**Sorry for the wait, it's been a wild week here. If you enjoy, please consider leaving a comment or vote to let me know!**
A Trade
While I worked on steadying my breath, I listened to the sound of Angelo's slow footsteps as he examined my foyer.
I was overreacting, I knew I was.
That scheming old man was suspicious, clearly, but he was nowhere near discovering my secret. If he knew the truth, he would have blackmailed me by now. Or gone straight to my father...
I shook the thought from my head, and got to work lighting the fire in the empty hearth before me, if only for the brief distraction.
Angelo spoke from before the bookshelf to my left, bent over slightly to get a better look at a photo displayed in a simple silver frame there, "Is this some kind of ceremony?
I stepped to his side to inspect the picture in question. "It was my parents wedding." I took in the white gown, the matching veil, the wide smiles, the glittering crowns.
His head cocked to the side, but he continued to stare at the image displayed in the frame. "Wedding?" He spoke the word slowly as if he were testing it out on his tongue for the first time.
"Yes," I told him, watching his face as I spoke, "it's a human tradition. They aren't guaranteed a mate, so they claim their partners through a ceremony before their god and all of their loved ones."
My answer only seemed to make his curiosity grow, "And your parents had a 'wedding' even though they were mates?"
"Yes," I shrugged, "my mother is human, after all."
He looked like he might ask more questions, but I spoke before he could voice them, "Shall we look over the map?"
Angelo agreed with a short nod, glancing one last time at the photo on the shelf, before following to where I was already unrolling the map on the table before the settee. He leaned in close, peering down at the map over my shoulder, a mere breath from brushing his chest against by back.
When his arm reached out to point to a spot on the page, I grabbed his wrist, stopping him. He tilted his head to meet my eye, amused curiosity dancing in the depths of his as the corner of his lip twisted up, exposing the dimple in his cheek. I didn't let it disarm me, as I was fairly certain he intended it to. My eyes narrowed, "You need to promise me that the information you give me tonight is all accurate and that you aren't leaving anything out for me to discover on my own. No more games."
He pressed his lips together to keep from grinning wider, but I saw right through it, "I promise that the information I give to you tonight will be the whole truth."
"To the best of my knowledge," he added a moment later.
I pursed my own lips. I don't exactly love the sound of that, but I suppose it's the best I'll get...
With a sigh, I released his arm from my grasp and nodded toward the map for him to continue.
He leaned back in and ran the tips of his fingers lightly over the ink. "There's an opening here.''
I looked to where he pointed, "Why there?"
He glanced at me from the corner of his eye, before returning his attention to the little spot beneath his finger. "Because," he said, "it's miles from the nearest town, and should anyone venture that far, the rocky terrain hides the mouth of the cave from prying eyes. It would be extremely difficult for someone to just stumble upon it on their own."
"But if someone were searching for it," I didn't dare look up at him as I asked, "would they be able to find it, then?"
"Most likely." He turned his attention back to the map, "There's another entrance here, one here, and a final one here," he tapped the spots on the paper as he spoke, each one as expertly hidden as the first, all a great distance from the closest known tunnel access point– though those were all sealed, anyway.
I took my time memorizing the he had pointed to. When I finished, I sat back on the seat, the corners of my lips tugging up in the smallest of smiles. My eyes never lifted from the table, but my mind was far away, racing through all of the potential strategies that had just become possible.
I half expected Angelo to demand the kiss I'd promised in exchange for the information he had just given me. In all honesty, he should have pressed for that second kiss– he might have given me enough to take down the Blood Fangs and end the entire mess, once and for all.
Instead, when he finally broke the silence that had fallen over the room, after allowing me time to process, his voice was soft, "What I wouldn't give for a glimpse inside that pretty head of yours."
I tore my gaze from the map to look to where he lounged beside me, body half-turned in my direction, arm slung casually across the back of the settee, close, but not quite touching my shoulder. I quirked a brow, my smirk growing, "It is a rather interesting place."
"What if I offered you a trade?" He said, an unfamiliar look in his bright, blue eyes. "A thought for a thought?"
