Mine At First Sight
Chapter 19 - Forging Ahead

▪️L E N N A▪️

“Holy shit!” I said, once I had returned to my bedroom.

My entire body hummed as I remembered Edric’s kiss. Even though I knew it was inevitable, I still could not believe that he had kissed me.

Walking towards the mirror, the pendant glittering against my skin stared boldly back at me. Taking a closer look at my neck, I noticed a large dark red bruise forming on the left side, where he had been sucking feverishly on my skin.

“I’m definitely going to have to return the favour at some point,” I said out loud, chuckling at the thought.

Just thinking about straddling him while my lips kissed along the skin of his neck had my body shivering with excitement. I allowed myself to imagine the soft deep groans that would vibrate from his chest and my thoughts had me almost panting as I exhaled deeply, hoping to calm myself down a bit.

My gaze lowered to my hands, as I remembered how my entire being had glowed during our first kiss. The burst of energy coming from me had been unexpected. Another thing that my body had done on reflex.

It seriously had me wondering what would happen when we had sex. I would be lying if I did not say that I was somewhat apprehensive at the thought of it.

“What if we blow up the entire castle wing?” I asked myself with a giggle.

Keeping my eyes focused on my reflection, I allowed myself to briefly visualise what it would be like to make love to the Lycan King. I had been given more than enough advice from Suvarna who spared no details about what went on between her and Ulrik.

Just remembering had my face tingling even more.

While Ulrik was an impressive Lycan indeed, Edric was the King and I just knew that he would be much more demanding in bed. He was the epitome of what it meant to be an alpha male, from his physical appearance down to his personality.

Not to mention the way Edric was on a whole.

Although he could be very intimidating, Edric did not scare me. He did at first, but now all I felt when I was around him was security. He made me feel safe and I just knew that whenever we reached that part of our relationship, he would ensure that I felt comfortable before we moved forward.

Of course, I was worried about our size difference, but it was as Suvarna said, the female body was a remarkable thing.

Before my thoughts could run away with me, I decided to stop myself. My hormones were already on edge from the kisses we had just shared not too long ago and even though I wished that we could have done more, I knew that I should not torture myself further with illicit thoughts of our naked bodies rubbing together.

Sighing happily, I crawled into my bed, already missing the feel of Edric’s strong arms around me.

As I lay on my back and stared at the ceiling, going over the events that just happened in his bedroom, I could not stop smiling. Just remembering how open, honest, and passionate he had been about his feelings, I almost forgot that Edric was the same bad-tempered Lycan King that would get angry at the sky for being too pretty.

“So much has changed…” I mumbled.

Yet so much had not.

That initial attraction I had felt when I had first set my eyes on him had not diminished. Even when he had proven himself to be an insufferable and arrogant bastard, I was still intrigued by him.

Try as I might to fight against my feelings, I had found myself being drawn to him, the intensity of it rising with each passing week. Even in his most grumpy of moods, Edric had grown on me over time, just as I had clearly grown on him.

It appeared that the Gods had fated us to be together.

Who knew, thinking back to the first night I saw him. Perhaps Edric had been mine at first sight, and not the other way around, as Berengar had insisted when referring to the changing colour of my eyes.

It seemed that my best friend was right about one thing though; when he had stated that things within the empire were shifting, and that my eyes had been proof of this.

I fell asleep with a big smile on my face.

The following weeks saw many changes within the Lycan region.

First of all, Edric had stated that humans would be given the freedom to return to their provinces, once the threat of war was over. Surprisingly, based on the rumours that were floating about the castle, no one wanted to leave. For now, at least, family members had the option to visit and even stay for a while, once accommodation permitted.

From everything that had been taking place so far, the humans appeared to have chosen to remain in the Lycan region and would live the way they had for centuries. They would serve the Lycans, only this time, they would do so of their own free will. Those who chose to move to the Lycan region would also be given provisions and land, and those who had certain skills could open up small businesses.

It was clear that the Lycan region would just end up being an extension of the other five provinces, especially as I had heard that some werewolves had voiced their interest in wanting to move as well.

But for now, no serious implementations would take place, at least until Einarr’s threat was completely vanquished.

I hummed to myself while, packing up some books in the library.

“Did you know that King Eberhard’s grandmother was like me?” I suddenly asked Edric who had been helping me.

Nodding, he replied, “I did.”

After replacing all the books on the shelves, I turned to him, “It’s so fascinating, the history surrounding the Malvar Empire.”

“Well, back then, everyone was mixed with something, be it Lycan, werewolf, or human. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if you yourself were part Lycan or werewolf. Especially given how aggressive you can be sometimes,” he teased, while pushing me up against a nearby wall.

“I’m not aggressive!” I pouted while wrapping my arms around his neck.

Nuzzling my cheek, “Did you hear me complain?”

“Sounded like it,” a sigh escaped me as he moved his nose to my neck.

