Chapter 68

After a tense walk through the tunneled hallways, Damion and my guards escort both Lucia and me to my bedroom. Lucia pauses in the doorway, waiting for me to follow her inside.

"Go ahead," I urge her forward, "I just need a minute."

Lucia's eyes dart back and forth between Damion and me, the lines around her green eyes tightening, "Alright."

When the door clicks shut behind her, I turn to face Damion where he stands silently by. He hasn't said much since my sister showed up unannounced and a part of me is worried that I just added another layer of stress to all of the other thing's he's somehow precariously balancing.

Xavier coughs uncomfortably from where he and Arden stand a few paces back, "So that's the sister, huh?" Both of their faces are pulled tight in a grimace.

Despite myself, I smile, a soft snort escaping, "Yeah, that's Lucia."

"We'll give you two some space," Arden says, shoving Xavier's shoulder, "Come find us if you need anything."

I thank them and they disappear up the hallway, out of sight.

"I'm sorry about that," I wrap my arms around myself peering up into the smooth lines of Damion's face. His lips curve into a soft smile, his hand comes up between us cupping my jaw gently. His thumb snaking up to gently trace my cheekbone, sending shivers up my spine.

"Lily, you don't ever have to apologize to me," he tells me firmly, "She's your sister, of course she was worried about you."

"She held one of your guards hostage and threatened to *kill* you-" I remind him with a grimace, "I feel like that warrants an apology."

"I would have done a lot worse in her position, so I can't exactly blame her much," he admits.

*Well, when he put it that way*.

My lips tip up at the corners and I reach out to grab his hand, lacing our fingers together.

"Is it really okay with you that she's here?" I don't think that Lucia would hurt anyone while she's here, but I could understand it if Damion is hesitant to take that risk considering the trouble he's been having with the Seelie Court.

"Of course it's fine," he says, brow furrowing, "I want you to feel comfortable here." He swallows hard, and there's a rare flash of what looks like vulnerability that flickers across his face so quickly I almost miss it.

I squeeze his hand gently where our fingers are laced together, "Then what's bothering you?"

A muscle in his jaw ticks and a tension that hadn't been there earlier when we'd been in the meeting chambers together tightens his shoulders. His eyes flash to mine and he huffs out a breath, "I'm honestly not used to having someone being able to read me so well. It'sunnerving."

A surprised laugh bursts out of me, "Well start getting used to it." I tease, shouldering him. "You're not as hard to read as you think you are."

"Not to you it would seem," he grumbles, "but that's because I still haven't figured out how to keep my emotions in check around you."

I raise my eyebrows at him expectantly, waiting.

He sighs, giving in, rubbing a hand roughly around the back of his neck, "Do you remember that night we spent together in Elfhame? Our conversation when we got back to the room together?"

Of course I remember it. That night is scorched into my mind in the best way possible. I don't say that though, instead I just nod and wait for him to continue.

"I meant what I said that night," he continues, "When I told you that I've never wanted to push the Bond on you. I don't want you to feel trapped into anything with me."

"Damion-" I start to start to say.

He puts his fingers gently to my lips to stop my interruption, "Hold on, let me get this out or else I might not have the will power to force myself to do this later."

I swallow hard and nod, and when my lips close back together, he pulls his fingers away.

"I've felt drawn to you from the moment I met you, wanted you from the moment I laid my eyes on you. *You* are what I want and I've had plenty of time to figure things out and know that you're *it* for me Lily." His voice is a low rough admission that sounds like it's being ripped straight from his soul.

My pulse is hammering so hard I'm positive he can hear it. I can barely breathe. His words send warmth and heat spreading through me in a rushing wave. I swallow roughly hanging off of his every word.

He continues, "And while I've had plenty of time to decide that for myself, I know that you haven't had as much time figure out your own path. You're just now getting to experience your life and I don't want to take that from you. I don't want to force any decisions on you when you're still sorting through it all. So I need you to know that if you want to go with your sister- if that's where you feel like you want to be - I'm not going to keep you here. No one is forcing you or guilting you into staying."

My heart is thundering so loudly it's almost painful.

Is that really what he's worried about? He's worried about taking my freedom, my choice in all of this away from me? Hot tears prick at the back of my eyelids and it's a struggle to swallow them away.

I've never had someone in my life care about me, respect my decisions and feelings the way that Damion does. Never had someone risk their own happiness for the sake of my own before. And the feelings rushing through me are so grateful, so *full* I don't know what to make of them. Don't know what to do with the onslaught of emotions.

I blink away the moisture building in my eyes and reach up to grab his face between my hands, tugging down enough that I can press my lips to his. Shocked by the suddenness of it, his lips are frozen under mine for a moment and then he's kissing me back. His lips are just as desperate against me as mine are pressing to his.

When I pull away, we're both breathing hard.

"I'm not going anywhere Damion," I tell him firmly, resolutely, "There's no where else I'd rather be than to be here with *you*. Please don't doubt that for even a second. You're not taking any choices away from me. You are the *only* choice. The only one I want. And I'd make the same choice over and over. Every. Single. Time. Alright?"

His face softens to something like incredulity, and the black in his eyes shifts to such a deep gold that it appears molten, "I can't believe you're real," he admits with a low gravelly whisper.

I pinch my bottom lip between my teeth and against all my best efforts, a tiny tear trails down my cheek. He kisses it away with a quick brush of his lips, "I was just thinking the same thing about you." I whisper back.