His Divine Queen

The Haven

The panic had begun to dissipate by the time Arabella arrived back at the Palace, still heavily surrounded by her guards. She didn’t remember much of the walk back, her mind too hectic as it ran circles in her head trying to piece all the information together. She knew that the answer was right there – just at the tip of her tongue – but every time she tried to reach for it, it would drift further away.

The Sun had started to set, the day was over, but Arabella knew she wouldn’t be getting any rest soon. There was too much to do, too many letters to write, orders to give, killers to catch. It was going to be a long night.

Once she was inside the Palace, the walk towards her office was a quiet one. The guards had left her at the courtyard, drifting off to their various positions after Arabella had thanked them for accompanying her. She expected her walk back to her office to be a peaceful one, a chance to ponder on what she had seen outside the gates. So, as she turned the final corner to her office, she certainly did not expect to see Lorcan pacing in the hallways before her. His steps were hurried, and his dark hair was messy like he had been running his fingers through it.

“El?” She questioned, coming to a stop as his head shot up at her voice, “is everything alright?”

He stopped pacing, chest rising up and down as he stared at her across the hallway. Lorcan opened his mouth, paused, tongue slipping out to wet his bottom lip, and continued to stare at her.

“El?” She asked again, gravitating towards him as her heart pounded in her chest. What was wrong?

His lips parted once again, “I- I, nothing.” He paused, “I wanted to see you,” he finished, taking the last step forward so they were a meagre breath from each other.

Arabella furrowed her brows, eyes darting across his weary face to take him in. He looked tired. “Have you been sleeping?” She asked gently, a hand coming up to rest on his cold cheek.

Lorcan breathed out slowly, head moving to nuzzle into her touch. “No,” he responded eventually. His troubled eyes moved up to capture hers, a storm hiding in their dark depths.

“You should go to bed, El. You need rest.”

“So do you,” he replied quickly, his hand reaching out to stop her from moving away, “please Ari. Please come to bed.”

A frown descended onto the young Queen’s face, dipping her eyebrows inwards. She thought about the amount of work that was piled on her desk, the endless papers and plans she had to write up. No, she couldn’t go to sleep. Not yet. There was too much to do.

“Please come to bed,” Lorcan persevered, “I will help you with everything tomorrow, I promise.”

She hesitated, eyes roving his expectant face and his dark eyes, feeling her resolve weaken. “Alright,” she nodded slowly, stepping towards his outstretched hands. She let the familiar wave of electricity roll over her as their fingers entwined and breathed in deeply for what felt like the first time in months, allowing herself to be led away.

They entered their bedroom quietly, Lorcan pulling her in behind him as he turned to shut the door. The room was pure black, curtains already drawn against the city lights and moonlight that would threaten to disturb their dark sanctuary. Not a sound pierced the air between them except their breaths, a calming mixture of warmth that beckoned them to each other.

They both hesitated in the darkness. They were both suddenly alone again, no thoughts of work or duties to fill their minds for once. All that stood in front of her was him, his imposing form and shaking hands that looked almost too scared to touch her. She knew they would reach forward to touch her, though. They always did, and always would.

His move came soon after, his muscled frame pushing Arabella backwards until her thighs met the soft bed and she fell upon it gracelessly. Lorcan followed, knees straddling her body as he leant over to finally connect their lips. Their passion was tangible, untamed and wild as their teeth clashed in their hurry to reconnect.

“I missed you,” he whispered against her lips, turning his attention to her neck that she bared to him in her desire. Arabella whimpered as he continued his assault, mouth parted in a silent gasp as his mouth began to sink lower, lower, further down.

“I missed this,” he muttered absently, hands caressing her sides until all that entered her mind was him.

“El,” she moaned back, hands tightening into his dark locks of hair that had long since grown past his ears. “I need you now.”

Lorcan hesitated, lips a mere inch from where she ached for him most. His fingers dug into her sides, eliciting a hiss of pain from her parted lips. But he knew that she liked it. He knew everything about her.

The moment was long, tension thick in the air as her desire curled around her and beckoned him forward, closer, into her. He finally broke it, lips parting and connecting with her as she sighed above him. The words that spilt from his mouth followed her over the edge, echoing through the heated room.

“I need you now and forever, my Queen.”

- - -

The tension had faded from both their forms. Arabella’s wolf was content for the first time in weeks. She finally felt complete again, like she had been missing a part of her until just this moment. From the sound of Lorcan’s relaxed breathing underneath her, she imagined that he also felt the same.

Her fingers followed the lines of the thick muscle on his arm that was slung around her waist. The few remaining scars that dotted his skin were on show, a permanent reminder of what he had endured during his time as his father’s prisoner. Most of them had disappeared courtesy of his accelerated healing, but a few had been too deep to ever fade.

She didn’t want to break this peaceful moment between them. But she had to talk to someone about it, needed to get it off her chest. And she knew that she could tell him anything.

“I don’t know what to do.”

He paused his ministrations on her bare back, hands splaying over her soft flesh as he moved underneath her. “What do you mean?” He asked hesitantly, chin coming to rest on the top of her head.

“The attacks. We don’t know anything about them or whose doing them. We’re practically blind,” she added.

He breathed out quickly, hands continuing their travels across her spine. “Kylia’s interviews haven’t helped?”

“No,” Arabella mumbled dejectedly, “no one has seen them and stayed alive to tell the tale.”

“Hm,” Lorcan responded, and they fell into a silence once more. Arabella’s mind was back to churning out theories, each seeming more ridiculous than the last. She had no idea what to do.

Maybe the staff were right.

“It could be anything, absolutely anything,” Lorcan sighed, disrupting Arabella’s despairing spiral as the warm air from his lips brushed against her hair. “Goddess only knows what these demons are.”

Demons...

Demons,

Demons.

The word mulled around her head for a little while, unlocking some hazy memory that had been hidden away for all these years. A legend she had once read, yet had barely paid any attention to as that is all it had been – a myth. But, with her heart leaping into her throat, Arabella thought that it would make sense. If they could shift into another creature at will, and if the witches could conjure water and fire out of thin air – why couldn’t there be…

“Lorcan you genius!” She exclaimed excitedly, sitting up quickly to take his startled face between her hands, “you’re right! It’s been staring me in the face this whole time!”

She smiled delightedly, ducking her head to plant a quick kiss on his parted lips before she leapt off the bed and left him alone just as quickly. She did not even turn around to see his forlorn expression as he watched her leave. She had only one goal in mind, and she had some research to do.