Edric inhaled deeply before his tongue snaked out to lick my skin, causing me to shiver. He rumbled at my response, before beginning to trail kisses up and down the column of my throat, causing me to tighten my hold on him, wanting him to touch me some more.

“You know that I like you just the way you are,” he whispered, before pulling back to rake a heated gaze over my face.

“Then why do you try to stop me from going to the dungeon?” I asked while pushing against him, not wanting to get caught up in his spell. “Don’t think that I cannot sense you trying to distract me with those addictive lips of yours every time I bring up the subject.”

In response, he muttered, “Damn know it all! I just don’t understand why you insist on visiting Tharun.”

“Because the more that we can learn about him, the better prepared we can be for Einarr.”

Growling low in his throat, he pulled me back to him, “You’re so fucking stubborn.”

“Says the King of obstinacy!” I retorted with a playful smile.

Edric hummed before bending his head to capture my lips in his. A soft sigh escaped me as I clung to him, enjoying the feel of his mouth on mine. However, our passionate embrace was interrupted by the loud clearing of someone’s throat.

“Come on you two! It’s bad enough that I have to smell and hear you guys at night. Don’t make me watch as well,” Eginhard teased, a big smirk on his face.

With tingling cheeks, I pushed away from Edric and stuttered, “We were just kissing!”

“And kissing leads to babies…” the Prince replied with a wiggle of his eyebrows before asking, “When am I going to become an uncle?”

I choked at his words, looking at Edric, waiting for him to say something.

Before either of us could reply, Eginhard spoke again, “Don’t worry, I’m merely joking. I know that you two have not had sex yet, though, to be honest, I’m not sure what you are waiting on.”

“Brother…” Edric’s tone was warning.

The burning of my cheeks intensified, and I knew that there was probably a slight flush going across my skin. Ever since everyone had seen the necklace around my neck, coupled with the fact that interspecies relationships were no longer illegal, people’s curiousity about us had been unrelenting.

“I know, I know, you guys are busy training and preparing for the war,” Eginhard said, raising his hands in defeat.

Stealing a glance at Edric, I still could not believe that this incredibly handsome and powerful Lycan was mine. Which lead to the question on everyone’s mind, one that usually involved the curiousity of why we had not consummated out relationship as yet.

Especially given how sexual Lycans were, I understood their confusion as I myself wondered the same. What were we waiting on?

Funnily enough, whenever we were alone and not training, we ended up just talking mostly, between a few heated kisses and touches of course. I supposed, now that I thought about it, we both were just so eager to learn more about each other, and enjoyed being together as two people.

It was a nice change though, just being Edric and Lenna.

We were more than just a King and a human with magical abilities, and we did just not see the need to rush anything with our relationship, even if our bodies sometimes demanded more.

Although, if I was being honest, we were both holding back.

For what reason, who knew? Perhaps the intensity of our connection, and not knowing how my magic would react added to our caution.

Nevertheless, what I did know was that when we would take that final step it would be explosive. Hell, just the thought of him being inside of me made my entire body quiver with excitement.

“Do you not have training to go to?” Edric asked his younger brother, forcing me to refocus my attention on the two of them.

“I’m going,” Eginhard stated.

“I shall join you. For that smart-ass remark earlier, you have earned yourself a one-on-one demonstration with me,” he smirked, before kissing me one last time.

“Shit!” Eginhard visibly gulped.

The Prince complained as Edric suddenly held him in a choke hold, his other hand ruffling his hair before dragging him down the hallway. I giggled as I watched the two brothers.

Upon entering the training grounds, I saw Odun grumbling behind a sparring group, his brows creasing as he shook his head. It was always fun to come and watch the warrior Lycan administer training. Even though he was a tough teacher, he had everyone’s respect.

Not to mention that his sudden outbursts were often very hilarious.

It was then that I noticed Ulrik enter and his father wasted no time in shouting his head off. Odun’s face looked like he was ready to explode as he lashed out, causing Ulrik to sheepishly grin as he avoided a smack on the back of his head.

“Master Odun yelling at everyone again?” Suvarna said as she walked up beside me.

“As usual, although I fear his sudden explosion at Ulrik is your doing?” I commented with a grin, noticing the large love bite on her neck.

With a shy smile she nodded.

“You little minx!”

“It can’t be helped, have you seen how sexy Ulrik is?” Suvarna said dreamily.

In response I simply nodded.

The truth of the matter was, I did know how she felt. These last few weeks with Edric I found that my feelings for him grew even more with each passing day. I liked the pace at which we were moving at and I enjoyed getting to know him.

As I sighed to myself, I refocused my eyes on Edric once more, and a small smile played on my lips as I watched him help some younger Lycans with their weapons as he taught them the correct form.

He really was a great King.

The empire was definitely in good hands, and though the future was uncertain, I knew that Edric would do his best in leading us forward.

Whether he knew it or not, his strength was what held us together.