Eclipse On Luna

Chapter-10

[Irene Miles’ POV]

I did not know what made my nerves tingle so much. That wasn’t what I had planned. Nothing was going smoothly and seeing Zane’s temper earlier, I was scared to even reveal myself to him. What would he say or do? He might get mad at me, but if I kept on with the facade, he would be more enraged. If I explained it to him nicely, he would understand. I know him.

Ajax was sitting across the table, where Zane sat with a quill and parchments scattered on the table. 

“Please pardon us for calling you ladies so late at night, but we need complete insight into what you went through to make further judgements and plans. Please be seated and relax. How are your injuries?” Ajax said in a respectfully friendly tone. His voice was neither completely devoid of emotions nor filled with them. We sat on the chairs. I didn’t lift my eyes, didn’t make eye contact with them. Thalia and Julie told them everything.

“Oh, so you taught them those combat skills?” Zane asked, and I nodded once. “You must be very well versed in it, isn’t it?” His voice suddenly had embers of anger. I nodded, regardless.

“Thank you for your time. Please rest and feel free to ask for anything you need from soldiers in service of your tents.” Ajax said. We got up and bowed in unison. Thalia and Julie left the tent before me. I was about to go out when Zane asked.

“Lady, what did you say your name was?” 

I didn’t reply. I was confused about if he recognised me or not. I turned and looked into his eyes. They were completely unreadable, and so were his thoughts. Should I reveal myself now? I thought, but hesitated. 

“Lady, your name?” He looked at me with a quill in his hand as if he was waiting for me to say my name, and he would mention it as a victim.

“I didn’t say my name yet.” I manipulated my voice. It wasn’t a big deal, thanks to Theo’s training. I turned, my back facing him, “I don’t remember. I had a concussion.”

I heard Ajax clear his throat, “I will excuse myself, Alpha. The soldiers requested an audience with me.”

“Sure, tell them to rest for tonight. I will make fresh orders in the morning. After I have gathered more information from the lady.” Zane’s voice was calm, yet something about his tone was daunting.

Ajax walked past me out of the tent. 

“So you had a concussion? Can you fill me in a little more about where you had the injury?” He asked, stoically. God, what’s up with his bitter tone? Zane never talks like that in front of me. But the minutes I spent in the tent with him were freezing me to my bones. Is he this cold to everyone around him? I thought.

Wait! But that means he didn’t recognize me. I turned and looked at him, constantly fidgeting with my fingers. He was scribbling on the parchment kept on the table, sitting on the chair. It was his tent, so there was a small bed for him to rest and a big log of wood supporting the tent frame in the middle, and a few weapons and maps arranged on another table. That was pretty much it in his tent, with lamps in almost every corner and ablaze torches arranged circularly on the middle log.

“I don’t remember, your majesty.” 

He stopped writing and landed a sharp gaze on me. He nodded, getting up from his chair. “Ok, I understand,” he said dryly. The repulsion I felt in his voice was like he had created an invisible wall between us.

It was very difficult to tell what he was thinking. Did he recognize me or did he not? If he did, then why was he still calling me lady and treating me like he treats strangers? He stepped closer to me. “I will take my leave now, your majesty.” I bowed and was about to walk out of the tent when I felt the string on my back, tying the stola on my body, get pulled. I swiftly turned with a gasp and saw Zane holding the untied string in his hand. My body froze and my heart was shaken to its core.

He peered right into my eyes, glancing at my soul. “Since you don’t remember your name or where you come from, why don’t you come under my service, lady?”

I knit my brows and gaped at him. I was completely confused if he recognised me or was he allured by the beautiful mask I was wearing? My thoughts were blocked, my scent was suppressed, and I manipulated my voice. There was no way for her to find out about my identity. So that meant…

My vision became misty. For him, it was some other woman, yet he untied the string of her dress. Why would he? “W-what do you mean, your majesty?” I tried faking a smile.

He was still holding the untied string of my dress in his fingers. He looked at the string and then into my eyes, “what do you think I mean?” He said and I felt the soul leave my body. My legs became numb and my palms cold. I didn’t know what I felt back then — anger, betrayal, conflict or what. If there was another woman flirting with him, trying to seduce him with this face, he would… no! At that moment, all my fears and insecurities overwhelmed me. He didn’t recognize me, but he went this far! Has he touched anyone except me before, too? 

Forget about the unknown lord who tried luring me into that trap or whatever. This matter is the priority, I thought.

