Fingers held your chin in place while the figure deepened the kiss. Blushing furiously, you went to push them away, but ended up falling off the swing. Though, you never hit the ground due to the person holding you up.

"You need to be more careful, my pet," Lucian stated while placing you back on the swing.

"Maybe, you shouldn't surprise kiss me then," you exclaimed, trying to make your blush go away.

"Hmm, alright next time I'll make sure you know that I'm about to kiss you," he said with a smirk painting his lips.

"That's not what I meant."

He seemed to ignore you and wrapped his arms around your waist while resting his chin on your left shoulder.

"Would you like me to push you?"

"What? Oh well, sure I guess," you muttered, knowing that would cause him to release his grip on you.

Giving you a smile, he began to push you on the swing. However, before when he caught you, you noticed that he seemed to have several tears in his clothing. They were small and barely noticeable, but they were still there. Furthermore, he had a small scratch on his cheek. Where exactly did he go today? Summoning your courage, you asked him.

"Lucian, where did you go during the day?"

"I just had to attend to some business that the council gave me. Why did you want me to stay longer? I must say having you cuddled up next to me made it hard to leave this morning."

Hearing his words sent another blush across your cheeks. Did you really cuddle next to him? Cursing your sleeping self, you merely made sure to focus your attention in front of you.

"Well, I cannot control my movement in my sleep, so don't think anything of it. Anyway, I'm curious of where you went. You do realize that there are tears in your clothes and a scratch on your face, right?" 

Now, Lucian was startled. Raising his right hand up to his cheek, he felt the scratch on his face. Cursing, he healed the wound, which caused him to stop pushing the swing. He thought he had healed all his wounds and repaired his clothes. The last thing he wanted you to know was his mission. It was humiliating and he didn't want you to think of him as the council's dog. He was more than a council member, yet the council held him back. You now looked back at him and saw his eyes narrowing. Knowing that he was angry, you tried to think of a way to change the topic.

"If you don't want to tell me that is fine. Anyway, I started reading the book you gave me. Calalannia Woods sounds like an interesting place."

Lucian sighed, grateful that you didn't press the matter and was glad to see you bringing up another topic. His gaze softening, he grabbed your right hand and pulled you off the swing. Holding both of your hands in his, he looked down at you.

"I'll take you there one day then. Those woods truly are marvelous. Though, for now would you like to see something just as beautiful?"

Not knowing what else to do, you nodded in response and allowed him to guide you to the lake's edge. The grass tickled your bare feet, as you waited for something to happen. Lucian knelt down to the water's surface and touched it gently with his right fingers. Nothing occurred at first, but soon ripples appeared across the water's surface. They were followed by a strange purplish-red light, which was proceeded by water droplets defying gravity and rising into the air. These three effects spread out across the entire lake, creating an enchanting scene. Your (e/c) eyes widening in wonderment, you ran as close as you could to the water's surface and continued to stare at it.

Standing up, Lucian watched you with amusement in his eyes. He found your amazed face adorable. Smiling lightly, he went behind you and rested his hands on your shoulders. You barely even noticed, since the water stole most of your attention.

Running his left fingers through your hair, he asked, "Would you like to see the other side of the lake?"

"Wait, there's something on the other side?" you questioned with excitement and curiosity in your voice.

Laughing at your reaction, Lucian said, "Yes, I think you will like it there. Shall we go?"

"Yeah," you stated, realizing that you sounded a little too excited.

Embarrassed at your overly excited answer from before, you watched as Lucian snapped his fingers, making a glass walkway appear on the lake's surface. He held out his hand for you to take. You refused his gesture, causing him to sigh. Thus he grabbed your right hand and pulled you over to him. With his hold on you being tight, you winced a bit, as he led you along the pathway. Lucian noticed and loosened his grip slightly, easing the pressure on your hand just enough so it did not hurt you.

