Page 10 of To Claim A King
Regardless of his lack of intimacy, he was right—we’d been in no condition to decide anything last night, but time wasn’t on our side, and I couldn’t spend another minute waiting for someone else to blindside us.
I crept out of the covers, careful not to wake him, and turned my attention to Aaron fast asleep in the hospital bed. His face was a neutral mask, etched frown lines smoothed by the peace in his dreams. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of his bandages, and my heart clenched painfully at the thought of losing him.
Before I let the tidal wave of emotion swallow me, I tiptoed out of the room in search of the third man of our cohort.
It didn’t take long to find Lucky. He’d planted himself at the other end of the building, in one of the few finished seating areas in the grand hall—the original space where Kellan, Aaron, and I had sparred—a lifetime ago.
“Hey, Blondie,” he mused casually, holding a lit joint in his hand. “Care to join me?”
Dressed only in boxer shorts, he was a languid form of lazy elegance draped across one of the brown leather barrel chairs in front of an unlit fireplace. He’d thought to crack open the piano window above it at least, but a thick, potent haze floated above his head.
I glared at the smoke coming off the blunt. “Put that out,” I chided. “This place stinks enough already.”
An indolent smirk crossed his features. “You probably need it more than me. Can’t sleep?”
I sighed and moved toward the matching chair beside him, taking a seat beyond the cloud of smoke.
“Can’t sleep,” I echoed, the swirl of emotions from the previous day finally hitting me over the head with a sizable wallop.
I hadn’t gotten high in years—not since the days Isabella and I would lounge on my rear balcony, shrouded by large fir trees where no one could see us. We’d smokeweed in our pajamas and make out for hours, lost in the absence of time and each other’s company. The memory brought painful tingles to my chest, but the smallest of smiles too.
My world had fallen apart today—my failsafes and protective measures all destroyed by a man I hadn’t considered smart enough to best me. That alone was a poison pill to swallow, not including Aaron’s escapade and all that came from it. An hour or two of levity could be exactly what I needed to feel like less of a fuck-up. I wouldn’t be able to save my empire with anything less than Queen energy.
I was in my most protected building, with three men I trusted with my life. Hell, two of them I trusted with my heart.
Despite my reservations, I reached for the offered joint, and took a long puff, holding the smoke deep within my lungs.
When I returned the joint to him, liquid calm filled my veins at the appreciation in Lucky’s gaze.
“Knew you had a little rebel in ya.” He grinned triumphantly as if he’d won a prize. I couldn’t return it, though the smoke was slowly softening the tension in my body as it settled into my bloodstream.
“I’m glad you’re alive, Luck.” I practically whispered the words as I melted into the soft leather of the seat behind me.
He didn’t respond, choosing instead to stand and lift me off the seat, pull me into his body, and hold me in the tiny chair.
“I’m happy to be alive too, Blondie.”
He spoke the muffled words into my hair. His lips brushed the top of my forehead as he held me tight to his chest. He didn’t smell like his usual cherry cola. The familiar scent had been masked by the generic soaps Joey had brought, but it was still his somehow.
Raising his head, Lucky took another long inhale, then blew the smoke behind the chair and spared it from my face. I reached for the pre-rolled parchment between his fingers and brought it to my lips, sucking in another lungful of sweet, earthy air.
“I haven’t gotten high in a long time,” I admitted, enjoying the floaty feeling in my limbs as I relaxed deeper into his arms.
“Ah, am I a bad influence, love?” Lucky’s tired eyes sparkled with mischief. “Do I make you want to do naughty things?” He held the blunt between his lips as he spoke, mimicking a bootlegging gangster straight out ofBoardwalk Empire.
I giggled as the weed fully saturated my brain with a comforting coating of cotton.
“You make me want to beat you with a mallet,” I said instead of the words he likely wanted to hear, but the teasing softness of my tone gave me away. “Don’t ever do that again, Lucky.”
The shiny glow in his eyes dimmed to a dark forest green. “Promise, Blondie. Although, you might want to have this conversation with Roboto too. I was just the passenger princess.”
“You were the driver,” I corrected, dancing my fingers along the crest of his knuckles. “You’re no innocent man here.”
“I’ll never claim to be innocent, love.” His tone turned somber as he stared straight into my soul. “But I’ll be your devil, if you’ll let me.”
My mouth turned dry at the look of pure devotion in his stare. Despite the welcomed emotional reprieve from the THC, his look stirred something uncomfortable inside me. I knew my feelings for this man were growing into something more, but the strength with which they were forming made me wary.
“What happens if I let you, Lucky?”