I clenched my fists to keep it all in. If I hadn’t come here in disguise, I would never know that Zane could… I couldn’t even think about a possibility like that. I forced a smile, sealing the storms inside me behind it. “Your majesty is a sacred shrine no one is allowed to touch. But if it’s for you, I wouldn’t mind being a sinner tonight.”

Zane left the string, and a soft smirk lightened his face. Even when my heart was clenching with pain, I couldn’t stop admiring him. But even if he slept with someone else, could I keep on loving him? People say that when your mate cheats on you, you will feel excruciating pain all over your body. You won’t know the reason behind it, but I have never felt such pain. Even then, I wasn’t feeling a thing. Was it because it was still me, even behind that mask? 

But if he really cheated on me, he would have died because of my father’s curse. No, sleeping with a woman doesn’t necessarily mean loving her. One could sleep with someone for a night and not have any feelings attached to them. My head was heavy with so many diverse thoughts storming inside me.

“Sinner?” He chuckled.

“Yes…” I walked closer to him. “A sinner.”

You are going to be shocked today, Zane. You think you can cheat on me? Let’s see your reaction when you come to know that this beautiful lady in your arms is your ugly wife. The moment the mask is gone, I am so eager to see what you say in your defence.

I trailed my hand from his abdomen to his chest and yanked him into a kiss. He shifted back as I kept pushing him towards the bed. We parted from the kiss and I pushed him onto the bed. I crawled over him onto the bed, straddling his waist. “Aren’t you impatient?” I tilted my head. I could have felt happiness and excitement echo in my body, but at that moment, all I felt was rage. How could he even allow another woman to touch him like that?

He covered his lips with his fist and chuckled behind it. 

“Do I make you happy? Good to know, you are relaxed with me.” I placed my hands next to his ears and peered into his eyes. I thought he smiled only at me. I thought I had all the rights over him. My cheeks were burning from keeping all that inside. How could you smile at any other woman like that, Zane? Because it was me behind that mask, it was hurting even more. Knowing that he could hold another woman like he held me.

I unbuttoned his tunic, his vest, and then his shirt. Sliding my palm to his chest, I kept peering into his eyes. His eyes were locked with mine. There was silence all over him, around us and between us. I dropped my gaze on his chest and blinked before descending on him. The kiss we shared at that moment wasn’t intimate or passionate. For me, it was aggressive and painful. I parted, panting. It was suffocating. I couldn’t go any further. I was about to get down from bed when he held my hand. “Where are you going?”

“Your majesty needs this beauty that badly?”

“I do.”

“Then I will go all the way with you if you leave your wife and come to me. Be mine, your majesty. Can you do that? Of course you can. Being stuck with an ugly wife is a nightmare, isn’t it?”

He pinned me on the bed the next second. He grabbed my neck lightly and made me look into his eyes. “I can accept you, but I can’t leave my wife. I can allow you to take the lead over me, but I can’t allow you to say a single word against my wife.”

“Oh, really! Then why are you fooling around with me? Isn’t your wife enough to quench your thirst at night? Do you need supplements now?”

“You are the one who reciprocated it,” he said.

“So do you allow any woman to touch you as long as they reciprocate your lust?” He smiled. His gaze shifted from my eyes to my lips. I clenched my jaws, quit smiling at this face before I break your bones, Zane. I was freaking jealous of a mask. I was fuming up. 

“To answer your question, I allow only my woman to take control of me. No one but my wife…”

“What do you mean? Are you toying with me?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Fine! What are you waiting for? Go on.” I could feel the hoarseness and harshness in my voice. 

“But this face can’t put me on edge…” He slid his hand under my ears and traced my skin with his finger. I tensed my brows. “Here it is…” I couldn’t understand what he was doing until he pulled the mask from my face and tossed it aside. I was planning to surprise him with his guts, but that came as a surprise to me. “This face puts me on edge every night.” We kept peering at each other. None of us said a word. Zane’s face had turned pinkish. His eyes were tense, and he was breathing heavily. “I am not just saying it. My body is the proof.” 

I followed his eyes to his crotch. I almost gasped. He wasn’t that turned on a second ago and now…

I didn’t know where to look, so I closed my eyes. I felt his lips kiss my ear, biting them softly. He said. “You play disguise games with me so effortlessly…” he sunk into my neck and kissed the place he always left his bit mark. I clenched his loose tunic. “You seduce me so flawlessly…” he licked my neck, a soft moan escaped my lips. He was going to bite me. “And then you lied to me so beautifully, Irene.” His deep seducing voice turned grim and dark. I snapped open my eyes.