Chapter Twenty-one

Lukas let go of Claire’s wrists when she kissed him back in favor of grabbing onto her bare thigh, his hold possessive.
Claire buried her hands in Lukas’ black locks, cruelly pulling on them. She was certain she tasted blood and although she shouldn’t even be kissing him in the first place but she couldn’t stop because she feared that she would lose herself if she did.
The kiss was punishing and they were both tightly pressed up against each other but they refused to break away till they were both breathless.
Claire collapsed against Lukas as she tried to catch her breath, desperately clutching his shirt even as his fingers left imprints on her bare thighs and her ass through her jean shorts.
She finally gained clarity, coming down to earth drained and exhausted. Why did they have to tear into each other every single time? Why couldn’t he just let her go?
“Mine.” Lukas growled lowly, pulling her close against him and Claire realized that she had said the last part out loud.
But being around each other only caused pain to the both of them; she said nothing after that, resting on him. She didn’t plan to fall asleep but she did, her fingers still weakly clutching at Lukas’ shirt.
Lukas had to force himself to ease his hold on Claire when her breathing deepened and evened out. This wasn’t supposed to happen, none of this was supposed to happen. But he couldn’t push her away, letting her sleep peacefully on him while he rang up the hotel and ordered a car to come pick them up.
He picked her up when the car showed up and got into the back seat with Claire in his arms, ordering the guards to deal with the hotwired car. When they got to the hotel, he personally took her inside, paying no attention to the staring bystanders.
Back in his private suite that he had never gotten to spend a night in, Lukas gently placed a sleeping Claire on the bed. He helped her take her boots off, tucking her in.
Lukas sat on the edge of the bed, wishing he had a drink with him. This wasn’t a part of the plot, he wasn’t supposed to feel guilt or remorse. He was supposed to feel satisfied and a little less heartbroken from ruining the life of the person that had ruined his. It was only fair right?
He sighed, deeply exhausted all of a sudden. He was supposed to be back in the city days ago but he didn’t want to go on a journey while Claire was injured. He had to switch off his phone at one point because his Viceroy, Alec kept blowing off his phone.
He chuckled humorlessly and glanced at the peacefully sleeping human on his bed. He had ditched his royal duties just to babysit her after she tried running away from him, Alec would have a field day with that when he returned back to the city.
He still very much despised her existence though, maybe he should just let her go or better still, snap her neck in half and pray that the fates deemed him lucky enough to be granted another Fated mate.
He wasn’t going to let her have it easy though, she was his Fated mate and she was human, that was an unforgivable crime, Lukas decided. The only reason he felt guilt and remorse was because of their bond, it was something that even he couldn’t win against and that was fine, he didn’t need to win against it.
Lukas undid the buttons of his formal black shirt and ditched his belt and shoes, getting in bed beside Claire. He would go with both the flow of the bond and his true intentions which were polar opposites of each other. A combination of kind and cruel, romantic and sadistic; it was sure to make Claire thoroughly miserable.
He gently tipped her jaw so he could see her face properly, placing a whisper of a kiss on her forehead. “Goodnight, little human.”

-*-

The next morning, Claire woke up to bright sunlight streaming in through the glass walls. The light made her squint and lift a hand to protect her eyes from the glare.
She sat up and glanced down at herself, trying to remember how she got in bed. Her eyes widened when she remembered what had happened last night and she threw the sheets off her body frantically, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw that she was still dressed.
Mocking laughter came from the door that led to the bathroom, Lukas was leaned against door dressed in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. “Scared that something happened?” He taunted, walking forward.
Claire nearly jumped off the bed in fright. “You slept here?!” She exclaimed in shock.
“It’s my room, is it not?” He drawled, striding to the closet like it was something that happened everyday.
Claire just stared speechlessly at his bare back, she couldn’t believe that she had fallen asleep on him the night before but what was even more surprising was the fact that he had slept with her in the same room. He had also kissed her the night before and he was taking her to the city to get married to her.
Which was it? Did he despise her or not? Claire was certain which side she fell into, she despised Lukas, a whole lot.
“You might want to get dressed, we’ll be leaving for Silverfall in an hour.” Lukas turned to her, doing up the buttons of his shirt.
Claire ignored how painfully domestic the scene was. “I am not going to the city.” She answered calmly, determination in her leaf green eyes.
“It wasn’t a suggestion. If you don’t get dressed, I’ll carry you out just the way you are.” Lukas threatened her, equally unruffled.
Claire crossed her arms defiantly. “Then you would have to drag me out screaming.”
Lukas lips tipped in an amused smirk. “I’m looking forward to that now.”
Lukas looked amused but Claire meant every word she said, she had decided that if she couldn’t escape Lukas, she would be as maddening as possible. She was going to get her win one way or another.
So an hour later, guests at the hotel were startled by a rather comical scene. Lukas had thrown Claire over his shoulder and was calmly making his way to the car outside while she pounded at his back and screamed bloody murder.
Lukas was formally dressed in a crisp black shirt and tailored black pants while Claire looked like she had just rolled out of bed, her hair wild and unruly as she hung upside down, struggling to escape.