The sudden end to the onset of war was mildly disturbing and the old king, King Warrel, got every ounce of his power back and then some. He had fully recovered from his despair at the sight of someone who had the same face as his beloved queen and promptly sent me home to get the news back to humans that they were looking at another time of peace. He was also able to extract the promise of his son so that he wouldn't harm any of the humans either. Lawrence was extremely elated about this but didn't show it until he was back on land on one of the two horses waiting for us at the drop off point. It was then that he turned to me and smiled brilliantly at me.
"That was amazing what you did back there," he showered praises on me and I shook my head in disagreement.
"If I had done everything right then I would've been able to get peace without bringing the king back from his mourning," I replied refusing to get a swelled head but the prince didn't even let me consider being down.
"And then what? He would've died in that room without anyone knowing and we might have had a war on our hands after you and I died later on. You know his hate went deeper than that. It'll take years of peace and friendships for him to even consider having any kind of relations with the humans that isn't hateful. Even then it'll take even longer for him to accept them as a part of the ever changing world. Aquean wouldn't have been able to lead his people with a clear head and if you think otherwise then you're wrong," he responded in a matter of fact tone and I glared at him.
"All I did was stick with my original reasoning," I muttered and he grinned at me.
"Anyone else would've taken the chance to rule the land," he retorted and I glance at him sharply.
"You would've?" I questioned and he shrugged.
"We'll never know. It wasn't up to me and so there's no use in speculating," he waggled his eyebrows at me and I sighed exasperated. There really was no use talking to this man.
The journey back was a lot longer than the journey to the sea because I didn't feel like flying and the prince had decided to stay on the ground and just clop along on his horse. I certainly couldn't blame him. It was nice to not have to worry about anything for a small moment in time. We were still four or five days away from the castle when the first day ended quietly with Law humming an old tune. We set up camp in a companionable silence and I saw how he easily put up the tents in an easy calm way that had the ease of practice with it. I warmed up the fire easily and he came to sit next to me. He handed out our dinner quietly and we sat that way in a nice quiet way for awhile before he leaned back against the log I was sitting on and looked up at me. I glanced back down at him and he reached up and touched my chin with one long tattooed finger. His tattoos practically jumped on mine and they entwined joyfully and he drew back his finger.
"That wasn't a very nice thing to do," I noted and he shrugged.
"I'm not a very nice man," he replied and I snorted.
"Some would disagree," I responded and he looked back at the fire without comment.
It drew on until he started and looked back at me with an indescribable expression.
"Would you?" he whispered so low that I barely heard him speak and I put a hand on his shoulder.
"You seem to be perfectly fine to me. I've seen worse and I've seen better," I told him and a long echo of laughter came out of his throat.
"You know that was probably the worst thing you could ever say to a man that's trying to win your heart. 'I don't really care about you but you seem nice'," he mocked me and shook his head again containing his laughter with a hand held to his mouth.
"I was just being truthful!" I exclaimed and he bent backwards to look me full in the face and winked at me.
"I know," he said. "That's the funny part."
His blunt answer did nothing to appease the sudden anger I had at him. Just as I was about to retaliate with a sharp response, he put his hand up to my chin and dragged my face down to meet his. His lips were warm and he tasted like the water he was drinking with his dinner. As his tongue entered my mouth I vaguely wondered if I should push him away but I didn't have much of a protest beyond the fact that he might just be using me. It was enough to stop me cold. I pulled back gently and shook my head to get rid of the lingering lust and he gazed up at me through half closed eyes. Desire stared me straight in the face and I felt my insides stir in response. I tried hard to fight against it but when he got on the log next to me, I could feel his closeness and he smirked at my flushed appearance.
"Are you using me?" I uttered and he pulled my face to his.
"Never," he answered and a bright ring of truth settled in his words and I let his mouth take mine. The night was warm but our tangled bodies made it hotter.
I woke up the next morning with a feeling of haziness and reluctance. The sun was bright in its onset of the world and I realized that I had slept past my usually waking point. Rolling over to get just a few more seconds of sleep, I encountered Lawrence's naked torso and I suddenly felt the warm arms that encircled me. The chill of the morning felt horrible against the encasing warmth as I tried to sit up and I found myself lying back down. I put a hand over my face as I recalled the night in full detail and I felt one of the arms wrapped around me move slightly. I let his hand take mine away from my face and I turned to look at him.
"Are you regretting last night?" he asked quietly. He was stone faced, ready for rejection and I looked up at the tent ceiling thinking about it for a moment. It had hurt at first but then the pleasure...there really wasn't anything to regret.
"No. There's no point," I answered and he leaned on an elbow to get a better look at me.
"That's the first time anyone's had to think about their answer. Most usually answer yes or no right off the bat," he informed me and I patted his face.
"You use me and I'll kill you," I told him with just enough warning to get the message across plainly.
"You wound me! I told you last night that I wouldn't use you," he frowned and I glared at him. "Plus if I cheat on you with another person I'll get destroyed by my own tattoos and that's not a prospect I even want to think about." He shivered as he did think about it and I looked down to see where my tattoos were. They were lazily encircling his as they swirled around angry that he was even considering cheating on the owner of its newly found tattoo mate. I snorted at the thought and sat up slowly feeling the chill on my back. His hand laid itself gently on the coldest spot and the warmth entered my body like a wave.
"More sleep," He muttered and I silently agreed.
Author's note: I'm on a roll! Thanks for your support! Don't forget to vte and comment!
