“I promise you,” I began in a mousy voice, “there’s nothing between Lukas and I.”
“Stop saying his name!” he roared, his grip on my wrists tightening.
A nervous whimper slipped from my lips. At the sound, Arenn’s expression softened, and the hand that was holdingmy wrists drifted to cup my face. “Please forgive me, Princess, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” His fingers gently stroked my cheek. “You know I’d never hurt you, don’t you?”
I nodded quickly, while praying he wouldn’t see through this lie.
“Good,” he sighed. “I just cannot bear the thought of another man messing with your pretty little mind. It… It consumes me.” He shook his head before lowering his face to plant a line of soft kisses at the base of my jaw. “You’re mine… My Luminessia bride. My future wife. My little human.” He punctuated each phrase with another gentle kiss.
This was all just a bizarre dream. It had to be. Just my own fears of our new engagement messing with my head. I’d wake up soon, and I’d be fine. But then, why did this all feel so real?
Once Arenn was satisfied, he lifted his head away from my jaw. He seemed much calmer now, but it was still hard for me to relax with his body pressed so close against mine. A tiny, traitorous part of me even seemed to like the closeness.
“I’m afraid I’m still going to have to punish you for lying to me, little human.” His gaze drifted past my chin.
“Oh?” I said innocently, trying to mask my racing heart.
“Don’t be afraid, though,” he murmured, his face lowering to my neck. “You might even enjoy this.”
My stomach dipped. But before I could speak another word, his lips attached to my skin and he gnawed while sucking gently. I gasped at the feeling. It wasn’t painful; wasn’t pleasant either. Maybe somewhere devious in the middle. I resisted the urge to knot my fingers through his beautifully messy hair.
After a few more seconds, he pulled his now slightly swollen lips away.
“Now everyone will know that you’re mine, sweet princess.” His fingers brushed gently down my cheek.
I was going to ask what he’d done, but before I had a chanceto, another low voice cut through the dreamscape.
“Naria!”
I knew that voice. It was Lukas. But hearing it only made me want to groan. It was already bad enough to have one prince invade a perfectly nice dream.
“Who’s that?” Arenn asked, a shadow passing over his features. “Is thathim?” I knew full well who ‘him’was referring to.
“Naria, please wake up!” the voice called again, louder this time.
“What’s he doing in your bedchamber?” he growled. “Tell me, human!”
“I-I don’t know,” I answered breathlessly.
Arenn studied me. “You speak the truth… for once.” Then he straightened up, but still remained straddling my hips. “You tell your foolish prince that if he dares to touch you, I’ll kill him.” Around us, the world began crumbling, fizzling out into a blur of candlelight and floral bed sheets. Before Arenn disappeared too, he took my hand and planted a soft kiss on my open palm.
“I’ll see you soon, Princess.” And then he leaned forward, his lips meeting mine again, but this time he didn’t taste anywhere near as sweet. Only the faintest hints of wildflowers and dustings of cinnamon rested on my tongue, along with something else; something far more sinister.
And the worst part was, I didn’t mind the taste.
CHAPTER 35
The blurred bed sheets and hazy candlelight became crystal clear as I was roughly shaken awake. Lukas knelt on the bed beside me, one hand on each of my shoulders. His tawny hair was a choppy sea of waves, while only a thin nightshirt covered his bronze chest. It was as though he’d just woken up and run all the way here in the middle of the night. But I supposed, judging by the candle that flickered away beside us and his heavy panting breath, he probably had.
“What is it?” I croaked. As I blinked away the sleep, I noticed a strange phantom ache lightening in my hips. It almost felt as if someone really had been sitting there, pinning me down to that swaying grass and placing soft kisses along my jaw.
No. Impossible. That was a dream.
“Sorry for waking you,” Lukas began, his voice wavering. “But I had to come. Something’s wrong.” Behind him, moonlight poured in from the window. I must’ve slept for the entire day and most of the night. Somehow, though, I still felt exhausted.
Pushing myself up to lean against the headboard, I met his worried eyes. “What happened?”
“I… I don’t know,” he stammered. “I went to speak to the King. I needed to tell him about the goblin camp in the woods. But when I arrived at his chambers, I was told that he was resting. So I gave him time. I let him have his rest. But when I came back after a few hours, I was just told the same thing—”
