To Love, Once Again

Sera does her best to keep up with the knight's wide strides. Both keep glancing back at her to see if she's still walking behind them.

One knight, the taller one with brown hair, whistles and calls to a errand boy pushing a cart piled high with various boxes. He quietly whispers in the boy's ear, and the boy nods enthusiastically. Leaving his cart to another maid nearby, the boy takes off with a dash, while the knights and Sera trail after him. 

They continue on, deeper into the castle, and start climbing the stairs. This pathway is all to familiar to Sera. It's the way towards the King's chambers, his office. She felt like a little girl getting called to the principle's office.

No it was worse than that. The atmosphere the knights exuded, in combination with the silence of other servants and a few noblemen who watched as they went by, seemed like she was being escorted to an execution block.

The walls seemed to loom over her, and it got darker the deeper they went into the castle. The large ornate doors, carved with the ornate detailing of leaves and vines done by a master craftsman await her. Here was the entrance to the King's official chambers. Two knights stand at either side of the doors, and they, although silent and still, standing at attention, have bloodshot eyes and tense muscles, as if they were in a battlefield. 

She'd passed by these doors once, with her ladies in waiting in tow. The doors were wide open then, and errand boys would run in and out, while within the room, dignified noblemen, scholars in heavy robes, and well-dressed noblemen discussed country policies and politics with the King. It was awe-inspiring in a different way, because it gave a glimpse into the inner workings of how a nation grew and thrived. 

There were no voices of men talking, of paper rustling, hurried footsteps of the young messengers tapping against the stone floor. 

Just a dead silence, and the sound of the guards' fists pounding one sharp beat against their chest to greet her echoes down the hall. Her escort halts just before the doors. This must be as far as they'll take her. It was her turn to go beyond these great doors and see what awaits her.

She nervously licks her lips, and pushes hard against the heavy door. Slowly, slowly, it creaks open. It opens just a few inches after putting her whole weight against the door. The suns were still up, but the room beyond was heavily veiled in darkness.

Sera inches inside, and the door shuts behind her. Those knights betrayed her just like that. She was stuck in a room, again. Except this time, someone awaited her in the King's chambers.

Lucien sat at the wide desk in front of her. Stacks of papers cover up the entire surface of the desk.

Something silver glints and winks at her as she gazes at him.

Lucien's calloused fingers play with the chain around his neck. The thin links woven together catch on the rough skin. Ice-cold eyes pierce into her. He sits forward in his chair and says nothing.

The whole time, his face was in a permanent frown, the lines deep between his brows. 

"I hope my work today didn't disappoint you..I did everything I was told...If you're not satisfied, I'll try harder.." Sera speaks haltingly. She sounds out the words, hesitant.

He slowly stands up. 

"Was it because I went to go see Bea and the baby? I'm really sorry I went without asking you for permission. Please, can I still see him again?" 

Sera holds out her hands in front of her, trying to appease him and make herself look as small as possible. The shadows grow around him as he walks towards her, step by step.

"Those words come so easy to you now, doesn't it?" He growls.

"That damnable word."

"I-"

"You think that word, saying sorry would work every time you leave?"

"I'm so-" she's so lost. He's hurting, and she doesn't know what to do.

"I don't want to hear it!" Lucien roars, his hair falling over his shoulder, covering the side of his pained expression.

His wide strides bring him even closer to her, and Sera starts backing away, back to the door.

"You can't leave!"

The dance continues, one stepping forward, another stepping back.

Till Sera feels the cold wood and the raised indents of the various carvings digging into her back. There was no more space for her to escape. They stand, bodies pressed against each other. Lucien seizes her hands that push against his chest, and raises them above her hand.

He holds her there, one warm hand encircling her wrists against the door, the other arm right next to her head on the door, caging her in.

"You can't leave me again!" He roars, eyes flashing.

For a moment, Sera feels like she sees the old Lucien. Only for one moment, he looks like he's crying. But she doubts herself. Lucien would never cry.

