7

“I wish Amadeus was teaching you and not Sire. He didn’t tell you about being your father because his love for your mother was forbidden, however, I appreciated that he still sheltered you. I would much rather he be your guide,” Lex sighed and dunked his bread again.

“As would I, but he’s being poisoned and controlled by Polonius. He can’t help me, but soon, very soon, I’ll rip him from that monster’s clutches. Polonius is going to pay for all he and his family have done to the Midnight Moon Pack.” Anger warmed my ears and tightened my throat at the thought of Polonius' grandfather killing all of my ancestors and trapping their souls in the Tombs.

“Revenge is never a good motivator, Aria,” Lex said, feeling the need to counsel me for some reason.

“I agree, but liberation, retribution, and restoration is,” I said with a smile, easing the mood and eating more. “As long as Sire Vanoire’s goals align with mine I don’t see anything wrong with letting him teach me what he knows. He’s a very powerful mage and I’d be a fool not to allow him to instruct me. I have too much to learn.”

Having food in my body and a warm, relatively safe harbor, took the hardened edges off. I knew Lex’s words were motivated by fear and I understood his concerns, but I wasn’t going to let anything keep me from raising Onyx Rah and seeing Polonius defeated.

“I just want you to be careful,” Lex reiterated. “I never want to see you die again. That is a command from your future king.” Stew glossed lips spread into a sweet smile and all I wanted to do was kiss them, so I did.

I leaned over and planted a soft kiss on his tasty lips.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” I said with only a slight mocking tone.

“Shall we finish our food and go to bed, Your Highness?” he asked, with a deep and sultry voice that fanned over my ear and sliced straight to my aching center.

Being in Lex’s arms, seeing his face, feeling his body, enveloping myself in Lex Redveign was a luxury I thought I might not ever experience again. Here he was with me, alone. We were both alive and more, we were able to love one another that night. Not that the laws and rules forbidding us were ever to be obeyed, but knowing we could be with each other was intoxicating.

“Sire Vanoire said he wasn’t coming back,” I reminded him as I sat back in my chair and tried to finish my meal.

“Good,” Lex said with a sly grin that made us both laugh.

We finished eating most of the food Sire had conjured, and when we couldn’t eat anymore, Lex rose and took my hand.

“Shall we retire?” he asked.

“I hope you’re asking me to make love to you,” I said coyly.

“Oh, yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking,” he laughed. “Shall I draw us a bath? We both really need one.” In emphasis, he scrunched his nose and waved his hand in front of his face.

I hadn’t really thought of my appearance, but as I ran my fingers through my hair, I found that they quickly lodged into the snarled strands. I then looked down at my tunic and pants and saw that they were burned, ripped, and soiled. Lex didn’t look much better, with drying blood on his clothing and a few healing wounds on his arms and hands.

“I think a bath is definitely in order,” I said as I walked into the bathing room and touched the spigot, looking for the knobs to open the water. As soon as I touched the metal spout, water began to flow by magic.

“This whole house must be doused in magic,” Lex marveled.

“Sire spelled everything.” I looked around the unassuming space with its arched entryways and soft sandstone flooring. The colors were muted and calm, but I could see magic swirling over everything. I hadn’t noticed before, but his entire house had been glamoured, making it glitter with magical energy.

“It’s convenient for us that he did,” Lex said with a devilish smile as he tugged his bloodied shirt over his head, revealing a few healing wounds crisscrossed over tight musculature.

Lex was the most handsome man I’d ever beheld, but I’d never given myself license to look at him with desire. I’d always felt like such things were only allowed for someone deserving of his love. While I’d never considered myself unworthy, everyone else had. I was a servant, an underling to his royal majesty, and though Lex had never treated me as such, it was hard not to see myself that way.

Now, I was a royal wolf mage belonging to a lost kingdom. I was his equal in the eyes of society. I could stand beside him as his queen, and no one in Tobran would protest. Heck, all of Voltaire would honor our union, but, whose queen would I be? A consort to him and his kingdom, or the ruler of my own?

“Are you getting in?” Lex asked as his naked body slunk into the steaming hot bath. “I have a spot right here for you.” He grinned at me, patting his lap.

Under the swirling water teeming with a thin veil of steam, I could see his sizable cock rising hard and thick. How I loved that girthy beast. His body was like a sanctuary where I longed to take refuge. When the world had pulled us apart by abducting me or battling him, we’d stolen a moment to find solace in each other.

This night was no different, only it was entirely ours. We could bask in each other. If I wanted to make love to him over and over again, there was no one to tell me not to. And more importantly, no one to tell me I didn’t deserve his love. There was the pesky matter of Polonius thinking I was his, but I wasn’t. Being a royal gave me choices I’d never had before.

I slipped out of my tunic and let my pants drop to the floor, ready to face Lex as his equal. For the first time in my life, I truly felt like I not only belonged to Lex, but also belonged with him and his kind.