Page 35 of Reign of Light
“I never thought I’d have that—the love in the stories. It always seems so pure and unconditional.” My eyes break away from his and settle on my fingers gripping the wall. “I’ve never had someone love me unconditionally, and surely never expected anything more than a loveless marriage alliance after being hidden behind the castle walls for my entire life.”
“I love you,” he murmurs, and my head snaps up, finding his gaze searing into my face. His hand leaves my abdomen and strokes the curve of my jaw with a knuckle as his eyes shimmer with uncertainty. They scan mine, darting back and forth assessing, trying to read me like he’s usually great at, but this time, he questions what he sees. “Even when you piss me off, and defy my orders, and put yourself in danger, and leave me.” My breath hitches at the last one, but he doesn’t stop; his voice just drops lower as his chin tilts to his chest. “I still love you.”
The vulnerability and uncertainty on his face makes my chest ache. How could he question my feelings? How could he think I wouldn’treturn them? After everything that has happened, that he’s done for me, and the future we have ahead of us, could he really believe I don’t love him?
This declaration is different from before. When he swore his oath to me, he never explicitly said it. Not in this many words. Not in the way lovers do, not in the way all the stories I’ve read have.
The love I thought I’d never have is staring me in the face, waiting for me to say it back, and I realize that despite the overwhelming love that grew since I decided to keep him a secret, I never said it to him. I longed for him when I snuck away. I begged for him to see me differently than the princess he couldn’t have, but I never told him. He admitted he was falling in love with me, that he had started to the moment he looked into my eyes, but the only words that left my lips were that he was mine, and I was his. That I chose him, but not that I loved him.
I won’t make him wait any longer.
Reaching up, I cup his cheek in my hand, and pull him closer, hoping he sees in me every bit of sincerity I see in him.
“I love you too, Weston. More and more each day.”
The muscles in his face sag in relief, and he leans in, pressing a bruising kiss to my lips, but I push him away, and a look of confusion comes over him.
“You’re going to laugh,” I say, but I’m only met with a smile lighting up his face.
“Tell me.”
I reach out and grab his hand, my fingers finding the warm metal and stroking it softly and feeling the rough edges of the carved seal.
“When you told me you were here for a woman, and I saw the ring, it made me feel a lot of things I wasn’t ready to admit to myself.” Mischief sparkles in his eyes, but I don’t let him interrupt. “I didn’t like that there was another woman, no matter how many times I told myself I pitied anyone who had to put up with you.”
His lips purse as he tries to keep himself from laughing, but I continue. “I didn’t want to accept that I was jealous you were here for another woman, and clearly you loved her if you were willing to sacrifice everything for her. It just reminded me of the love I always wanted, that I never thought I would have. Especially if you still loved her after all this time, enough to know she was still alive.”
“I only knew she was still alive because you were standing in front of me.” His thumb strokes my cheek, and I lean into his touch. “And I did love her. Do. But never like that. Not the way I love you.”
“I know thatnow, but back then I didn’t like the way it made me feel.”
He smirks and trails his hand down my neck, settling in the crook and holding me closely. “So you admit you were falling for me way back then, even though you hated me?”
I roll my eyes. “Clearly, I was out of my mind.”
He laughs, a loud, boisterous laugh that rings out in the cavern, his shoulders shaking and jostling my body, reminding me of how deep-seated he still is inside me.
I suck in a gasp, and his hands find my hips, clamping down and shifting me again, enough that I feel him move deep within.
“Oh,” I moan, and he leans down to nip my earlobe.
“Tell me more.”
I swallow harshly, but my mind is blank of anything that might be interesting or entertaining to share with him, especially with his cock still filling me. The life I led back home was monotonous and empty, but here, here it’s full of light and love, and people to spend it with.
I shake my head. “Story time is over. I need you.” Reaching down, my fingers graze over my hips, diving between my thighs until I can feel where we are connected, where his hard length disappears inside of me, and I take advantage. I press my hand down, rubbing against his flesh and over mine, begging him to move.
“Fuck.” The hiss of his voice followed by his cock firming even more inside me makes my blood pound through my entire body.His fingers wrap around my wrists and lift my hands, setting them on the wall.
“Don’t let go.”
I do as he says, gripping the wall again as he stands straighter, gripping my hips and taking them with him. One hand settles on my low back, and the other on the front of my thigh.
“Weston,” I plead, and he answers quickly, pulling his hips back so he’s almost out, then slamming them back into place. I cry out, loving the delicious friction after having him tease me for so long. Water sloshes over the sides of the wall as he pulls out and slams in again.
“Oh gods,” I cry, and his pace picks up, his motions rougher than before. I can’t control myself as my arms lock into place, pressing my hips harder against him, begging for more.
“That’s it, Lennox. Take what you want, sweetheart.”
