Queen of My Immortal Heart

Chapter 7: Luke

Luke paused in front of the library door and took a deep breath. His heart was racing. He was about to come face to face with the love of his life for the first time in over two centuries. Would she welcome him with open arms or would she be angry at him for leaving her and never returning? He hoped for the first, but couldn’t really blame her if it were the second. He just hoped she’d stay calm long enough for him to explain his actions. He took another deep breath and knocked softly on the door, then opened it and called her name. He scanned the room as he stepped in and finally his eyes fell on her sitting on the window seat. Her lovely silver eyes were looking straight at him. He swallowed hard and shut the door. She stood as he turned to face her. “Hello, your Majesty.” Luke said, bowing slightly. Nicole chuckled at his sudden formality, but quickly returned to a serious expression. “Hello, Luke.” she said softly. “Long time, no see.” She offered him her hand and he walked forward and pressed a tender kiss to her palm. They stood there in silence for a long moment. “Nicole, you look beautiful. More beautiful then I’ve ever imagined over these last two hundred years.” Luke said, his eyes skimming over her entire body. He reached up and cupped her cheek in his rough hand. “God, how I’ve missed you.” he whispered. Nicole nuzzled his hand with her cheek and touched her hand to his. He had missed her as much as she’d missed him. Her heart was racing. “I’ve missed you too, Luke. Why didn’t you ever write or come back to me?” Luke looked away from her, but not before she caught a glimpse of pain in his eyes. He hadn’t wanted to be away from her for so long. Luke knew that question would come up and he had thought time and time again on how to answer it. The truth was always best and let her take it from there. “Come, my Queen. Sit with me and I’ll tell you all about it.” said, leading her to sit back on the window seat. He sat next to her, careful not to sit to close. Nicole watched him intently, waiting for him to speak. Luke took a deep breath to calm his nerves. “Nicole,” he began. “I know there is no excuse for my silence these past two centuries. Believe me, I did not wish to stay away from you for so long.” “Then why did you, Luke? Did you meet another woman?” she asked. Luke looked at her appalled. So that’s what she’d been thinking all this time. His poor Nicole, how could she ever think that? “No, of course not, Nicole. I told you when I left, even in such a rush, that I loved you and I had meant it…” “Then why, Luke?” Nicole interrupted, hurt and a little anger in her voice. He could see the tears well up in her beautiful eyes and wanted to shoot himself with a silver bullet for causing her so much pain. It wouldn't kill him, but it would cause the immense pain that he saw in her eyes right now. “Nicole, once we got to our cabin it was burned to the ground. We began to clean up the next night when we received an urgent message from one of the packs in America. They had been attacked too. It was a much larger pack then ours and they needed our help to rebuild quickly. So we left that morning for America. I begged my father to let me come see you and tell you, but the message had been so desperate, he’d insisted we leave immediately. We got to the docks just before sunrise and boarded. The ship left with the early morning tide, so I didn't even get a chance to send a message for you.” “You could have sent a message or letter once you arrived, Luke.” Nicole said, as the tears began to roll down her cheeks. By God, this was killing her. It was killing him too. Luke pulled out a silk handkerchief from his jacket pocket and dabbed her eyes, then offered it to her. She took it and waved him on. “I know that, Nicole. I’m sorry. I was needed by my pack. There wasn’t a night that went by that I didn’t think of you or wonder how you were; I did send you something, however, when my father returned to Romania.” “I never received anything from you, Luke.” Nicole said, tilting her head to the side to look at him. “Yes, you did Nicole. You are wearing it right now.” “I am?” Nicole asked and looked down at her dress, puzzled. Luke lovingly touched the beautiful diamond barrette in her silken white hair. As his fingers skimmed down along the strands, he could smell jasmine and lily. It was intoxicating. His inner wolf recognized the scent from long ago and knew it was finally with it's mate once again. Nicole lifted her hand and gently touched the barrette. A look of awe and surprise flitted across her beautiful face. “You sent me this?” she asked. Luke could tell she really liked it, though it surprised her that it was from him. He knew he should have signed the card, but had been to afraid she’d reject it if he had. “Yes, my dear. I did. I found it when I was in New York and sent it back with my father. I was afraid you’d reject it if you found out it was from me, so I begged my father not to tell you.” Luke explained. “Luke! I would never have rejected a gift from you. I would have been relieved to know it came from you.” Nicole said sternly. Luke felt like a real ass now. He just kept messing up. He just hoped the next gift he was going to give her would be just as accepted. “Well, I hope you accept my apologies, my Queen.” Luke said very formally and kissed her palm again. Nicole blushed and waved his hand away, a small smile on her face. She obviously wasn’t use to being called Queen yet. “Apology accepted, Luke. Thank you for telling me what happened. I’m relieved to see you well and to know that you still care for me as I do for you.” Nicole said. “I more than just care for you, Nicole, I love you. I really wanted to wait until a more appropriate time, but I can’t wait any longer. I was suppose to do this two hundred years ago.” Luke said, reaching into his inner coat pocket. “Wait for what, Luke?” Nicole asked, looking at him quizzically. Luke took a deep breath. His heart was racing. This was a big step. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to Valtar first. Sure, he'd given his blessings two hundred years ago, but that was before Luke had left and not spoken to his daughter for two centuries. However, from his earlier question, Luke felt pretty confident he wouldn’t object and Luke still had his blessing. He just hoped Nicole wouldn’t object either. He knelt before her on the floor and saw her eyes open wide. His keen hearing picked up the racing of her heartbeat and he knew she was just as excited, yet scared, as he was. He pulled out his mother’s ring, a beautiful gold band with the image of a howling wolf engraved in white gold on top and a quarter karat diamond inlaid on either side of it, from his inside jacket pocket and held it up to Nicole. Her eyes opened even wider at the sight of it, their silver depths shinning with unshed tears. “Queen Nicoleta Ara Maria Morganthe, will you please accept this ring and do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife and mate?” Luke asked, then held his breath as he waited for her answer. She sniffed and the tears flowed. Luke felt scared. Was she happy and about to say yes or was she hurting because she was about to reject him? Finally, after what seemed like forever to Luke, Nicole looked him in the eye and smiled. “Yes, Luke Sangre! Yes, of course I’ll marry you!” Nicole cried. Luke’s heart soared in his chest. He gently pushed the ring on her shaky left ring finger and kissed it. He looked up at her and cupped her cheeks in his large hands. He leaned up to kiss her and just as their lips were about to touch, there came a loud crash and screams erupted from the dining hall. Luke shot to his feet and looked at the door. He heard the guards flying down the hallway towards the door. He looked at Nicole and took her hand. “Stay here and hide quickly, your highness.” he ordered, kissing her hand. Before she could speak, he leapt for the door and threw it open, changing into his wolf form as he rushed down the hall. He just hoped in his heart that Nicole listened and stayed put. She was a strong vampire, but he would die if anything happened to her. Especially now, after finally getting her back and having her accept his hand.