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“I’m listening.” I reached back and took my hair from him when he gathered it off of my back, pulling it up and away from the buttons.
“They’re not cruel, and while they don’t understand my magic, they do know I have some power to tap into minds and memories. If we tell them that witnessing your memories made me reconsider my throne and the overwhelming nature of my magic, they’ll pause long enough for me to hand over the throne’s power and make an escape.”
“My sisters will be there,” I reminded him. “If they’re mates with your brothers, the couples won’t want to be apart. And if they have any question that I’m being mistreated or swayed in any way, they won’t let us leave.”
“They are an unknown factor for me,” Laith admitted, finishing the rest of my buttons. “No way around that. How will they respond, upon seeing your markings around my neck?” He dragged a finger up my throat, and I stopped it on my skin before he could touch the powerful marks. Despite the days we’d spent in bed together, we had only explored the mate connection once. It was extremely sensitive—too sensitive, even—and the feelings that a touch to it evoked were more intense and love-like than either of us was comfortable with.
We hadn’t spoken about not using them again, but we hadn’t touched them again either.
“Badly, most likely,” I admitted, biting my lip. “You met Diora, so she probably thinks horribly of you. And both her and Akari are far more stubborn than I am. If they see us mated so quickly, and you mention mind magic, I can’t imagine they’ll believe I’ve been with you willingly.”
He growled. “I would never—”
I turned in his arms, raising my lips to his and cutting him off with a soft simple kiss. When I pulled away, I murmured, “I know. But if you’re going to wear your mask, you must accept that they’ll assume the worst.”
His reluctance was obvious, but he dipped his head in a nod. “Very well. When I create my illusion, I’ll ensure that they don’t see my markings on your throat.”
“Maybe we could tell them that we fell in love as you slowly witnessed my memories and changed your mind about wanting to be king? But that I refused to agree to have sex with you unless you gave up your throne, and your wicked ways?”
Laith scowled. “Would they seriously believe I could change so drastically just for sex?”
His words offended me slightly, but I didn’t let that show. “Love and sex are incredibly different. If you don’t believe that, you’re lying to yourself. Love is attachment and connection. It’s a willingness to sacrifice what you want for what someone else needs. Sex is fun, and powerful, but love? Love is something much stronger.”
I surged onward. “Sex won’t convince someone to change, but love can. If your brothers and my sister are to believe that you’re no longer the evil king you’ve made them think you are, your illusions will have to make them believe that we’re not just fated mates and lovers, Eiven, but that we are devoted enough to one another to leave the people we used to be behind and embrace an entirely new way of life.”
Our eyes were locked together, and I was breathing a bit heavily. I didn’t rant often, but when I did, it was like my whole body ranted with me. He had touched on a sensitive subject for me, though.
“I think you and I have a different definition of love, Lemay.” He finally lifted a hand to my cheek and slowly brushed away a strand of hair that I hadn’t realized had fallen over my eyes. “I have never witnessed a love like the one you describe; how am I to know that it exists at all?”
“Of course you have.” My eyes grew a bit wet, but I ignored the discomfort. “You were in my memories. You saw me choose not to tell my sisters about my illness. Every single piece of me wanted to ask them to stay with me in the inn, to spend the last days of my life with me. Do you think I wanted to die alone, in a land that never felt like home?”
A tear rolled down my cheek, and I dashed it away roughly. “It would have killed them, watching me lose my life after we fought for so long just to keep breathing. It would’vedestroyedthem. I agreed to their stupid revenge plot when all I wanted was a hand to hold, because I loved them too much to cause them any more pain.”
“That love isn’t romantic. A relationship between mates is completely different.” Laith’s voice wasn’t cruel or harsh, but I knew he wasn’t understanding.
“All love is love.” I wrapped my hands around his face and dragged his forehead to mine, closing my eyes against the emotions that had welled up in them. “Do you think it would be any different, if you were the one I’d escaped from that prison with? Do you think that if I truly loved you, I would so easily accept putting you through my misery?”
“I think that a love as strong as the one you mention would never allow one of its members to suffer alone. If you and I had escaped together, there wouldn’t be a fucking thing in the world that could separate me from you, regardless of your pain or your wishes for me. I would suffer all of the horrors your torturers could inflict before I would leave you to fade alone.”
My throat swelled, and my eyes remained closed.
Maybe he did understand love after all.
“Perhaps a love between mates is the same love I have for my sisters… but stronger,” I conceded.
“Perhaps one cannot truly know the feeling of that love until they have experienced it,” Laith murmured.
His fingers dragged slowly over my face. “Shall we get going? I believe you’re still missing a dress.”
“If you’re going in your underwear, so am I,” I whispered back, fighting a smile as I opened my eyes. The intense expression on the king’s face nearly took my breath away.
“Then I suppose we’d both better find more clothing.” Laith finally stepped back. My shoulders sagged a bit when his skin was no longer touching mine, but I tried not to let him see how much the distance affected me.
Maybe my illness was coming back faster than I’d thought.
We dressed quickly,and Laith offered me a hand when I’d finished pulling the dress into place. “Ready?” he asked.
“Oh, yes. I’m going tolovelying to the only family I’ve ever had,” I drawled back.
