Page 79 of Kingdom of Today
Cyrus held me through it all, cooing and petting me, and when I at last quieted, he soaped me up from head to toe. His touch wasn’t sexual but reverent and comforting. Loving and tender.
We’d been naked together before, but we’d been in front of others then. Here, now, we were alone, and I was fragile, as naked on the inside as I was on the outside. Never had I felt so exposed and vulnerable. The dueling sensations left me uncomfortable with my comfortability.
“Tell me a happy story about young Cyrus,” I begged, desperate to hear something sweet.
He hesitated only a moment. “One of my earliest memories is of my father taking my mother, me, and Felix on a picnic. The king wasn’t some big, strong commander of the world’s most powerful army to us but a man who played catch and made us laugh. I still smile when I think of that day.”
As he washed and conditioned my hair, I imagined him that way. Young and carefree, releasing peals of laughter, and I almost smiled myself.
Every so often, he paused to collect my tears with the pads of his thumbs and kiss the burning tracks left behind. “You will grow through this, I swear it.”
“Grow,” not “get.” The distinction caught my attention, jarring me from my free fall into sorrow and grief. “I wish I’d known you as a little boy.”
“I’d rather you know me as an old man.” He shut off the water, toweled me off, and offered me clean clothes. “Tell me a happy story about young Arden.”
The answer already waited at the edge of my tongue. “My most favorite memories are working on my indoor minigarden while my sister danced around me and my parents snuggled together on the couch, cheering us on.” Days long past, never to be repeated.
Sadder now, I donned the T-shirt and panties while Cyrus pulled on a pair of boxer briefs. He twined our fingers and urged me into the bedroom. I didn’t protest as he readied the covers and helped me slip underneath.
“Let’s do some snuggling of our own.” He gathered me close, and mmm, his warmth. His strength. I soaked them up, not sure how I’d ever lived without them.
As he stroked my hair, then my back, I relaxed against him bit by bit. Eventually, my muscles softened until I was molded against him, with my head resting on his shoulder and my upper half draped over his.
Though fatigued to the bone, I failed to drift to sleep. “On my walk to the temple, I thought I sensed the Rock.” The raspy confession placed my exhaustion on vivid display.
“No, you sensed a rift between worlds thatleadsto the Rock.”
A tidbit we could use to our advantage. “Tell me what you remember about the throne room.”
He paused for a moment. Rubbed the center of his chest. “The emperor told us to sit. Obeying is the last thing I remember doing until I opened my eyes and spotted you splattered in blood, wearing Vyle’s jacket.”
Another blackout. Not good. “Who was the pregnant woman with your grandfather?”
Cyrus worked his jaw. “Giselle. His mistress. He keeps her in a separate wing, near his suite, on the other side of this compound. It’s guarded more than any other. She and the child are his pride and joy.”
“She has a key.” Perhaps the key we needed, perhaps not. But there was only one way to find out. “I want it.”
“You’ll have an opportunity to take it. We’re having dinner with Giselle and my grandfather this evening.” A small smile of satisfaction flashed. “You asked for a meeting, and I’m delivering.”
“Thank you, Cyrus.” Truly. “I lo ... love ...” I opened my mouth to finish the declaration. Shut it. Shifted against him, agitated. I tried to say the words. Wanted to. I also wanted to kiss him. Toshowhim. But my book. Domino.
The librarian’s name whispered through every part of me, guilt and denial vying for supremacy. He was a friend, only a friend.
A friend who had helped me today in ways I didn’t yet understand.
“It’s okay,” Cyrus said, cutting into my thoughts. “I’m a patient man, and soon enough you’ll be mine.Onlymine.”
Never mind the “patient” comment. His voice. It had changed ever so slightly, frosted with the briefest hint of malice. It was so unlike him, I froze for a moment. When my mind reactivated, I asked, “You found a way to sever my link to Domino?”
“Yes,” he replied, back to his normal self. “No.” A growl resounded from him. “Maybe. Instructions wereright there, at the edge of my mind, but now they’re gone.”
A shudder rocked me against him. I thought, maybe, Astan might be responsible for those instructions, but I saw no shadows on Cyrus. Didn’t mean they weren’tinhim. And did I evenwantto sever my bond with the librarian?
I wasn’t sure.
We slipped into silence and lay curled together for an eternity and a single heartbeat, wrapped into one.
He sighed. “We should prepare for dinner.” As he set up, he dragged me with him. “Everything you require is in the closet.”
