Chapter 95

Lukas
He carried Lily down to his office and sat in his large black leather chair, cradling her in his arms. He turned her a little so that she was pressed against his chest. He kept one arm curled around her waist as he pulled up the number for her school. He dialed it and leaned back, stroking her back while he waited for his call to be answered.
“Dominion Middle School. How may I direct your call?”
“This is Lukas Lincoln. I am calling on behalf of Lilianna Washington. As you are well aware that she has missed a lot of school due to a dangerous situation. I want all of her work to be faxed to my office so she can get it done and I can send it back. I do not wish for her to fail.”
“One moment, Your Majesty. Let me get the principal for you.”
He tapped his fingers on the desk as he waited.
“Sire, hello. I hope you are doing well today,” came a nasally voice a few minutes later.
He bared his teeth already not liking the woman. “I’m sure the other woman passed on my wishes to you.”
“She did, but I hate to be the one to inform you the quarter ended and she completely failed it. There is no way that she will pass the year with how badly she failed last quarter.”
He growled. “Let me try again. You have an hour to get all the work she missed from last quarter through the end of the year. You will go back in and edit last quarter’s grades when she gets her work back to you.”
“Your Majesty, we-”
“MAKE IT HAPPEN!,” he growled and his aura flared out with his anger. “Do not make me come down there Miss…whatever your name is.”
“Carmichael. Ronna Carmichael.”
“I wasn’t asking. Just like I’m not asking you to send her schoolwork to me.”
There was silence on the other end for a moment. “As you wish. What’s the fax number?”
“233-6575. One hour or I will be there.”
“Understood.”
He hung up, frustrated at the way the call had gone down. How dare that bitch question a direct order from him? He might make a trip down there anyways to remind her who she was talking to like that. Lily started to stir in his arms and he quickly got up to set her on the couch across the room. He hurried back to his computer and busied himself going through the clans financial records. She stretched and slowly sat up. He glanced at her and the white in her eye swirled. He inwardly groaned, wanting nothing more than to spend hours just staring into her eyes. He forced his attention back to his computer. She slowly approached his desk.
“Lukas?”
He paused, praying that she couldn’t see the screen where he had been typing gibberish to make it look like he was doing something.
“Yes, Lily?”
“I have to use the bathroom…”
She shifted nervously and he eyed her.
“And? What else?”
She lowered her head. “Umm… I’m hungry..,” she said shyly.
He started to reach for her, but dropped his hand flat on the table. “Bathroom is through there,” he told her, pointing at a door on the back wall of the office. “What do you want to eat?”
“Whatever is fine.”
He leaned back in his chair. “Raise your head, Lily.” He waited for her to lift her chin and meet his eyes. “What would you like to eat?”
“I.. can we have nachos? I had them once for my birthday and they were really good. The chips were so good and there was so much meat and vegetables, but there wasn’t enough cheese and-”
He took her hand and pulled her close. “You don’t have to be nervous for wanting something. You can have whatever you want when you’re here.”
She looked down at where their hands were linked together. She looked back up at him and swallowed. He cursed himself and let her go, turning back to the computer.
“What kind of meat do you want?”
Her eyes widened. “There’s more than chicken?”
“There’s chicken, steak, pork, ground beef, and shrimp. Pretty much any meat you could think of can be put on top of nachos.”
“Can I have steak?”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Can you?”
She studied his face. “I want steak, chicken and shrimp.”
Lukas immediately reached for the cook’s link. ‘Bring me two plates of nachos. Loaded with chicken, shrimp, steak, onions, bell peppers and thoroughly soaked in cheese.’
‘Will bring it to you in about 20 minutes, Sire.’
He tilted his head to the bathroom. “You have 20 minutes before lunch comes. Go to the bathroom.”
He went back to his file and erased the nonsense he had put there. He needed to get it together. He couldn’t just ignore his responsibilities because she was here. He scrolled to the top and began to read it. The scent of cherries filled his nose and he cursed. Why did she have to smell so good? His fax machine started going off, giving him the perfect distraction to not snatch her up and tell her that he was her mate. He pushed his chair back and spun around to make sure there was enough paper in the triple use machine. He stacked all the papers as they were sent while she sat on the couch watching him. While the papers were still coming, the chef brought their food. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she eagerly started to dig into the food.
