Page 77 of Reign of Light
“Let me explain. Once we are back in the castle, and once my father and your father know we are home, I’m going to be honest with my best friend.” He pauses, and I wait with bated breath, not knowing how this would be any different from my crude example of how to admit our relationship to my father.
His hand slides across my cheek and down the column of my neck, and his thumb gently strokes the skin where my pulse threads the surface. “I’m going to tell him I cannot live without you, and that I’ve done that for far too long.” My chin wobbles, and his eyes flicker down to it. His smile deepens as he leans forward and presses a soft kiss to my lips before leaning back and continuing.
“I’m going to tell him I’ve sworn an oath to you, and that I would do anything for you, more than just within the confines of a devoted castle guard.”
I sniff loudly, and he closes the distance, kissing me again, and pulling back once more.
“And I’m going to tell him,”—he pauses, just long enough for me to see the determination in his face—“that, effective immediately, I no longer want to be the First Guard.”
My jaw falls open. “What? But you…you made me promise not to take it from you?—”
His fingers brush over my lips, stilling them and stopping my knee-jerk response that threatened to send me into another wave of panic.
“I am going to ask him to make me the second.”
A gasp rips from my throat, even past where his fingertips lightly press into my lips.
“But he won’t,” I say, shaking my head. “He left it unfilled for so long. If he wanted someone else, he would have given it to them.”
His gaze falls down as he chuckles softly. His fingers find my fists clenched on my thighs, and they unwind the tension as he laces them through mine.
“I think he will.” His thumbs stroke my palm, sending shivers up my arms, and he watches the movement intently. “I saw the way he looked at your mother the first time he saw her, and almost every time after that. If the man I know is still somewhere inside him—” His eyes meet mine, and my breath catches with what I find there. “He’ll see it when he looks at me, too.”
“What if he doesn’t?” I whisper. “What if he forbids it, or releases you, or worse?”
He chuckles, and there’s a playful gleam in his eye. “I have a way of bypassing the whole ‘he’s the king’ thing. I’d make him see it.”
Tears stream down my cheeks, and I push up onto my knees, throwing my arms around his neck and pulling him close until our chests are flush together.
“I already lost everyone else. I can’t lose you too.”
His arms cage me against him, his muscles flexing with the crushing force.
“You will not lose me.”
“I had nothing, Weston,” I sob. “Nothing. I’m so scared to go back to that life.”
His hands slide over my back and grip my ribs, pushing me back onto my heels so he can look at me again. “It won’t be the same as before. I will be there with you. You won’t be alone. And you won’t be stuck inside the castle. I won’t let that happen, and I’m pretty sure after being here, you won’t let that happen either.”
I huff a laugh and drop my chin to my chest, my eyes drawing to the ripple of raised skin slashing across his abdomen.
“After constantly being surrounded by people, being in such closequarters with everyone, after finally having friends…I just don’t want to be alone again.”
He reaches up and brushes my hair off my face. “You won’t be alone. I’ll be standing right behind you.”
“Beside me.”
“Whatever you want, my queen,” he grumbles. “Although.” He tilts my head back so I meet his eyes again. The smirk and sparkle in his eye make my stomach flutter and remind me of the Weston who couldn’t help but joke and coerce me into becoming his friend. “The Lennox I know doesn’t just submit and take what is handed to her. If you fight your father half as much as you fight me, then I have no doubt you’d have me as your guard.” He leans forward and presses a slow kiss to my lips. “I can’t wait to watch you go toe to toe with someone that isn’t me.”
I feel the tug of a smile and try to suppress it. “Maybe I just have a thing for fighting assholes.”
He laughs deeply, his head falling back, and bearing the strong column of his throat.
I shrug. “It’s just everything, I guess. I wasn’t prepared for any of this to happen today, and to deal with it all over again tomorrow, and possibly even worse. I feel like I lost myself a little tonight.”
“It’s alright to feel lost, as long as you never forget, I will always find you.” His eyes dance between mine, and his face blurs as tears well in my vision. I close the space between us, kissing him slowly and gently, and he returns each motion without pressure, without expectation, his lips a gentle caress over mine.
“Let’s sleep,” he murmurs, and I frown, my body wanting to be lost in him, to forget everything except the sweet words he just said. He presses a kiss to each side of my mouth, kissing away the emotion before sliding back down into the mattress. He reaches out and pulls me toward him, and I snuggle back into his warmth, so grateful that he sees everything I need before even I do.
