Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
He’s hesitant, but already glancing inside the chest. I’m glad to see him so curious. It bodes well for our future.
“I rarely get the chance to dress up, but I like to.” Luke runs his fingers over the smooth fabric of the shirt with a little smile, and I already know I will lavish him with the finest wardrobe. “It’s like armor against the world. A good outfit.”
Reiner gives him an appreciative smile. “These will go underneath the breeches,” he instructs, handing Luke a delicate pair of black stockings, which I’ll be endlessly jealous of all day, until I get to remove the fine fabric on our wedding night.
“This is going to be interesting,” I say, reaching for a decanter of morning wine, which would normally awaken my senses if they weren’t already buzzing. Last night, I feasted on Luke for hours, but while there’s a degree of satisfaction, I don’t yet feel sated. In fact, I wonder if I ever get enough of a man as beautiful and charming as Luke.
Even his name is so very precious on my tongue. Smooth, delicate yet not porcelain-fragile, I want to keep saying it out loud.
Reiner clears his throat. “Your Highness, I’m sure you have other engagements on a morning this import—”
I wave my hand at him and smell the stimulating spice in the wine. “Oh no, I want to supervise every step.”
Luke steals a glance my way, biting back a smile, his face flushed as he pulls the stockings up his legs, covering all that milky skin with a sheer black layer. I already want to take him to the capital, to the best dressmakers, and let him pick whatever he desires.
I definitely desire him in those stockings. Next up are the breeches, and, seeing Luke’s enthusiasm, Reiner shares more about the outfit. “These breeches are made of a black shark’s skin. The leather has to be treated in the caves under the castle. They lead all the way to the beach. When the bitter winds bring salt from the sea, it softens the hides so that they can be worked on. The only trouble is that sometimes opportunistic bats are attracted to the smell. But they can be reasoned with as long as they are given the shark’s belly fat.”
“You don’t kill them?”
“It would be no use. More always come. It’s better to make peace with some monsters.” Reiner shakes his head and when he starts buttoning up the breeches at Luke’s side from hip to his waist, I’m itching to growl at him like some primal beast. It’s unreasonable. Reiner is just a servant doing his job.
Luke’s attention strays to me again, giving me some peace of mind. “I really like bats.”
“Oh. Why?” I ask, sipping the tart wine as I imagine myself standing between his thighs and squeezing those long, pretty legs, pulling down the stockings… He is such a prize. I couldn’t have chosen better.
My brother asked me for a girl, since he always preferred them to boys, but, perhaps out of spite, when the time came for me to save a human from the River of Souls, I couldn’t resist the pull of Luke’s slender yet long and distinctly male hand.
I have no regrets.
“They’re misunderstood animals. In my world, people can be superstitious about them, or fear them, or call them flying rats when really, they serve their place in nature. They eat lots of insects, pollinate plants, and… I guess I also just think it’s cute how ugly some of them are. I’ve always been drawn to a dark kind of beauty.”
As he says that, his eyes linger on me before Reiner turns him around to fasten the ties at the back of the breeches, cinching Luke’s slender waist so that the outfit fits him like a glove.
And while I’m not sure about being compared to an ugly bat, that glance, somehow both shy and lusty, makes me smile.
“You will feel right at home at the Nocturne Court then,” Reiner says, holding out a bejeweled vambrace for Luke’s forearm.
“How so?” Luke asks, marveling at the pearls and sapphires. “Why is this place all darkness, skulls, and lace?”
The invigorating drink is already taking away the fatigue of staying up all night, and I shift in the armchair for more comfort as I meet Luke’s gaze. “We elves in this part of the Realm know life is fragile. And nowhere is that truer than on the shores of the Sea of Sorrows,” I say, starting to recite the words I’ve heard many times. “A vile beast lives in its waters, and for thousands of years it has consumed many lives until Larkin Nightweed, my ancestor, took the first Dark Companion, and together they fought the monster off.
“But while the lords of the Nocturne Court have since been successful at keeping Heartbreak from ravaging our lands, we need to always remain vigilant and remember that life can be cut short at any time. We dress in black and ornament our homes and even ourselves with symbols of death and decay, so we always remember the sacrifices made. Always remember that death might be around the corner and that it's better to accustom yourself with it than fear it.”