"I just need to do a proper check of your bedroom," the guard said smoothly.
Ava’s brow furrowed. That voice... There was sothing wrong with it. Sothing... familiar. She tilted her head, studying the only visible part of him — his eyes — two burning pools of stormy blue that seed to see straight through her soul.
Before she could say anything, he swiftly stepped into the room and slamd the door shut behind him, leaving the other guard posted obediently outside. Ava’s heart imdiately slamd against her ribs.
But then he reached up with gloved hands and yanked the mask off his face.
Ava gasped, staggering back a step as recognition hit her. "You?" she choked out. "What are you doing here?"
Lucas grinned which made her insides tighten painfully. "Myself and Kade kidnapped two guards and infiltrated the palace," he said proudly. Then he grimaced. "Gods! Fuck that!"
He stepped closer to her in the blink of an eye, seized her face in his hands, and kissed her.
The kiss was a savage claim, a ssy, breathtaking explosion of emotion that made her toes curl in her soft slippers. His mouth was warm, rough with urgency, and it lted straight through the terrified ice that had encased her heart these past weeks.
Ava stood frozen, her brain spinning wildly in her skull. This is wrong. This is so wrong. Herod would kill them both. Kill their unborn child. Burn the whole kingdom down over this.
But if this was wrong... Why did it feel so devastatingly right?
Her body responded before her mind could catch up — leaning into him, her hands twitching as if they wanted to clutch his shirt and never let go.
But reality snapped back with a vengeance.
She tore herself out of his arms and, without thinking, slapped him clean across the face.
The crack of skin on skin echoed in the chamber.
Lucas staggered back half a step, blinking at her. "What the hell?" he sputtered, rubbing his cheek.
"I don’t know who you think you are to ," Ava snapped, feeling tears burn the back of her eyes, "and I don’t know what we were in the past. But you can’t be— you can’t just—" She threw her hands up in wild frustration. "Do you have a death wish?"
Lucas stared at her, his chest heaving, his blue eyes impossibly soft despite the sting of her slap. "You don’t rember . You don’t rember us."
It wasn’t an accusation. It was heartbreak.
Ava clenched her fists. No, she wanted to scream. I don’t rember you. But my body does. My soul does. Every fiber of her being scread that this man was hers, that she had once belonged to him so deeply that forgetting him should have torn the universe apart.
Instead, she just glared at him, hoping her trembling lip didn’t betray her.
Outside the door, the other guard shifted impatiently. Ti was running out.
"Oh shit! What have they done to you, Ava?" Lucas blurted as he reached for her, almost afraid to touch her. His eyes road her face, but all he found was a guarded, confused woman staring back at him.
"What do you an, what have they done to ?" Ava snapped, stepping back and folding her arms protectively over her chest. "You did sothing to !" she accused. At least, that’s what she’d been told. Over and over again. By Herod. It was simple: Alpha Lucas Raventhorn had kidnapped her, erased her mories of the king.
Lucas exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through his already tousled hair in frustration. "Babe," he said. "I don’t have ti to explain right now. But I think... no, I know... sothing inside you rembers that I’m not the bad guy."
She stared at him, conflicted. Her heart stuttered traitorously at the word babe.
"We don’t have ti," Lucas continued, glancing nervously at the door. "We have a crazy-ass plan, and whether it works or not... pretty much depends on you."
Ava scowled, throwing her hands up in the air. "Why is every man trying to exploit ?" she hissed. "What am I? So kind of inflated sex toy?"
Lucas let out a strangled laugh. Gods, he loved her fire — even when it was aid at his face. He took a cautious step closer. "I wouldn’t exploit you, Ava. I swear." His gaze dropped, briefly vulnerable. "If I wanted to, I could grab you right now, throw you over my shoulder..." he smirked when her jaw dropped. "...and blast my way out of this goddamn castle without you lifting a finger. But we can’t. Not yet."
"Why not?" Ava asked warily, still trying to keep her distance even as her heart leaned forward without permission.
"Because we need to save Zoe," Lucas said, eyes burning with intensity. "And because we need to take the king down. To keep our people safe. Your people, Luna Ava."
Luna Ava.
The title curled around her ears. It was so much sweeter than Queen Ava, a title that tasted of blood and betrayal.
Her chest tightened painfully. Luna Ava. It fit like a missing piece slipping back into place.
"Where’s Zoe?" Ava asked, her wide eyes glistening with urgency. "Is she here?"
Lucas’s whole face lit up. "You rember Zoe?" he asked eagerly, stepping closer, almost vibrating with hope.
"I... I think so," Ava whispered, pressing her fingertips to her temple. Images flickered behind her closed eyes , flashes of laughter, a shimring dress, a hand squeezing hers in excitent. "I rember getting ready for her engagent party... to Dennis... Dennis..." She opened her eyes, looking dazed. "He looks like you."
Lucas chuckled dryly. "That’s because he’s my idiot little brother," he said with a crooked grin.
The mories were piecing themselves together now, a jagged puzzle that made her head throb with effort. But sothing inside her believed him.
Lucas’s grin faded, replaced with a bittersweet sadness. "It looks like I was the only thing erased from your mind," he said softly.
"Okay. I’ll just tell you what’s going on," Lucas said, pacing the room. His hands kept raking through his hair in frustration, and he refused to et her eyes for too long. "And, well, the rest is up to you, My Little Virgin."
Ava blinked at him, stunned. "Excuse ?" she demanded, half-offended, half-blushing.
@addicted2fantasy: Love you Sugar.
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