That's the last thought in her mind, and even that slips away. His lips clash against hers furiously. Over and over, he presses his dry lips against hers, against her softness. Sera barely has any moment to gasp for air as he continues to ravage her mouth. She moans as his hot tongue forces itself past her lips. His emotions flood over her, his body showing her how desperately it was raging to possess her. 

Sera groans as the familiar sensations wash over her. Over and over, they kiss. With his scent all around her, she is reduced to a messy pile of nerves, only alive to feel the sensations he gave her. He knows every part of her body, every nook and cranny. His every touch leaves streaks of fire down her body as his hand roamed everywhere. Running down the sides of her waist, stroking up her thigh, cradling her buttocks. They never stop exploring.

Lucien was like a rabid beast as he drank in the taste of his Sera. He groans at the taste of her on his lips. Since that first moment where she tried to punch him in the medic tent, she'd completely enchanted him, heart and soul. He couldn't think of anyone else but her. Her sweet mouth, her soft body, her spirit that shined from her golden eyes. Yes, those brown eyes that turned gold when her emotions ran high. He lived to see himself reflected in those eyes. 

5 years was much too long to be without her. He was an addict, and she was his drug.

Sera was just as desperate to feel this man. This man was the One. He was the reason why she breathed, why she lived. Why she loved.

She couldn't think. Only feel, as she did her best to keep up. Sera's hips unconsciously twist back and forth, pushing against Lucien's thigh between her legs. Her arms were still locked above her head in Lucien's vice-like grip. She could only receive the pleasures he gave her. Her body turning pliable, molding itself to Lucien's. 

He runs his nose down the side of her neck, stamping hot, open-mouth kisses that make Sera shiver. Up and down, breathing in her scent. He nips at her, dull pain and sharp pleasure racing down her spine as she shivers.  

Lucien stops, and tilts her chin up towards him. 

"Open your eyes." He whispers.

"Watch"

She slowly opens her eyes. They shine gold, and reflect Lucien.

He brings her left hand to his mouth and kisses it, a chaste kiss that any nobleman would give to greet a lady.  Then he licks the palm of her hand. Sera smiles at the ticklish feeling. 

She watches as he takes her ring finger and kisses it too. His hot tongue running over it turns her brain into mush. He sighs, and soft sounds of kissing fill the room.

Each time, he licks between her fingers, Sera can feel her mind growing hazier with lust. She feels hot, like she's being swallowed by lava. It was agony. This wasn't right, but this man had stolen her mind and body. She was willing to fall into the depths of hell for him.

Sera watches him, eyes at half-mast as he licks her hand devotedly. He opens his mouth wide, to take her finger in deeper, and.....

Pain suddenly stabs into her fugue state of mind. It's painful. He'd bitten her. Another sharp pain. Blue eyes burn into hers. He bites her again. Over and over, and tears leak from Sera's eyes. It hurts.

He never takes his eyes off her as his teeth continually sink into the skin around her finger. Sera bites her lip, trying not to cry out.

Finally, the fresh pain is done, and she's left with a throbbing finger.

Lucien's lips are wrapped around her finger, and the thin silver strand connecting her fingertip with his lips breaks, as he draws out her finger from his mouth. 

"This is all I can give you now" he murmurs. He'd done his best to curb the desire to possess her, to bind her to him. Lucien wanted to lock her up in this room, together with him. He would feed her, bathe her, give her pleasure, and protect her. In a world that contained only the two of them. Her thoughts filled with him. In a locked room, she can't run away anymore.

Lucien stops himself, his composure groaning like a door about to fall from it's hinges against the onslaught of desire that pours against it like a tsunami. If he did this, he would only get her body. Her golden glow would disappear from her gaze. Sera would be reduced to a living doll. Lucien didn't want that. He wanted all of her. Her becoming only a doll had almost happened before.

Lucien couldn't let it happen again.

His hot tongue circles around her finger again, groaning as he pecks small kisses and sucking at the small beads of blood that appear like red pearls around her finger.

There on her finger, right where a wedding band would circle, lays a set of purple and red bite marks. They decorate her ring finger just like a ring, directly on her body.

He laps at the wound. Softly and gently, soothing the slight indentations that mar her skin.

Lucien's marked Sera, like a wolf marks its mate.