Kiss of Golden Light

I felt his hands move up my waist, over my shoulders then to the sides of my face. His lips pressed against mine. I could feel the urgency, the anger and passion in his kiss. He pressed his body against mine and pushed me back against the bed. I fell back, my body softly bouncing against the mattress.

I looked up at him. My mind was a haze, my eyes only focusing on him. He pulled his jacket off and tossed it to the ground. He kicked off his shoes and looked down at me. His eyes burned into my soul. I felt my heart begin to beat faster as he moved over top of me. His lips pressed against mine in a quick kiss, before he pulled away and stared at me.

“Let me love you.” He whispered, his violet eyes burning into mine.

I stared at him, unable to find the words. Every emotion was coursing through my body as I tried to gather my thoughts.

“Rupert,” I sighed. “ I want you to, but I just need time to figure out how we can fix this.”

“I know.” He moved to lay beside me, he reached his arm out and pulled me against him. I rested my head against his chest and listened to the sound of his heartbeat.

“I’ll talk to Grace tomorrow,” I said. “This is probably going to get messy. There’s so much at stake for me to turn around and break the agreement that was made.” I rubbed my hand against my face as the realization of what could come next finally hit me.

“This could cause a war…” I felt my voice trail off as I stared at the wall. “I don’t know how we can fix this.”

“Marry me.”

I pushed myself off of his chest and looked down at him. “What?” I stared at him with wide eyes, unsure of if he had just said that or if it was just a figment of my imagination.

“Marry me.” He repeated. He pushed himself up so he was sitting. He pulled my face into his hands and looked me in the eyes. “We’ll go. Wherever you want. Just marry me, let me love you. Let me take you away from this mess that I brought you back to. Let me be with you.”

I felt the tears pool at the bottom of my eyes. I blinked and felt them fall against my cheeks. “It’s not that easy. We can’t just run. We have to figure this out.” I shook my head. “Just give me time.” I pressed my lips against his. I pulled back and looked into his eyes.

“I’m not saying no. I just need time to talk to Grace, to try and make Kallum and the rest of them see reason.” I moved my hands up his arms and then through his hair. “Come find me in the gardens tomorrow night when it’s dark.” I pulled away from him.

“Promise?” He slid off the bed and grabbed his shoes. He pulled them back on his feet before he reached for his jacket.

“Promise.” I stood up with him. “We have a lot we need to talk about, to figure out.”

He gave me a small smile before he pulled me against him. He nuzzled his head into the crook of my neck. He placed a soft kiss against my neck before he looked at me and gave me a quick kiss.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke.

“I know, but you’re still an asshole.” I sighed. “We have a lot we need to work on, we’re not going back to where we left off. We’ll figure it out. Just please meet me tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there. Goodnight, love.” He placed a kiss on the top of my head before he turned away and slipped out the door.

I made my way down the hallway popping my head in different rooms. The halls were quiet, only a few of the castle staff moved along them. I smiled at a kitchen staff member as I moved past the door leading to the kitchen. I made my way towards the study, hoping to find Grace there.

“There you are.” I heard a voice call from behind me. I turned to look over my shoulder. “I was about to come to find you. There’s somewhere I want to take you.” Valerian moved towards me.

“Oh, okay. Can it wait for a bit? I need to speak to my parents first.” I tried to remain calm, he was the last person that I wanted to see today.

“It will take us a little while to get there. That’s why I wanted to go now.” He stepped towards me. “You can always talk to Grace and Kallum later.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

I looked at him. His eyes were dark, darker than they usually were. His smile didn’t reach his eyes like it always did when he smiled at me. He didn’t seem like himself. He was antsy, his hands going from his sides, to his pockets and back out again. Something didn’t feel right. My stomach twisted into a tight knot.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s great, I just really wanted to surprise you with this place.” He replied. “Can you wait to speak to Grace and Kallum when we get back?” His eyes seemed to soften.

“Will we be back by dinner?”

“We should be.” He nodded his head.

I felt myself hesitate, my stomach was tight, my heart racing. I looked over my shoulder hopeful that I would see Grace walking by. I didn’t. I turned back to look at him. His eyes were narrowed at me like he had suspicions that something was wrong with me.

“Okay.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “As long as we’re not back too late. I was hoping to spend time with them today. You know, since everything has been so busy lately.” I tried to sound normal like everything was fine.

I pushed aside my feelings of doubt and began to walk back down the hall, the same way that I had just come. I looked back over my shoulder, we were alone.

“So where are we going?” I asked, looking over at him.

“I wanted to show you my home.”

I felt my stomach tug and heave. I swallowed the fear that suddenly erupted over my body. This didn’t feel right. Something was wrong with him, everything about this situation didn’t feel like it would turn out right.

Darkness surrounds him, I know you can feel it too. Rupert’s voice echoed in my head as I walked out the front door with Val next to me.

I swallowed my fear and plastered on a fake smile. “I can’t wait.” I replied to him, as I pulled myself up on a horse.

Everything will be fine. I told myself. It’s too late to turn back now.

I held the reins in my hands and tapped my ankles to the side of the horse. He began to move down the path.

Way too late.