"Well, that's no surprise there," he mumbled, but his tone sounded better, just barely.
"Kiran, if I had any idea of how much I would upset you, I wouldn't have even gone to the dance. I, I.... I just thought it would be a harmless night, and since I had used Jericho as an excuse with Sebastian, I wanted to cover all of my bases. That's all. There is nothing between Jericho and me. There is absolutely nothing to worry about."
"So you say," he stepped away from the tree and the little light that made its way through the canopy of darkened greenery illuminated his face. His expression was softened, but the sadness etched across his forehead and deep in his eyes was unmistakable. He reached out to me and I ran to him, letting him envelope me in his arms. "Eden, you don't see how he looks at you. You don't have to watch some other guy fall in love with you and sit there helpless."
"Yes, I do," I said plainly. "Seraphina has her dirty little hands all over you, all the time. She's the one who gets to go to dances with you and eat lunch with you and be taken on dates. All I get are secret rendezvous' and midnight, subconscious sleep worlds."
"Oh, Love," he hugged me tighter, "We have got to figure something else out. It doesn't do any good for us to fight over these stupid jealousies," he tipped my chin up to him, gazing into my eyes. "Seraphina means nothing to me. And I'm fairly certain all I mean to her is a crown. You have nothing to worry about."
"Nothing? Yeah, right. Except that you're supposed to be getting married to her," my bottom lip jutted out in an uncontrollable pout.
"That will never happen," he smiled reassuringly.
"How can you be so sure?" but the hope was already there, unwillingly and without permission, the small flicker of hope had begun to grow.
"India," Kiran replied with confidence. "Father wanted to meet you, get to know you better. He knows I have no real feelings for Seraphina, which has never bothered him before; but if he does suspect you are who you really are, then he might hope the feelings between us are real. A marriage between the two of us would be.... beneficial.... for all parties involved." There was hope in Kiran's eyes, too; he was beginning to believe there was a future for us.
"Marriage?" I gulped. I was not even seventeen yet and already I had to be thinking about marriage. There was not a doubt in my mind that Kiran would be the only man I would ever want to marry, but did we have to start talking about it already?
"Don't tell me you have cold feet already? We don't even know what my father is really thinking," he smirked at me.
"No, I know, I mean, I was just surprised that we could even use that word," I stumbled through what I hoped to be a convincing argument.
"I'm just teasing, Love," he leaned in to me and finally our lips connected. Our magics slammed into each other in a raw connection reminding us that it had been too long since we were alone. Kiran kissed me passionately, dipping me back and holding me tighter. I was overwhelmed by him, feeling heady and lost. He kissed my mouth and my neck, making his way across my shoulder blades and then back to my mouth again. One of his hands was tangled in my hair and the other pressed tightly against my lower back. He was fierce against my mouth and when he left it, finding my ear and neck again I had to gasp for breath.
Gently he picked me up and laid me on the ground, his mouth against mine again. Our magics swirled around us in the palpable magic that had become a connection of our auras. Except this time, I found them distracting. Usually they were alight with an iridescent glow, changing colors too fast to ever make one out clearly. This time however, the deep blue from my magic was overwhelming any other color in smoky wisps of air. The blue from my magic forced Kiran's to be black and the two colors seemed to be fighting in the night instead of wrapping themselves in each other like they usually did.
I panicked for a moment, afraid the wind from the caves in India had followed me home, but then the blue was gone and the magics were back to the fast changing colors they had always been. Kiran was kissing my mouth again. I tore my eyes away from the magic trying to give him my attention, but I was too distracted. I slowed down his kisses and eventually ended them, trying not to give the wrong impression.
"So, marriage, huh?" I cleared my throat
"Yes, marriage," he whispered, full of affection. "If that's all right with you." He lay next to me on the soft forest floor, still kissing me sweetly.
"Will that make me a Princess then?" I asked dreamily, still trying to forget the magic.
"And one day, Queen," he whispered.
"But more importantly, I will get you." I forced myself to look into his eyes. They were turquoise; a reflection of his mother’s and full of love for me. In that moment nothing else mattered, I didn't really care about being a Princess or even Queen; but if I were, if that dream came true, I would be able to make everyone happy. I could set the Shape-Shifters free, the Titan Guard as well, my family would be safe, and I could give the Kingdom freedom to marry whomever they chose. If I were Queen, I could solve everyone's problems without anyone I loved being in danger. And I would be with the man I loved, without secrecy or threat of danger. We could be together forever.
"And I get you," he finished, confirming my future plans.
"And of course, live happily ever after," I sighed, finding the perfect nook of his arm and cuddling closer.
"Well, of course," Kiran said happily. "We will know more in a week or so when father comes to visit," he finished off-handedly.
"Wait, I'm sorry, what did you say?" I sat half way up. Lucan? In Omaha?
"Yes," he laughed at me. "He wants to visit for the Christmas holiday and stay through January for my birthday."