Chapter 120

Steam still fogged the mirror as Lucien watched Elain. Swirling a hand through the bathwater, his eyes followed her across the bathroom, his metallic eye clicking as he focused on her hands as she adjusted the fluffy towel she had wrapped around her. He watched her move across to the bench by the window and pick up a comb before pulling it through her gorgeous hair. Staying silent, Lucien just watched as she pulled her hair up into a loose braid around the top of her head like a crown and he smiled when she then turned to look at him.

"Are you going to stay in there all night?"

"The view is pretty good from here." He replied, giving her a wink. He was pleased when he saw her blush, her eyes shifting away as she smiled.

"Oh, really?"

"Absolutely."

"Well, if that's what you think…" Elain's brown eyes met his again for a moment before she loosened the towel around her. Lucien sat a little higher in the tub, watching as she removed the towel and draped it casually over a nearby hook on the wall. He grinned, his eyes following her as she walked across to where she had hung her Day Court dress. Elain was moving slowly, each of her actions deliberate and aware of his eyes on her. As she lifted the dress and slipped it over her head, Lucien found himself unable to swallow as he watched her shift her hips as she pulled it down over herself, the thin material settling easily against her skin. He remembered the feeling of pulling that dress off of her and he got to his feet, reaching for his own towel and wrapping it around his waist as he stepped out of the bathtub.

Elain turned to him and he saw her satisfied smirk. She had evidently been trying to lure him out, and he didn't mind. "Come here, Petal…"

"Mmm…" She held a hand out to him, placing it against his chest as she looked up at him. "You need to get dressed, or we will be late for dinner."

Lucien did not care. He looked her over, eyes moving over the short white linen dress, and at the way it clung to her in all the right places before falling softly in elegant waves. "Will we?" he murmured, a hand reaching out to glide down one of her arms.

"Yes." Elain replied, looking up at him with another smirk. "I'm hungry."

"We did miss Lunch." He admitted, thinking about their day so far. They had gone for a walk in the morning and then come back to the palace where he'd gone off with Helion while Elain had been fitted with Day Court clothing. He'd brought her back here as soon as he'd seen her again. They hadn't had a chance to sit down for lunch, and it was nearly sunset now. "I'm sorry…"

Elain shook her head, one of her fingers tracing his collarbone. "I think I liked what we did better…"

"More satisfying than whatever fruit salad they served would have been?" he asked, grinning, his eyes on her face, waiting for her reaction. She blushed again and looked away, and Lucien grinned more widely. She looked back up at him again when he brushed his fingers across her cheek before placing them beneath her chin as he lifted her face toward his. That pretty blush was still staining her cheeks as he bent and pressed a kiss to her lips before lifting his head again to smile at her. "Alright… let's get some dinner."

Elain had been right. As she looked around the dining hall, she noticed more than a few female faerie faces looking their way entirely too often. It was beginning to get under her skin, and she glanced at Lucien when he took one of her hands in his beneath the table. He was remarkably handsome, he always had been, and he looked especially striking with the golden light from the sunset spilling through the large windows, lighting up his skin and hair. Word that he was Helion's son had evidently spread, and this had clearly increased interest in him throughout the Court. When Elain glanced around the room again, she met the gaze of a priestess sitting nearby. Huge amber eyes met her own and Elain resisted a possessive snarl when those eyes flicked again to Lucien, hunger evident in the other female's features.

"Petal…"

Elain turned her head to look at Lucien again. "Yes?"

"Relax." His fingers moved up her arm from her wrist to her elbow, still beneath the table. "They're just curious." He said, "They found out today that their High Lord has a son. That's interesting news."

"They're not just curious." She growled, surprised at her own tone. "I can see more than that…"

He released her arm beneath the table, and brought his hand instead up to her face. Tilting her chin slightly, he leaned over to press a kiss to her lips, and Elain noticed the hushed murmur that moved around the room. Lucien was grinning at her when he lifted his head and she met his eyes. "Even if they're more than curious, it wont come to anything." He pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose then. "Anyone could see that I belong to you." Elain's gaze dropped to the bitemark she could see just peeking out from the collar of his shirt, and satisfaction flowed through her.

"Yes…" she murmured, "Good…"

"I kind of like it when you're jealous…" he told her and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I don't." she replied, "I don't know what I would do to anyone who tried to…" she broke off at the thought. It surprised her that she could truly see herself going a little savage and attacking anyone who got too close to her Lucien.

"It's the bond." He told her, grinning as he looked her over, that metallic eye clicking and whirring as he did so. "I've felt like that since it snapped into place."

"How exhausting."

He laughed then, and took her hand beneath the table once again. "It is. But, I love it."

Elain tightened her hand on his as her eyes slid around the room again. Some of the faeries were looking at her with jealousy now, evidently having witnessed Lucien kissing her, and she tried to keep her face unaffected and neutral as she returned her attention to the food on her plate. If anyone dared have the thought that they stood a chance in getting anywhere near him, they had another thing coming.

Lucien looked at Helion's wide smile as his father looked him over. "You like it." Lucien said, able to tell all too easily that the other male was pleased.

"Very much. It does suit you."

"Uh…" Lucien glanced down at himself. He was clad in the traditional Day Court attire, Helion having insisted he get fitted out by the same tailor Elain had seen earlier in the day. "You think so?"

"Indeed."

"I…" He plucked at the short skirt-type garment that finished entirely too high above his knees for his liking. "I am used to… pants." He finished lamely.

"Yes…"

"This…" Lucien didn't know what he wanted to say.

"Shows off your physique." Helion said helpfully.

Lucien glanced at the full length mirror nearby. The garment swept over one of his shoulders and across his chest before being cinched at the waist by a golden braided belt. His hand came up to brush at the bite mark Elain had made on his exposed shoulder, and he bit his tongue. The mark was completely visible, and he supposed that would please her considering her reaction to the attention he had been receiving at dinner. "I… it…" he fell silent, and turned to look at his father once again. Helion was still smiling.

"Give it a chance."

"Alright…"

"Let us go and ask your mate what she thinks, shall we?"

Lucien paused. Elain was in one of Helion's private sitting rooms, with Eris and his mother, and a handful of Helion's other favoured courtiers. He hadn't counted on having to appear dressed as he was in front of others, at least not right away. When he realised that Helion was watching him and waiting for his response, he nodded, resigning himself to the fact that it was going to happen. Fixing a courtly smile onto his face, Lucien motioned for Helion to lead the way. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it with as much bravado and sass as he could manage.