Saving the Immortal

Chapter Thirty-Four: Devastatingly Beautiful

I woke slowly the next morning, warmth wrapped entirely around me, and needed a moment to properly understand the source of it — Ruselon's arms still holding me beneath the covers, his chest pressed against my back, his breathing slow and even against my hair.

I smiled before I had even fully opened my eyes.

My whole body ached, though pleasantly so, a warmth settled deep into muscles I had not properly used in exactly that manner before, and I found myself, rather than minding the ache, entirely grateful for what had caused it.

I turned carefully within his arms to look at him properly.

He slept still, his dark hair spread across the pillow, his features relaxed into something considerably softer than the careful composure he wore before the court, and I confess I found myself staring rather longer than propriety generally permitted, taking in the particular line of his jaw, the dark lashes resting against his cheeks, the whole devastating shape of him laid bare in the early morning light.

A remarkable specimen, I thought again, exactly as I had that first morning, though this time the thought carried considerably more warmth behind it than mere admiration alone.

"A person cannot sleep," he said, without opening his eyes, "if they are being watched quite so thoroughly."

I startled slightly, though I should have expected it by now.

"I was not watching you," I said, entirely unconvincingly.

"Of course not," he said, the corner of his mouth curving now despite his eyes remaining closed. "You were simply admiring the ceiling behind my head. A very compelling ceiling, I am sure."

He opened his eyes then, dark and warm and entirely too pleased with himself, and I giggled despite my best efforts at composure.

"You are insufferable," I said, though the accusation carried none of its earlier heat.

"So I have been told," he said, "though I recall you seemed rather fond of my insufferable qualities last night."

"Ruselon—"

He silenced whatever protest I might have offered by reaching over and tickling my side without warning, and I dissolved immediately into helpless laughter, squirming away though his arm held me fast against him regardless.

"Stop," I gasped, laughing too hard to properly form the word with any authority.

"Never," he said, grinning now with an unguarded delight I had rarely seen from him, continuing his assault until tears of laughter gathered at the corners of my eyes and I had entirely lost whatever dignity I had woken with.

"You are terrible," I said, once he had finally relented, settling back against him breathlessly, my earlier composure thoroughly abandoned.

"I am delighted," he corrected, pressing a kiss to my temple. "There is a difference. I have not laughed so freely in longer than I can properly recall, and I find I rather like the particular sound of your laughter as well."

"You could hear my thoughts last night, could you not," I said, remembering suddenly. "When you said that about the sleeping. You knew I was watching before I had even properly decided to admit it."

"A gentleman does not reveal such secrets," he said, entirely unrepentant.

"You are no gentleman," I said, laughing again despite myself.

"No," he agreed cheerfully. "I am considerably better than a gentleman, as I believe I demonstrated rather thoroughly last night."

I swatted at his chest, though the gesture carried no real force behind it, and he caught my hand easily, pressing a kiss to my knuckles with a warmth that made my chest ache pleasantly all over again.

The knock at the door arrived far too soon for either of our liking.

"My lord," came the guard's voice, carrying the particular formal urgency of official business. "His Majesty summons you and your wife to the throne room. He wishes to speak with you both at once."

Ruselon groaned softly against my hair.

"Of all mornings," he muttered.

"Perhaps it is important," I said.

"It is always important, according to my father," he said, though he began to rise regardless, the particular reluctant discipline of a man who had spent his entire existence answering such summons whether he wished to or not. "Come. We had best not keep him waiting overlong, whatever the matter."

I rose as well, gathering my robe about me, and caught him watching me now with the same unguarded appreciation I had shown him only minutes earlier.

"Now who is staring," I said, arching an eyebrow.

"I make no apologies for it," he said simply, pulling me close for one last, lingering kiss before duty properly claimed us both. "Whatever my father wishes to discuss, I intend to remember this morning rather more fondly than whatever awaits us in that throne room."

I smiled against his mouth, and together we began preparing to face whatever summons had interrupted what had otherwise been, I thought privately, a rather perfect beginning to the day.