I studied his face for a moment, the lips that barely concealed his mischievous smile, the sudden intensity in his gaze as he waited for a response. "Alright," I told him after a moment, "let's play."
He let the smile win it's battle against his self control, "You first, princess."
My gaze wandered back to the roaring flames as I decided how much of what was weighing on my mind I would share with him, "My father's council will have a vote soon to decide whether or not I will succeed my parents as ruler of Lupia. It's almost all I can think about most days, but in moments like these, it's hard not to let myself hope."
"If it's any consolation, I would vote for you."
I barked a short laugh, "Well, thank you for that. Hopefully the councilmen agree with you."
At my outburst, his eyes had flown to the door, "Is there no chance that someone will walk in on us together in here?"
I followed his gaze, then looked to the nearly invisible seam in the wall that hid the servants corridor from view, "No, not at this hour. My rooms are too far away from the rest of the royal quarters, nobody will bother us here." Well, Ava was always a possibility, but she had long ago proven herself to be quite good at keeping my secrets. I made a rolling motion with my hand, looking back to the flames, "Your turn."
"I didn't think there could be anything more beautiful than your face in the light of the moon, but now I know that the glow of firelight suits you even better."
I laughed again, smacking him lightly on the shoulder, "Be serious, I shared something very important to me."
He raised his hands defensively, but his smile was unapologetic, "I was being extremely serious. The game is a thought for a thought, and that is practically all I've been able to think about since we sat down." He gestured for me to take my turn.
I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "If what you told me today is true," I paused, looking over to Angelo to gauge his reaction to my words, "then I think we might be able to end this conflict with the Blood Fangs rather quickly."
He pursed his lips in thought, "That is likely, yes."
"And you're okay with that?" I pressed. "You'll allow us to push them back, or arrest them all just like that?"
He snagged my gaze in his, before letting it drift slowly down the side of my face until it rested on my lips. He nodded in response to my questions.
"But, what about you?" I asked softly. "Will you be alright if that happens?"
He didn't answer, instead he reached across the small space between us to tuck a stray hair behind my ear with gentle fingers, leaning closer as he did so. I could only watch in paralyzed suspense as his head dipped down until there were only inches between our faces.
His hand left my hair to run gently along my cheekbone, leaving a tingling trail across my skin everywhere he touched. Those teasing fingertips traced along my lips, lingering, before coming to rest at the nape of my neck. His eyes looked into mine for only a moment longer, before he closed the remaining distance between us, and pressed his lips against mine.
I hadn't intended to return the kiss– in fact, I had planned on making it quick– but, all such plans flew out the window the moment our lips met. He kissed me with a fervor that I hadn't prepared for, and I was swept away into a vast sea of him. I began and ended in the places where he touched me, his hand on my waist, the other still cupping the back of my neck, pulling me ever-closer.
And his mouth on mine.
I had been kissed many times before, mainly by Franco, but this kiss was entirely different than any of those had been. Those had never consumed me with such passion, such raw desperation as I felt with Angelo's lips moving against mine. Every ounce of my self control disappeared, and I felt my hands rise to run up his abdomen, before resting on his chest. His grip tightened on my waist. For the first time in months, my world felt whole– felt right.
I moved to deepen the kiss, but his hands rose to cup both of my cheeks, and he pulled away, a wild look in his eye as if it had taken a great deal of restraint to do so. He pressed his forehead against mine, taking a deep, steadying breath before he spoke, his eyes locking onto mine and holding them captive, "No matter what happens, I will be alright as long as you are."
~*~*~
Yay! They finally kissed, guys! (only took 34 chapters lol)
I apologize for the late chapter, as I said before the chapter, this has been an absolutely crazy week for me for so many reasons, one of which being that I took in an abandoned 3 week old kitten on Thursday very unexpectedly. In a day, I suddenly became a full-time mother (bottle feeding every 4 hours) and had absolutely zero ability to work on my writing. But, we're adapting, and the kitten snuggles are 100% worth it.
Almost every chapter from here on is full of excitement and action, so buckle up, we're chugging along toward the end (there's still a good 15 chapters left).
Update next week!