As the two of you went across the walkway, you squinted, trying to see the other side of the lake. However, you couldn't see anything; you only saw more water. The tiny ripples still spread across the water while the purplish-red light highlighted the glass path in perfect harmony. Being distracted by the mesmerizing water, you didn't notice the upcoming island. It wasn't until you felt cold stone under your feet that you saw the new location. Glancing around you, you saw a square island completely covered in blue-silver stone. A blue-silver stone railing surrounded the perimeter of the island. On the inside of the railing were benches pressed up against the said railing. Light blue cushions covered the blue-silver benches while silver pillows rested on top. Beyond the island rested more water. Thus you figured that this really wasn't the other side of the lake, but was still considered it. The lake probably went on indefinitely due to the magic cast over the room.

You felt yourself being seated on one of the benches on the left side of the island. Lucian sat next to you and watched you carefully. However, you didn't notice his gaze, since your attention still lay on the water. Reaching out over the railing, you glided your right fingers over the water. A ripple appeared right under your fingers, causing it to shoot water upwards in a graceful motion. The action splashed water up onto your face, making you back up from the water a little. Shaking his head at you a little, Lucian grabbed your face gently and turned your head towards him. Using his shirt sleeve, which was still clean, he wiped off the water on your face. Your cheeks became tinted in color a little at the action. When he finished, he stopped his right thumb over your bottom lip. He merely stared at you transfixed, his purple gaze looking hollow.

Slightly worried, you backed away from him on the bench. However, before you could move any further, he pinned you to the bench. His hollow gaze now terrified you and you tried to get out of his grip. Getting more scared by the minute, you decided to push all your weight over to your right side. This allowed you to roll off the bench. Recovering yourself, you found yourself now on top of Lucian. Blushing, you quickly got off of him, or rather you tried to. Instead he quickly wrapped his arms around you and kept you in place. His body heat began to warm your cool form.

"Lucian, let me go."

"My pet, just be quiet."

"Excuse me?" you questioned, offended by his comment.

"When you move your lips, it only makes me want you more."

Stuttering, you decided to be quiet. You could feel your face really heating up now and found yourself pressing your face against his chest in order to hide your embarrassment. Why did he have to say something like that? What was wrong with him? Lucian continued to hold you tightly and kept his hollow gaze locked on you. Having felt your lip with his thumb sent a wave of temptation through him. Though, he was doing his best to keep his desire at bay. Thus he needed you to just remain quiet, so he could focus on pushing back that desire. Closing his purple eyes, he began to loosen his grip on you. Taking the opportunity presented to you, you quickly got off of him and went to go back onto the walkway. However, the path was no longer there, which left you stuck on the island.

His eyes returning back to normal, Lucian sat up and stared at your form. He sighed and stood up. The water continued to glow in an otherworldly light and it calmed you. Going towards you, Lucian turned you around, so that you could face him. You tensed at his touch and flinched when he rested the palm of his right hand against your right cheek.

"Forgive my behavior, my pet. For now, I'll let you return to your room. I'll see you in the morning".

Only being able to nod in response, you saw the path on the water reappear. Though, Lucian rested his forehead against yours.

"I really do want you," he whispered in a soft tone.

"You shouldn't say things like that. Please stop," you muttered, feeling your cheeks redden, as you cast your gaze away from him.

With that he backed away and motioned for you to proceed down the path. Not too soon after, he called out to you, causing you to glance back at him.

"Tomorrow, the Luciels will be arriving with their daughter. Please prepare yourself for the occasion, as it will not be a pleasant one, since their daughter is coming."

"Okay," you uttered before continuing down the path.

Watching your form disappear down the path, Lucian combed his left fingers through his hair. He was worried about the Luciels' visit for two reasons. One both council members seemed much too interested in you. Though, they wouldn't have even known of your presence in his house if it weren't for their daughter, which brought up the second reason. Under no circumstances was Lucian looking forward to Rayna visiting his house; she might trigger his more violent side, which would not be good in the eyes of her parents. He needed to maintain good relations with them and if he attacked their daughter in front of them, things would go badly. Somehow he managed to convince them that he only attacked their daughter previously because she threatened what was his. It may have helped that their own daughter admitted her mistake, since she had trouble containing her mouth. However, if she insulted you or attacked you again, he might not be able to restrain himself. You were his and he wouldn't let some foolish girl harm you.