would expect him back soon, but he needed air first, so he flew a lap of Lucius.
Planning his father’s, and his trusted advisor’s, demise.
After processing his thoughts, Matthias headed back to Adalia’s home. It was late afternoon, and the sun was setting across the kingdom, blanketing the land with a deep orange glow.
He used the front door this time.
As he walked inside, he heard Adalia’s laughter coming from the courtyard, the sound of it making his heart flutter. Walking to the back door, Matthias leant against its frame and watched the lilac winged woman throw a stick for Bones, who obediently fetched it and brought it back to her. The joy that radiated from her was infectious and Matthias couldn’t stop himself from grinning as he watched the two play. Ever since he met this female, his life had slowly turned from night to day. She was sunshine given form.
“Once you start this game with him, he won’t ever want to stop,” the prince crooned.
Adalia looked up, a smile plastering across her face. “Matthias, you’re back! How are you feeling? Tell me everything,” she exclaimed as she hurried towards him.
The hem of her floral dress danced in the breeze and brushed her skin just above her knees, sending his mind into a frenzy. Matthias swallowed as she neared him, her scent filling his senses,and the look she gave him was all he needed to pull her close and cover her mouth with his own. Adalia melted into his arms and sighed against his mouth, their lips moving together in a dance of passion.
It wasn’t enough, though. He wanted more of her. He needed her. Matthias pushed her up against the side of the house and raised her hands above her head, holding them there with one hand while the other lightly gripped her throat. Lilac wings sprawled behind her, each feather gleaming under the sun.
Adalia held his gaze, and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as the prince brought his lips down to claim hers once again. His tongue danced across the seam of her lips. Matthias groaned when she opened for him. Dropping her hands, he cupped her face. Adalia sighed as she clutched the front of his shirt, nipping at his lips and teasing the inside of his mouth with her tongue.
The prince placed a hand on Adalia’s thigh and pulled her leg up to wrap around his hips as he pushed her into the wall, deepening their kiss like it was the last they would ever have. The hunger for her was driving him wild, and Matthias was quickly losing control. Adalia pushed against his chest and broke their kiss. Her eyes were heavy with pleasure, her lips swollen. Matthias rested his forehead against hers and caught his breath.
“Are you behaving?” Adalia teased.
“I am trying very hard to, but seeing you in this dress brings me to my knees. You make it very hard for a man to behave,” Matthias confessed.
Adalia smiled at him and slipped out of his embrace. “As much as I want to continue with that delicious moment between us, I believe I asked you a question . . . well, maybe a few—that I’m yet to have answers for.”
“But I’ve been talking all morning. Are you sure you don’t want to just sit here and get to know each other in a more intimate way?” the prince teased.
“I would like that very much, but what I would love even more is to know more about you, if you want to share it with me. If it’s all too much, I understand and I will respect that, but…I would really love to know more about your mother.” Adalia offered him a sweet smile that he couldn’t resist. He sat down beside her on the daybed and filled her in on his morning with his newly found mother.
By the time the sun had set, stories were shared, tears were shed, and another piece of Matthias’s heart had healed.
“I need to go back though,” the prince murmured against Adalias’ hair as she lay in his arms.
“What do you mean? You said you were staying here?” she questioned as she sat up.
“I need answers from my father and this time I won’t back down. I’m not afraid of him anymore. Justice needs to be had,” the prince murmured.
Adalia nodded sadly and shifted so she was facing him front on. “How long will you be gone?”
“A day or two? I will return swiftly, and then it will just be the two of us . . . I promise.” Matthias reached for her knee and squeezed it gently. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“Why must everything be so difficult with you?” Adalia sighed.
Mattias grinned at the beauty before him and winked. “Because if I made it easy, you wouldn’t want me so bad.”
The cheeky comment resulted in Adalia throwing herself upon Matthias and straddling him onto the daybed, sealing his echoing laughter with a kiss.
