XIX
＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊
Aëghan's hesitation lasted a mere second before he followed in Lillian's wake, allowing himself the opportunity to trail behind her by a step or two so as to admire the curves her form-fitting lines of her attire revealed.
He may have formed an honourable resolution within his mind regarding her, but he was yet a male after all, and Lillian Adams seemed almost too exquisite not to admire in the clothes she had chosen to cover her long-limbed body that day. Her hips flared under the coat she wore, a graceful sway to her sure step that captured and held his attention- and made him recall just how soft and warm she felt cushioned against his length the night prior.
Perfect, he thought testily, his mind drawn more often than not to the perfect way she fit in his arms, the feel of her passionate kiss from the day before. He was hard again.
Muttering an oath, he picked up his pace and fell into step beside her, discreetly adjusting his trousers to alleviate some of the discomfort he now faced. Sensing his nearness, she glanced at him askance, her brow raised in a wry arch when she noticed his adjustments. Stiff-backed, rigid posture, proud chin- everything that embodied Lillian was on display for him again yet different.
It was there tangibly between them, connecting like points of flint, and certainly not unpleasant. He detected moments of uncertainty on her part, yet he considered that the new territory they were entering was both conflicting and exciting. Her ability to share her truths with him compelled Aëghan to bestow her with the same courtesy for he came to the shattering conclusion the evening before, as he listened to Lillian's tale with an aching heart, that he had been approaching his interactions with her woefully.
He should have interpreted her better, knowing that as a groomed leader, she would have been more susceptible to open frankness and honesty regarding his intentions. Her astuteness at identifying that there even was any had caught him off-guard, yet her willingness to progress with her accounts despite this had been revelationary.
Aëghan knew then that he had to tell her everything- his initial purpose for her, Dellanae... the mark. It was the last that concerned him the most, for how would she interpret being bound to him when it was foolish to nurture the idea of a heartmate? He was certain she would agree- that they were simply incompatible, their desires in juxtaposition to each other- but he had kept it from her for too long, allowed the burgeoning desire to linger between them without explanation or cause...
His instincts baulked, the dragon itching in protest of his denial of the bond, but he grit his teeth and staved the urgings off. There was no other means for it, and Lillian being the intuitive duchess that she was, would undoubtedly agree.
"Would you like to know why I temporarily borrowed your sister?" Aëghan began, causing her to glance at him sharply. The path was narrow and the earth was churned with thick mud from the storms, so her footing was quickly lost at the movement. He held her arm, steadying her, and waited until she was steady.
Lillian did not begin moving forward again, considering him with an expression of shock and... amusement? "'Temporarily borrowed' is a very pretty way to imply that you abducted her," she pointed out wryly, and began walking once more.
"Semantics, my dear." He fell back into step close behind her, so close his already sharpened senses were overwhelmed by the scent of her. Around them the forest dripped, dark shadows caressing the heavily foliaged floor, and creatures began to poke their heads out in curiosity of the new human exploring their midst. A sheen of moisture clung to the delicate strands of Lillian's hair, darkening the tresses. "I'll not plead innocence to my actions, though I did have a cause. Regardless, lest you believe me anything but devious, let me assure you I am not."
Her lips twitched. Aëghan studied that movement with perplexity. He was warning her off him, yet she found him amusing... She ducked under a low hanging branch, and he couldn't be sure but he rather thought she deliberately misjudged her movement so that she brushed her shoulder against the leaves, disturbing a shower of droplets so that they poured over him in her wake. "I would never presume to be as naive as that," she told him, her voice tinged with a low thread of humour. "So tell me then, why did you temporarily borrow my sister?"
"I needed her beastkeeper," Aëghan said succinctly. "Well, to be more precise- I needed her beastkeeper's magic at its full potential."
That earned him a tiny frown, yet she continued onwards. "Stealing my sister away from him seems a bit... drastic."
"Granted, it certainly seems like it. However, Leowyn has this annoying habit of maintaining a certain level headedness when playing with his gifts. A pesky characteristic, to be sure. I cannot quite fathom why anyone would want such a bore-"
She cast him an amused look, her lips quirking at the corners once more. Aëghan very well began to believe that he may actually earn a smile from Lillian that day and suddenly he made it his entire goal to see that it was done. "Blayne Leowyn is what most men should aspire to be," Lillian murmured, though there wasn't much conviction in her voice. "He is a suitable match to Millie's tempestuous nature. My sister, prior to everything that has happened to us, had a volatile temperament, often prone to bouts of..." She shrugged, her expression becoming dispassionate. "Either Blayne tempers her, or she has learned to do so in my absence, to a certain degree in any event. They are a good match."
"I concur. I rather believe that even without the appearance of the marks they may have been intrinsically drawn to each other. His devotion to her ran rampant among the fae since their meeting and, since I knew Leo intimately, I knew that it would only be his rage at losing his beloved that would unleash all of his potential."
"And why would you need all that?"
They were cresting a small incline which Aëghan knew, once at the top, would provide the first glimpse of his settlement. He studied her closely, monitoring her reactions astutely, and even if he wouldn't admit it to himself, he was simply marvelling over her countenance and beauty. "Because I do not think The Reveal was caused by coincidence," he told her as they came to a stop at the top of the incline. He stopped beside her, studying the scene before him, and felt her shift uneasily. "I believe that we are here by design, by magic, and if that is true then it can and will happen again. Only the most powerful of us could have the potential to garner that magic again, but it is difficult to pinpoint exactly who. We were able to eliminate Blayne as a viable option when he mastered that potential thanks to your sister."
