Page 40 of Abandoned By My Alpha Husband

Over the next few days, I started preparing for the Harvest Festival. Wreaths, ribbons, lanterns, table placement and seating order, food pairings and service times, sending invitations and logging replies. I went through the checklist item by item with the servants, from morning to night. Everyone was running around, but everyone was excited. The Harvest Festival was Reserpine's most important traditional werewolf holiday. Silver pine would have a long holiday that day, even humans included, celebrating together.

That afternoon, while I was hanging wreaths in the corridor, Liam ran over with a roll of ribbon in his hand. "Elena!" he called, his face flushed. "I'll help you!"

"Thank you, Liam!" I took it, crouched down to his eye level, and pointed to a nearby chair back. "Can you tie this? Right here. I'll check it in a bit."

He nodded hard, breaking into a big smile. He ran to the chair, and the servants smiled and stepped aside to let him work. Liam tried several times. The ribbon kept sliding off, but he didn't give up, getting more and more focused. Finally, he tied a tight knot. The ribbon was bound securely. He clapped his hands, cocked his head to look at it, then stood there proudly looking at me.

I knew what he wanted. I walked over and ruffled his hair. "Liam, you're so good at this."

He looked a bit shy, but his smile grew bigger. "I can tie more!" He ran toward the other chairs. I watched his small figure weaving through the busy crowd, completely content.

Even if I could never tell him I was his mother for the rest of my life, as long as I could watch him grow up, as long as he gradually accepted me, that was enough.

The day before the Harvest Festival, lanterns and ribbons swayed gently in the garden breeze. I stood at the top of a ladder hanging the last string of lights, on my tiptoes, trying to hook it onto a branch. The ladder wobbled.

A hand steadied it from behind. I looked down—Lucifer stood at the bottom of the ladder, one hand on the frame, looking up at me. My heart skipped a beat, but then my toe slipped, and I fell backward, right into his arms. My back pressed against his chest, his hands supporting my waist and the bend of my knees. He caught me solidly.

"Elena," his voice carried amusement, "are you that eager to see me?"

I caught his scent—cedar and amber. My face burned. I turned away and cleared my throat. "You... what are you doing here?"

"Wanted to see you."

My ears felt hot. He set me down but didn't immediately pull his hands away. Through the fabric of my dress, I could still feel the warmth of his palms on my waist. I took a small step back, said "I'm going to wash my face," then walked quickly to the pool in the garden corner. I bent down and splashed cold water on my face. The coolness pressed against my skin, but my heart was still racing, so fast I could hear it drumming in my ears.

I straightened up and wiped the water from my face. Before I could turn around, a pair of hands circled my waist. Lucifer wrapped his arms around me from behind, his chin resting on my shoulder, breath brushing my ear, voice low. "What are you doing running over here?"

"Washing my face..." My voice shook because his fingers were stroking me back and forth.

"Done washing?"

He lowered his head and his lips landed on the back of my neck. My whole body went rigid. His lips pressed against my skin, printing a soft kiss. Something compressed my breathing. I felt his fingers tighten at my waist. He turned me around, tilted my face up, and kissed me.

My whole body pressed against the wall, my back against the cold surface. He went deeper than the previous times. When his tongue slipped inside, my fingers clutched the shirt on his back. The next second, I was suspended in air, legs wrapped around his waist, calves swinging at his sides. Lucifer's kiss continued, his throat rising and falling with the movement, nearly robbing me of all oxygen until I finally couldn't take it and pushed him back.

Desire.

His gray eyes were full of it.

I gasped out a sentence. "Your bedroom." We couldn't do this here.

He paused, lowered his head, and bit my collarbone. I moaned and tilted my head back. Lucifer's voice was muffled against my skin. "Our bedroom."

He carried me into the bedroom, and we fell heavily onto the bed. I was gasping for breath, and he was already impatiently spreading my legs.

He stopped for a heartbeat, his weight suspended above me, his gray eyes searching mine through the dim light. His voice came out rough, barely controlled. "Elena. Tell me you want this."

I didn't hesitate. My hands slid up his chest, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. "I want this. I want you." The words left my mouth before I could second-guess them, and the effect was immediate.

Something shifted in his expression—relief, hunger, possession all tangled together. The mattress dipped further as he settled his weight more fully against me. My dress was already half-undone, the fabric bunched and twisted around my hips. I could feel every point where our bodies connected: his chest against mine, his thigh pressing between my legs, his breath hot against my throat.

The scent of cedar and amber surrounded me, stronger now, mixing with my own until I couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.

His mouth found mine again, and this time I met him with equal force. My fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer, harder. A low sound rumbled in his chest—something between a growl and a groan—and I felt it vibrate through my entire body.

"Elena." My name on his lips sounded like a prayer and a curse all at once. His hands moved with purpose now, sliding beneath the remaining fabric, finding bare skin. Everywhere he touched felt like it was burning. I arched into him, and he made that sound again.

"Closer," I managed, the word coming out breathless. "Lucifer, I need you closer."