Falling in Love with the King of Beasts

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*****

RETH

He couldn't believe it hadn't occurred to him earlier. He cursed himself for his own stupidity. He'd known she was bothered by the lack of privacy, but of course it made her feel like others had him in a way she hadn't! Of course she was sick of always being around other people. For the Creator's sake, they'd been split up for almost the entire first week! How had it not occurred to him that she wanted time—more than just the nights—alone? He cursed himself roundly and squeezed her hard before murmuring promises. Telling her to find some comfortable clothing that she could climb in, and not to worry. He was going to take care of everything.

"What? What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to make sure that you know that everything we have is worlds better than anything I've had with anyone else, Elia," he said firmly. "Anyone."

"But, I have to—"

"You have to feel strong. You have to feel certain. And you have to know who you are, what you deserve. Trust me, we need this. Both of us. And it will help you walk into the people tomorrow as their Queen."

She stared at him for a long moment, and he stared back, determined, until she nodded. "Okay."

"Comfortable clothes, and a water skin," He reminded her. "And patience," he said dryly. "It may take me an hour to make this happen."

"Okay," she said uncertainly.

He kissed her quickly, then started for the door, but before he stepped through, he paused and turned back. "And Elia?"

"Yes?"

"Wear your hair down? For me?"

She smiled. "Sure."

He winked and disappeared out the door.

*****

ELIA

He was actually less than an hour. By the time he returned, she'd put on a pair of the looser leather pants, a flowing white blouse, and combed her hair down, hoping the curls that had twisted into it from the bun she'd been wearing earlier would stay.

He stalked into the bedroom where she was putting away the clothes she'd had on earlier and he strode up behind her, wrapping his arms around her, running his nose along her shoulder and into her neck, inhaling deeply.

For a split second she was reminded of that moment in the Rite when she'd been backed up against the tree and he'd done the same thing on her collarbone and her mouth dropped open. "You knew it was me!" she said, turning in his arms.

He pulled his head up, eyes hooded and had to blink to focus, apparently. "What was that?"

"That first night, at the Rite, you knew it was me. Right away. But you introduced yourself and made that big show of scenting me—I thought was creepy, Reth. But it gave me goosebumps too. It was… it was all really strange."

He gave a lazy, lopsided smile. "I knew you didn't recognize me. I wasn't just going to rush up and kiss you. Trust me, that would have been creepier," he grinned.

She huffed a little laugh, but the truth was, she was still feeling flat and uncertain after such a disaster of a day—and she was still struggling with the images in her head of Reth and Lucine.

But she was determined to give herself the best chance to get past it, so she would go with him now, whatever it was that he thought was going to help her feel stronger. She would face it and then… then they'd figure the rest out.

So, when he took her hand and led her out of the room, she went willingly, hoping that, at the very least, it would help her stop seeing those claw marks on Reth's back and wondering whether Lucine was the one who had made them.

To her surprise, he didn't head for the front door, but turned left out of the bedroom and towards the back of the cave, beyond the kitchen, to the door where that led to the bathing pools.

"Reth, what?" she asked when he opened the door.

"You'll see," he said with smile, and pulled her through.

Elia's mind shifted as soon as she entered that space. She'd wanted to come back here, loved the moments they spent here. But they were dressed and… surely they weren't going to bathe?

No, he led her to the shallowest area between the pools, where the water overlapped on the rocks and made them look like a figure eight. Then he continued onto the rocky outcropping beyond it, near the waterfall.

When he got there, he dropped to his knees in front of her, just as he had in the Smoke. "Get up," he said, his voice smooth and warm.

"What? Why?"

He looked at her over his shoulder and his eyes glinted. "Because we're going to get started on that list, but to do that, we have to get out of here without anyone knowing where we are. And this is a tough climb, so I'm guessing it'll go faster if I carry you."

"Climb? Where?" She stared at the rock face in front of her—it was rough and cracked, but there were no ledges or paths up it that she could see.

"Oh! Right! Wait, one second," Reth said, smiling sheepishly. He leapt to his feet and trotted over to the waterfall, reaching into the water to tug at something, then pulling it a few feet over, watching the light above them.

Elia gasped as a rope ladder made of vines—a vine ladder?—swung out from behind the sheet of water and wavered in front of her. She gaped, looking up–and up!—at what had to be eighty feet or more directly above their heads, where the vines tumbled into the space from the wilderness beyond. "We're climbing up there?"

"I am. You're riding."

"I—what?"

"It's a rope ladder, Elia. Trust me."

"But—"

He stepped up to her and took her arms gently. "You need to be stronger for the people," he said softly. "And I'm going to help you do that too. But for now, there's something up there that I think will strengthen us. You and me. You don't need to be stronger for me, Elia. When you're with me, its okay to lean, or be carried. You carry me in other ways. So let me do this for you, please?"

"Okay," she said finally. "Show me."

He knelt down in front of her again and smiled, "Get on."

*****

WANT MORE? The next book in the BEAST Series is available NOW! And it's set 20 years in the future, so (mostly) won't have spoilers for this book! Currently 100% FREE (June 2021): Check out my author profile, or search "Taming the Queen of Beasts" and add it to your library TODAY (Check out the beginning of the first chapter in the author note below!)