She turned her head to him almost reluctantly, her vivid eyes meeting his with a shrewdness that never failed to make his skin come alive. Before them, fae and human alike were continuing with their rambunctious morning activities. The forest was a veritable hub of movement and noises as creatures flew between the boughs of the trees, some using vines as leverage to reach the various cone-shaped houses nestled high amongst the leaves. It was a mixture of structures to suit the needs and desires of all that dwelled there- human and fae alike- therefore the ground was also littered with varying holdings. But it was the ebullience that perforated the very air that had probably caught her attention- the gleeful sounds of children's laughter, the merry conversations hollered from a cottage window to the boughs high above, the joyful colours that blossomed from the vegetation despite the frigid weather, the array of bright insects and creatures that darted through the air around them.
"We?" Lillian queried, her head tilted to the side curiously.
"Myself and Dellanae." He stilled, his words catching on the tip of his tongue. Here, he would reveal all for her to pick apart as she pleased, his intentions laid bare before her, and Aëghan wasn't sure if he was ready to be made as vulnerable as that thought left him. She could choose to leave, she could choose to loathe him. He inhaled deeply, tearing his gaze from hers to consider a group of young halcoons clumsily sidling down the mossy trunk of a nearby tree. "Dellanae is a seer, one of the only I have come across in this world, and she was present during The Reveal, able to read the the magical signature that followed it. To my knowledge, she is the only one of us with the strength to identify a fae just by the traces of magic he or she leaves behind, and The Reveal..."
"There were traces," Lillian said quietly. "Like shadows. Lingering after it happened."
He glanced at her, finding her profile as she turned away from him. Her arms were folded under her breasts, her braid draped heavily over her shoulder. "Yes. But the signature is heretofore unidentifiable, belonging to no fae that we know to exist in this realm. Except... except now that it has happened again, with you-"
"You believe I still retain traces of the magic." She nodded then, her lips flattening to a firm line. "You have brought me here to meet Dellanae, have you not?"
"Partly." At her sharp glance, he felt compelled to add softly, "You were distressed at Ravensfield. It... provoked me to act irrationally." That damnable twitch again- never a full smile, only a shadow of it- was likely to drive him mad with longing. "More irrationally than usual."
Lillian considered him in silence for a long moment, her eyes bright and calculating, and ran her fingertips over her lips as if to quell further incline out of them. "And do you believe that the magical signature that clings to me will be of any use- if any still clings to me at all? After all, if nothing was forthcoming from the first Reveal, then one could infer that nothing would have changed it if the signature is the same."
"It is a start. If it is the same, it is still a clue, and if it is different-" He shrugged, mirroring her stance. "Maybe there is something we did not see before. You are the only person who can provide us that opportunity, at least."
"And then what? What do you hope to achieve with that information?"
He paused, making a broad gesture with his hand to the settlement before him. "An option. A choice for those of us who wish to return to our world."
Her dark brows knitted together, her eyes darkening at the mention of his realm as an imperceptible tension stiffened her shoulders. "Have you ever considered that your world may not be that pleasant of a place to reside?" she asked tautly.
He turned his body to her then, steering his hands to cup her shoulders and compel her to face him. There was little space between their bodies and she tensed at his proximity, her gaze darting up to his in question, in surprise at his sudden nearness. "I'd be remiss in assuming that the four years you spent among my kind was anything short of abuse and neglect, and for that I will forever be ashamed," he told her meaningfully, possibly injecting more sincerity and soft vehemence into his tone that he had ever utilized before, "but consider that, for some of us, years of comfort and reconciliation will never be enough to compensate for a lifetime of torture at the hands of humankind. This is not our home, Lillian. It has never been mine, and that was made abundantly clear to me after my first whipping, my first branding, my first broken bone-" his voice shuddered to a halt at the first brush of her warm lips against his cheek.
Lillian's hands were planted on his chest, her legs straining as she reached up on her toes, and she lingered against his flesh, dragging her mouth lightly across the coarse grain of his jaw. Shock and desire pulsating through him, his breath hitching, his fingers tightening against her shoulders as if wanting to draw her closer, pull her flush against him... but then she drew her head back, her eyes wide and startled as she considered him. Her face was so close to his he could feel her breath mingling with his.
"Thank you," she whispered, almost breathlessly, and then she seemed to compose herself as a flush bloomed against her cheeks. Settling herself firmly away from him, she folded her arms and began to walk again. "Thank you for your honesty, Aëghan."
In a shocked stupor, he watched her move away from him, mesmerized by the graceful sashay of her hips and the kiss that she had bestowed him... innocent, yet laced with something more, something promising, and his body hardened to the extent he almost groaned for it.
When she noticed he was not following her, Lillian glanced over her shoulder to regard him and possibly witnessed the exaggeratedly pained look upon his face. Something wicked ignited her gaze and just as she turned from him, he witnessed her smile- a full, mischievous smile that transformed the parts of her visible to him into a seductive minx, her cheek crinkling with deep grooves.
"Unless you are otherwise engaged," she called over her shoulder, "perhaps you would like to lead the way to Dellanae? I'd be more than happy to meet with her."
He grinned then, her words urging his feet into a light trot until he was upon her, but when he witnessed her countenance again it was coolly composed, devoid of the smile he longed to witness above everything else.
But he was not deterred- he had a means to earn yet more smiles from Lillian Adams yet.
And more of her kisses, hopefully.