ELORA
“Great, Your Majesty,” I answered feeling my heart calm a bit but before the words were out of my mouth, his hands were on my neck, one hand cupping my jaw and tilting my head to the side as the other pushed my hair back to reveal the healing flesh. My breath was positively stolen as the firm grip he had on my jaw let me feel the rough callouses of his palm and I wondered how those hands might feel on other parts of my body.
Wait…What?
It took everything in me to step back from the tantalizing hold the king had on me but I did remember I was only here to work and take care of my siblings.
That thought put a damper on the trail of indecent and wild thoughts my mind was showing me. It didn’t help that he was still staring at me with eyes that blazed with…desire?
My hands absent-mindedly returned to the scar he was looking at and I felt the edge of the now-covered scar. My wolf must have been returning and I was healing quicker than I would have with her suppressed.
“You’re healing fine, Elora.” He smiled after a long minute and I relaxed a bit knowing that whatever mood had settled over him was gone now. His eyes had returned to the sapphire dark blue they had always been.
“I have you to thank, Your Majesty.” I curtsied, “I am ever in your debt.”
“That’s alright,” He answered almost dismissively, then as if remembering what I had come in here to do, “Now do you know what your job is?”
“Organization. Bookkeeping…literally,” I answered, wondering if he’d get the joke.
Where I got the confidence to make such jokes with the king, I didn’t know.
“Ah! A sense of humor.” He gave a small smile. “Well, this job is very important to me and my family. This is my library. Thousands of years of information are stored here.”
“I’m listening, sir.”
“Follow me.”
He walked back to the first line of shelves in the library. “I’ll show you a bit of it.
I watched him as he led me, his gait like that of a man who knew himself and was sure of the power he possessed.
He could see through me and possibly knew the indecent thoughts that had raced through my mind earlier.
The king’s aura was compelling in a way that left me breathless. I had never felt drawn to a man the way I was to him in the nineteen years I’d been alive.
I trailed behind him silently admiring how his long, enticing fingers trailed the shelves as he passed them. His broad shoulders reminded me of the sculpture I had seen outside the castle. It was a sculpture of the first Lycan King.
“We’ll start with the shelves, they’re dusty.” He said running a finger along the edge of one, “I want them squeaky clean.”
“Yes, sir,” I said softly, still steadying my breathing as I remembered how that same finger had run along my clavicle not too long ago.
He stopped abruptly causing me to bump into him, my forehead hitting his broad back which was built like the Lycan walls. Could this get any worse? I stepped back as he turned to hold my wrist, steadying me.
“Sorry, sir.”
“It’s fine. It was my fault.”
His fingers were still wrapped around my wrist causing my heart to beat a frantic rhythm. My chest suddenly felt too tight and I decided then that the king was bad for my health.
He took my hand from my side and placed it on the shelf. I shifted slightly under his touch feeling lightheaded again. Was it his perfume? It was strong and musky for sure. Maybe his outfit. I loved the gold embroidery around the neckline and how the brown suit ran down his long lean body showing off how elegantly his broad shoulders narrowed into a tapered waist. The Lycan King, like his forefathers, was a work of art.
Beads of perspiration formed on my forehead and I wiped it away with my second hand. As he placed my hands on the shelf, I stared at his wonderfully curled red hair.
“Were the royal family descended from gods?”
I was powerless under his touch.
“Did you hear me, Elora?” He asked coldly, snapping me out of my reverie, “Elora?”
Now I felt silly.
He must think me a dull girl.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” I said trying to recall what he had been saying about the shelves. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that, sir”
There was a frown dancing on his lips and his eyes looked troubled like he was battling some dark thoughts.
Perhaps I had upset him.
“The ladders?” He let go of my hand as quickly as if it were hot coal and gripped a ladder, “The ladders are for getting books from the top, and cleaning the top shelves too.”
“Now everything else you need is written in the records at the desk in front.” He pointed now to the desk sitting just beside the door of the library. “You’ll learn a bit more about the library and you can ask me questions whenever you need to.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now I came here to get a book.” He crossed his hands and set his gaze on me as his beautiful red hair dangled just before his eyes. “Do you think you can get them for me?”
“Yes I can,” I answered, “What kind of book, Your Majesty?”
I was determined to earn this job at all costs. My siblings needed to be safe here and the only way was for me to secure this job.
“Find the section for records and laws. It’s a book about marriage for royalty.” He nodded in a direction.
I dashed off, following the alphabetical markings. A, B, C… Q, R… Records.
Records and lands.
Records and laws.
Bingo!
I climbed the ladder that rested on one end of the shelf and reached the highest part of the shelf. The books here were in all colors and sizes, but they had strips of gold. I guessed that meant something.
“I’d have to check that out,” I thought.
Finding the book and feeling my heart race with excitement, I dropped from the ladder as quickly as I could. I would show him I was fit for the job.
“Sire…” I began to say, excited, “I have the–”
At that moment, my right leg lost balance and I could feel myself falling. But instead of falling onto the carpeted floor, I fell right into someone’s arms.
I looked up into the shimmering blue gaze of my savior, my heart thumping widely in my chest when I saw it was the King. My breathing couldn’t possibly be faster than it was.
How had he gotten down there before I fell?
How did he know that I missed my step?
“I saw the ladder shake and I rushed over. I wasn’t watching you climb.” He assured me as if he could read my train of thought.
He stared at me as if trying to understand whatever he saw on my face and I was sure I resembled a tomato by now. From this proximity to his face, I could appreciate the sharp angles of his square jawline and the jut of his Adam’s apple.
His chest felt solid beside me and being wrapped in his strong arms, I could feel the abundance of strength he kept hidden under layers of clothes.
“Your Majesty,” I muttered amidst the embarrassment, “I think I can stand on my feet now.”
“Oh, yes.” He dropped me gently.
His gaze was still on me and I squirmed unable to look him in the eye.
“Are you okay?” He asked. “You look a bit red?”
Shit!
I touched my face wincing at how hot it was.
He must have been wondering what was wrong with me.
There was a knock on the door causing me to jump.
“Your Majesty. Everyone has arrived,” A guard said from outside the door.
The King didn’t move. He didn’t jump as I did. Instead, he gave me a dismissive look.
“You can start working immediately.”
And with that he was out of the room, leaving me rooted to the spot confused as hell about what had happened.
I placed a hand on my chest and exhaled in relief. That was a rollercoaster of emotions I hadn’t expected to experience especially with the circumstances that had brought me to the palace.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts picking up a dusting brush I spotted. If I was going to survive in this castle and take care of my siblings, I would have to get these strange feelings in check before it’d get me in trouble.