Page 24 of Redeeming the Angel

Lucian held up a hand, halting my words.“It’s your move first, Princess.”

It was a reasonable request.And easy, since I’dverymuch enjoyed kissing Lucian the last time.And yet my muscles remained frozen, my heart thumped against my ribs, and my stomach fluttered like I’d swallowed a hummingbird.

“What’s the matter, Kerainne?”Lucian said silkily.“Do you not want to kiss me?”

“I do.”I leaned over and placed my hands on his bare shoulders, gasping at the heat of his skin in the chilly night air.

At first, his stubborn refusal to bend his head, to meet me halfway filled me with ire, but then, I detected a fine tremor in his muscles and the shields in his eyes began to crack more the closer I came to him.

By the time, my lips touched his, Lucian’s body vibrated with a low, primal sound and his arms locked around me tightly, pulling me into his lap.I could feel his hardness pressing against me and I adjusted my position to feel him where I needed him most.I kissed him harder, holding nothing back as my hands roved over his back, his neck, and through his hair.My hips undulated against him and I gasped at the electric sensations elicited by our movement.

Suddenly, Lucian’s hands grasped my shoulders, forcing me to be still as he broke the kiss.

“We can’t,” he said in a rasp.

“Why not?”I cringed at the desperation in my tone.

“You deserve better than the top of a cliff, for one thing.For another, you’re a royal.It wouldn’t be proper to mate with you when we’re not courting.”

“I thought wewerecourting.”

Lucian shook his head.“No.We’ve been getting to know each other.I haven’t formally requested courtship from you, let alone from your parents.”

I buried my hurt at misunderstanding his intentions and scooted off his lap.“My motherhasexpressed curiosity at your having not approached her on the topic.”

“As has mine,” he said cooly, staring up at the silver and gold moons shining brightly in the sky.

My anger flared at his bland tone.“It’s just as well, since I was advised to proceed slowly with you.”

“Oh?”Lucian turned back to me.His golden brow arched.He looked like the perfect aristocrat.“You were advised?”

I nodded.“Thank you for the pleasant kissing, but it is time I retire for the night.We have lessons tomorrow.”

With that, I released my wings and flew back to the palace, gratified that because of his larger form, Lucian could not keep up with me if I didn’t want him to.

My sister immediately noticed.“Did you and Lucian have an argument?”

“No,” I answered honestly.I didn’t know exactly what had happened.“Why?”

“The energy between you two is very odd.”

I tousled her hair, earning a scowl.She’d stopped letting me do that when she’d reached adolescence.“You’re imagining things.”

“Am I?”

Her smug grin was justified when the sword master instructed Lucian and I to spar.I still wasn’t proficient with a blade, so all I could do was defensive moves as he deftly attacked.

Lucian chuckled at my feeble efforts, bringing back my anger.

“What do you find so amusing?”

“Your utter dedication to go along with anything your sister wants, even if it’s something you dislike.”

I managed to drive him back one step as our blades kissed.“It’s a little hypocritical of you to judge.You’re only here because I am.”

“I was,” he admitted shamelessly.“But now I’m finding that I quite enjoy it.Even though I can’t for the life of me imagine actually engaging in combat with someone.After all, we can’t kill.Still, this is a fascinating, intricate art form that feels good to engage in.”

I parried his next blow, and smiled in triumph that once more his ignorance gave me the upper hand.“Actually, there are times when we could engage in real combat.For one, there are bandits about, both here in Aisthanesthai and on Earth.Being able to drive them away is preferable to letting them kill us and take all we leave behind.For another, Nik and I are soon to embark on our first mission to Earth.We’ll bring mages suffering persecution to this world, where they’ll be safe.The persecutors can often be hostile to our aims.”

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