“This is so good! This might be my new favorite dish!”
He smiled to himself, but didn’t respond to her. 15 minutes later and over a thousand pages printed, the machine stopped spitting worksheets out. He tapped them to straighten the pile out. He pulled out about 20 easy looking sheets for her and went over to her. She beamed up at him and his heart started pounding in his chest when he saw the cheese on the corner of her mouth. He stared at her until she shifted on the couch.
“What?,” she asked nervously.
He reached his hand out to wipe the cheese off with his thumb. He met her eyes as he lifted his thumb to his mouth to lick the cheese off.
“It is very good, Lily,” he murmured, his voice lowering in octave.
She opened her mouth to say something when there was a knock on the door. He shook his head and took a step back.
“Come in?”
Raven opened the door. “Oh, here you are. Did you know there’s like 8 offices here?”
He rolled his eyes. She was already reminding him of Jo. She always showed her ass at the worst times, too. Raven inhaled and her eyes went to the still covered platter on his desk.
“What’s for dinner?”
He growled, baring his teeth at her. “This is my dinner. You can go to the kitchen and get food. The chefs will make whatever you want.”
“Lily, do you want to come with us?”
She made no move to get up. Gideon almost purred in happiness.
“Actually, we were just talking about her doing her schoolwork. She will be fine here.”
Raven rolled her eyes, obviously not amused. “Whatever. Call me if you need me,” she sneered.
She slammed the door behind her and Lily looked up at him.
“My schoolwork?”
He nodded and set the papers down by her. “I want you to pass the year, so I had them fax me your work. If you need help, I can have a tutor come help you.”
She reached for the papers and her face lit up at the science worksheets. “Oh, this is my favorite subject. Is there more?”
He laughed, relieved that she wasn’t upset. “Yes, there’s a whole stack.”
“Do you have a pencil?”
He walked back to his desk and opened drawers, searching for a pencil, but all he came up with were pens and white out.
“No pencils. I have pens. I can get you pencils for tomorrow.”
She came over to grab a pen and kissed his cheek, before running back to the couch to work.
“This is fine. Thank you!”
He sat back in his chair completely enthralled with the girl who would be his queen. He knew he needed to get these reports done, but he couldn’t quite seem to focus. He sighed an hour later, giving up. He went through her papers and picked out a couple hard math ones. He went over to the couch and sat next to her. She finished the last science sheet before looking at him. He set the new stack in front of her and she frowned.
“How about I help you with these?”
She groaned. “I’m not good at math.”
He grinned. “Well, I’m fantastic at it. I’ll teach you.”
He started explaining the first sheet to her as she cuddled into his side. He draped an arm over her shoulder as they worked slowly through the worksheet. They worked relentlessly for close to 5 hours, before she started getting drowsy. She tossed the pen down.
“I’m so tired. Can we go to bed?”
‘Yes, let’s take her to bed,’ Gideon whispered.
Lukas’s jaw clenched. “Where do you want to sleep, Lily? You can sleep in your own room or the adjoining one to Raven and Alekséy.”
“Can I sleep with you?”
Gideon pushed forward eagerly and Lukas shoved him back. “Lily, I know you're scared, being in a new place…,” he started, his voice trailing off. He silently cursed when she looked away from him and shifted to the side. “I have an adjoining room if you would like.”
She nodded. “Sure.”
He took her to his wing and showed her the room next to his. He tucked her hair behind her ear.
“If you need me, Lils, I’m in the next room.”
She nodded and shut the door. He went to his room and quickly changed his clothes. He climbed into bed and was silently arguing with Gideon when the door opened. He held his breath as her scent got closer. He didn’t move as she climbed in next to him and laid close, but not touching him. Fuck. He needed her not so close to him, especially when his resolve had already cracked in the office. He rolled towards her and wrapped his arms around her. She scooted back against him and linked their fingers together.
“Goodnight, Lukas,” she whispered.
He put his face in her hair. “Goodnight, Lily.”