Chapter 210: Hear your heart racing
He grasped her hand, lifting it to his mouth to press a slow kiss against the inside of her wrist. She didn’t blink, her gaze locking intensely onto his. In the quiet space between them, the memory of the intimacy they had shared before rushed back to her, warming her skin.
"What are you thinking about?" Lucien whispered, his free hand rising so his thumb could trace slow, soothing circles across her cheek.
"That you always trap me like this," she muttered softly. Her eyelashes fluttered, her body instinctively bracing for whatever he might do next.
"And you always try to push me away," Lucien countered softly. "You keep a wall around yourself, and breaking it down is exhausting." He ducked his head lower, nuzzling his nose along the curve of her neck. "Now, you’ve completely awakened the hunger I was trying to keep buried."
Leia shivered, remembering how a part of her had secretly craved Lucien’s touch even while she was with Kieran earlier. The realization felt entirely scandalous to admit, but she couldn’t deny the pull anymore. Looking up at him, the last of her resistance crumbled, leaving her entirely ready to surrender to him.
"Lucien, I’ll be having dinner with Kieran tonight. And I need to speak with your grandmother too. I realized I haven’t checked on her in a while," Leia rushed out the words, her voice slightly breathless.
"I already spoke with Grandma earlier. She should be resting at this hour," Lucien murmured against her skin. His fingers hooked under the hem of her top, sliding upward against the bare skin of her waist.
The sudden contact made her shudder, and she quickly pressed her palms flat against his chest to halt his movements. "Not right now. Let Kieran recover from his rut completely first."
"Very well." Lucien reluctantly withdrew his hand, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. "Is my presence affecting you that much? Your cheeks are flushed, and I can hear your heart racing from here. Can I finally take this as a sign that you are craving for me too?" he mused, arching a dark eyebrow at her.
"Why on earth would I crave you?" she muttered, throwing a defensive glare his way. Seizing the moment his grip relaxed, she slid off the desk and dashed toward the door. She didn’t stop running until she reached her own chambers, slipping inside and quickly throwing the bolt shut behind her.
Leaning against the heavy wood, she let out a long breath of relief and tried to steady her uneven breathing. As she straightened up, her eyes locked onto Ronan, who was standing by the table quietly arranging fresh flowers into a porcelain vase.
"What happened?" Ronan inquired, turning to look at her with a curious expression. "Why did you slam the door so loudly?"
"Oh, nothing!" Leia replied quickly, trying to sound casual. "Did you buy those flowers?"
"No. A little girl gave them to me when I was out in the pack territory earlier. It was quite a shock, to be honest," he admitted, adjusting a stem. "How is Kieran doing? I thought you would be staying with him through the night."
"I was. But I decided to come back for a little while. He’s doing much better," Leia answered, smoothing down her dress.
"You must be exhausted and wanting to rest. I’ll head out now," Ronan stated, stepping away from the vase and walking past her toward the exit. But just as his hand touched the handle, he paused and turned around to face her.
"Leia, I won’t be here for a few days. I thought I should let you know, otherwise you might be upset when you didn’t see me around."
"Where are you going?" Her concern for him immediately spiked, her protective instincts kicking in.
"I can’t tell you," Ronan replied. "Just take care of yourself."
Before she could press him for answers or try to stop him, he stepped out into the corridor and closed the door behind him. Not wanting to let him leave on such a mysterious note, Leia rushed after him, but when she pulled the door open and looked out, Ronan was already gone from the hallway and nowhere to be seen near the stairs.
She descended the grand staircase hastily, looking around the corridors until she spotted a passing servant. She stepped in front of them, blocking their path.
"Did you see where Ronan went?"
"Alpha Ronan should still be in his personal quarters, Alpha Leia," the servant replied politely with a slight bow before continuing on toward the kitchen.
Leia headed toward his room, but when she pushed the door open, Ronan’s room was completely empty. "Where did he go so quickly?" she murmured, her confusion deepening.
Giving up the search for the moment, she turned back to return to her own room, but stopped midway when she crossed paths with her father in the corridor.
"Is Kieran doing well?" Grayson asked, his tone laced with genuine concern.
"Yes," Leia murmured, sighing slightly. "Please don’t start lecturing me like Uncle Renzo did."
"I won’t. I truly understand that you love all three of them and want to spend the rest of your life with them. If you consider marrying them, I will be more than happy to witness it."
"How am I supposed to marry them when none of them have actually proposed to me the way they should?" She chuckled, trying to lighten the heavy mood.
"I already told the boys to prepare a proper proposal for you," Grayson stated with a reassuring smile.
"They must be terrified to try," Leia noted, amusement dancing in her eyes. "I have spent so much time rejecting them in the past, especially Lucien."
She paused, noticing the sudden look of utter confusion that crossed her father’s face at her statement.
"Dad, in the beginning, I didn’t want to be here. But as I got to know the truth, things changed. Lucien was quite arrogant to me. But he’s obsessive for me. I mean, in a good way. As for the marriage, I told them I want time to know them because the bond suddenly came to me. Now, I feel they should give me a nice proposal," she answered with a wide smile.
However, that smile faded soon. "By the way, Dad, is the Alpha King really a bad guy?"