Chapter 96

Elain pulled the sheet higher when Thesan walked into the room. Lucien's hand slid down her arm and took her hand and she leaned into him as the High Lord came to stand beside the bed. Looking up at him, Elain wondered if she had ever noticed how he appeared to glow before.

"I am pleased to see you appear to be doing better…" His eyes swept over Elain and she gave a soft smile, hoping that he couldn't see that she was blushing from what she and Lucien had just been doing.

"We thank you." Lucien put in, his fingers tracing over the back of Elain's hand. "For what you've done for us…"

"It was no trouble." Thesan replied, as two more faeries came into the room. "I had your things collected from where you told us you encountered… trouble." The faeries set their packs down on a low couch by the wall. "Also, while we found Malak and Tallan, we found no sign of Connal…"

Elain felt Lucien stiffen. "He was gone?"

"Apparently so."

Looking up at Lucien, Elain bit her lip. "What does that mean?" she asked, "He… he's free to just… do what he wants?"

"Unless he's found." Lucien murmured, and Elain tightened her hand around his.

"What if he tries to kill you again…?" Her voice was soft as fear gripped her.

"Unlikely." Lucien replied, "Connal was more of a follower…"

"I don't know that 'unlikely' is enough…" Elain tried to calm down and Lucien continued to trace his fingers over the back of her hand.

"It's okay." He said softly, "He won't get near you again. I promise."

"I'm talking about you." She replied, eyes wide. "He wants you dead."

"I did send some of my people to try and find him." Thesan put in, and Elain was surprised that he was still there. She looked back up at him as he went on, "But it wasn't our territory…"

"You didn't find him." Lucien said, and Thesan shook his head.

"We will search again tomorrow, but I suspect that he is long gone."

"Has… anyone sent word to the Autumn Court?" Lucien asked, "About Malak and Tallan?"

Glancing at Lucien's face, Elain could read the worry there, and knew that he was thinking about his mother again. Thesan nodded. "Yes. We have not heard back."

"Okay. Thank you." Lucien let out a sigh and then sat up straighter. "Uh… The High Lord of the Night Court requests that-" Thesan held up a hand, and Lucien fell silent.

"I know why you're here. You and I shall speak about anything Rhys wants to know tomorrow morning."

"Okay… And Elain is putting together a book of flowers from across Prythian. We request that she has the freedom to move around the court of her own volition…"

"She has it."

"Also, if you have a favourite to recommend…" Elain began and Thesan smiled at her.

"I think that will be easy enough."

"Thank you…"

"Also," Thesan said, his eyes going back to Lucien, "We have alerted the Night Court to the events of the day." Elain's breath caught at that. Nesta would blow up if she heard what had happened. "As Emissary to the Night Court we had to let your High Lord know what had occurred on the border and that we had taken care of you…"

"Of course." Lucien said, "Yes, thank you."

"If you would like to write your own letters, we can have them sent in the morning."

"Yes." Lucien said again.

"Alright…" Thesan's eyes swept across the two of them before he smiled again. "I am glad that you are both well… I shall have the evening meal brought to the room for you. No need to venture out. Someone will alert you in the morning when it is time for breakfast." He took a step back from the bed, still smiling. "I'll leave you to… rest."

Elain watched as he turned and strode elegantly from the room. "Why'd he say 'rest' like that?" she asked when the door closed and Lucien gave a low chuckle.

"Because he knows we're not going to rest." He said, "At least, not yet."

"Not yet?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him and he grinned at her.

"You did promise me a hot bath and a massage…" he reminded her and she nodded slowly, thinking back on the part of their day that had been pleasant, before Lucien's brothers had found them.

"So I did." She replied.

Lucien got to his feet, rolling off the side of the bed and he strode for a nearby door that Elain supposed belonged to the bathroom. A few moments later, she heard the tell-tale sounds of water running and figured she had been correct. "Are you coming to join me?" he asked, and she couldn't help the wide smile that spread across her face.

Gingerly, Elain pushed the covers of the soft bed back and got to her feet. She didn't hurt anywhere, she discovered and she walked more confidently into the bathroom.

By the time the tub was full of steaming water, Elain was more than a little keen to get into it. She knew that she had been washed when she had been brought to the Dawn Court, as the dirt that had been all over her from being dragged by Tallan was nowhere to be seen. Someone had taken care of that for her, but she wanted the sensation and the action of washing herself. She could still remember what it felt like to be pinned by him, to feel him against her, and it made her skin crawl. The hot water would fix that, she figured. She would wash him from her body and from her mind.

Lucien had settled himself up one end of the tub, leaning back against it, one arm dangling over the edge as his russet and gold eyes watched her. "Come on, Petal." He smiled, "Get in here…"

She walked around the tub to stand behind him, her hands trailing across his shoulders gently. "How am I meant to massage you from in there…?"

"I think…" he tilted his head to look up at her, "we will work it out…"

Smiling, Elain slid the shoulders of the thin slip she wore down her arms. She wondered vaguely who had put it on her, but forgot about that a moment later when Lucien reached a hand out to her to help her step into the tub. Sinking thankfully down into the hot water, she couldn't help letting out a soft groan. Lucien didn't release her hand then, but tugged her toward himself until she was practically lying on top of him. Her eyes closed as his hot hands encircled her waist and he began gently washing the water over her lower back. "Was this your plan?" she asked, resting her cheek against his chest as she surrendered comfortably.

"Not so much a plan…" he murmured, and she could hear the rumble of his voice in his chest, " as more of a fantasy…"

Elain laughed then, opening her eyes to look up at him. "I hope it meets expectation."

"Oh, it's getting there."

"Well, you let me know if there's anything I can do…" She'd said the words jokingly, but she felt the reaction from Lucien all the same. When he went to shift away so she wouldn't notice, she braced herself against the side of the tub so that he couldn't move. "Don't even think about it." She murmured, settling down again, "I just got comfortable."

His hands were light on her back, but after a moment he began washing the hot water over her once more. "I…"

Resting her chin against his chest, Elain flicked her eyes up at his face.

"I thought maybe… after today… you wouldn't…" he hesitated.

"Don't be a stupid male." She smiled, "We've been over this. I want you touching me."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely." She settled down again with her cheek flush against his skin. "It makes me forget anything else exists…"

When his hand slid down her back again, Elain smiled. Then, she looked back up at him, startled, when that hand slid lower to squeeze at her arse, and she was met with a wide toothy grin.

"Is that the game you want to play?" she asked, and his grin only grew wider.