Chapter 611
Lucien wasn't sure how helpful he was being. He had thought that the more he touched Elain, the stronger the bond would be, and he knew that was working as he could see it flaring bright and golden between them every time he ran his hand over her skin. He had her beneath him now on the bed, however, and he began to wonder if what he was doing would become a distraction for her.
He could hear his own heart thundering in his ears, feel his blood pounding its way through his body, and he couldn't make himself keep his hands to himself. He was surprised when that old voice echoed in his mind; mate, mate, mate. He hadn't heard that since he suspected Vassa had cast the spell on him, and that seemed encouraging.
"Elain?" he asked, pressing his lips to her throat. She was warm and soft beneath him, as she always was, and Lucien closed his eyes as he listened for her response. "Is this helping?" He kissed her again, right in the exact spot he knew always got a reaction from her, and he smirked against her skin when he heard the small intake of breath.
"Yes…" she replied, legs tightening around him, as if she feared he might pull away.
He wasn't going anywhere. Inside of him, Lucien felt the bond tugging. It seemed as if it somehow sensed Elain's need for his strength, and it was trying to draw them together. Lucien didn't know how much closer he could get to his mate considering the fact that he was currently firmly against her, pressing her down into the soft bed covers. Every part of him felt the need to maintain that contact, to seek more.
Wanting to help her further, Lucien focused on keeping his hands moving across her skin, on trying to feed his energy into the bond. It was frustrating that there was nothing more he could do, and he didn't like it. Before they had left his parents, Lucien had asked Helion if he might follow Elain within himself, to the source of the spell, and help her to cut it away from himself. Helion had advised against it, claiming that there was a good chance that Lucien might end up locked within himself, unable to come back, and nobody had thought that sounded ideal.
But he could do this. Lucien pressed his lips to Elain's throat again, tracing his fingers up her arm to her shoulder. He imagined his fingertips leaving a little golden trail of his energy which would soak into her, lending strength to her as she struggled through her task. He didn't know how effective that would be, but it seemed to work. The bond continued to glow brightly, and Elain seemed marginally less panicked, and so he continued what he was doing.
"You let me know," he breathed, fingers trailing the length of one of her arms before he laced their fingers together. "if there is anything more you need. If you need me to give you more." He didn't want to flood her with magic. He knew what that felt like, and he had no desire to put Elain through that. That, he knew, would not be helpful.
One of Elain's hands moved up Lucien's back to grip his shoulder, and she turned her head. He lifted his own to better see her face and he frowned at the concerned look he found there. He could tell that she was still working to cut away the spell, and he eyes looked slightly unfocused. "Petal?" he asked, "what do you need?"