Chapter 53

[ 1,114 words ]

Lucien Volkov:

The kiss was awakening all the sensations in me that were buried deep inside.

“Kiss me back, Arabella,” I said, licking my lower lip, “Move your damn lips, sweetheart.”

At the mention of sweetheart, her frail body seemed to go stiff.

My heart was beating wildly inside my chest as she tried moving her lips slowly at first. The friction it caused made me grip the nape of her neck stronger.

It showed her inexperience, but I didn’t mind that. I could train my princess in bed. After all, she was my mate, and I was planning to take it slow.

She had seen hard days, and lately my family and I had been her biggest nightmares. There were so many things I needed to make right for her, but first I wanted to develop a strong bond with her. I wanted her to accept me wholeheartedly, and I was willing to do anything for it.

Anything!

It wouldn’t be an easy road to earn her trust, but I had every intention of walking every step of it.

Yeah, I know, it wasn’t an easy option. But I was not an ordinary man. I was the Lycan king. The alpha of alphas. And my queen never deserved that pathetic treatment from me. I’d been an asshole, and I was willing to make things right for her.

By the end of the kiss, we both were breathless as I rested my forehead against hers. The way she was clenching my shirt so tightly, I wanted to push her against that table and claim her right there.

“Yes, please. Do it,” Zorro said in my head. The bastard was putting explicit images of our mate in my head. I pushed him back and cupped her cheek.

“You need to stop staring at me, Princess, or I won’t let you finish your dinner. I never had dessert before my meals.”

Her cheeks turned crimson at my jab, and she started chewing on her lower lip. I groaned, wishing she would stop doing that.

For Goddess’ sake, I brought her here so that we could have our food in peace, but now she was disrupting my peace.

“Feed her!” Zorro growled in my head, “Our mate needs to gain weight. Imagine those boobs bouncing in your face…”

I quickly blocked him and tipped my chin to her chair, “Sit down, Arabella,” My voice came out husky.

After returning to my seat, I tried engaging her in a random conversation, but she didn’t respond much. It seemed like she didn’t want to talk about her past.

As if… as if someone was stopping her from speaking.

“Our chefs make the best mushroom sauce. You should try it,” I placed a little of it onto her plate.

She glanced between the sauce and me before taking a bite, “Uh huh…” Her eyes widened, “I’m afraid, I’ll be a fat cow if I keep eating like this.”

Zorro’s eyes rolled back in my head for all the wrong reasons. For the next few minutes, I kept talking about food. That was the only topic she seemed easy around.

“Lucien!” I frowned when Jasmine mindlinked me, “Where are you? I came to your quarters, but the guards told me that you’re not there. I need to discuss something important…”

“Jasmine. Later,” I said in a clipped voice.

“But Lucien… this is import…”

“I. Said. Later!” I barked and shut off the mindlink. I lifted my gaze and found Arabella already looking at me.

“Kingdom business?” She asked me while nibbling on her salad.

“Pack business,” I said with a shrug and watched as she slowly relaxed. Her shoulders were no longer tense, and every now and then, she even forgot to lower her gaze.

For the first time since arriving at my palace, she looked almost at ease… unguarded.

A servant quietly approached and filled our glasses with wine before bowing and leaving us alone once again.

Instead of touching my glass, I leaned back in my chair and looked at her, “There is something you should remember, Princess.”

Her heart raced whenever I used to call her princess. She immediately straightened as she took a sip of wine.

“I’ve been trying to collect proof of your innocence.”

This was unexpected for her because her fingers tightened around the stem of her glass, “My innocence?” Her Hazel eyes glistened as she swallowed hard.

“Proving it isn’t as simple as I hoped,” I wanted to make her understand that I was on her side.

For a few moments, silence settled between us.

“Arabella…” I spoke her name gently, “If I’m going to clear your name… I’ll be needing your help.”

She frowned slightly, “My help?”

I sighed with a nod, “I need your testimony. I need you to stop staying silent every time someone questions you.”

I noticed the tension in her body and every instinct in me screamed to pull her into my arms and make those worries disappear.

“What if…” she began hesitantly, “What if I’m proved innocent?”

I smiled, “Then you’ll be a free woman…” I wanted her to realize that beyond slavery there were good things waiting for her.

I noticed the moistness in her hazel eyes, and then she took me by surprise, reaching across the table and clasping my hand, “Does that mean…” Her voice trembled as tears welled in her eyes, “Does that mean you’ll take your mark back?”

My smile vanished.

Nothing in the world had prepared me for this question. I slowly pulled my hand free, “No!” I said sharply, and then my beast’s animalistic voice also joined mine, ” Never! Who told you we’d take our mark back? ” We demanded, not caring that a dangerous edge had slipped into our voices.

I pushed my chair back and stood up so abruptly that she flinched, “Who put that idea into your head?”

I exhaled sharply when I saw the fear returning to her eyes. She must have sensed my Lycan through my eyes. The anger drained out of me. I walked around the table and crouched down beside her chair, resting my hands on her knees, “The mark stays. Do you understand me?”

“Tell her… tell her that she’s our mate!” Zorro tried to take over, but I controlled it.

“Don’t be stupid, Zorro. She is too weak for that. Besides, it’s dangerous. Don’t you know it can cost her her life?”

A tear rolled down her cheek as she finally lifted her tear-filled eyes, “But you said… if I’m innocent…”

“Your innocence has nothing to do with this, Arabella,” I said firmly, shaking my head subtly, “this mark… it isn’t going anywhere.”

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