Blakeshire (Insight #9)(36)
“Not sure,” Drake supplied as he stood and gathered our dishes. So he cleans, too? I felt like a fool for the speech I had given him the other night, the one where I told him his world was not real, that it couldn’t be real if he was waited on hand and foot and people were forced to be nice to him simply because of his occupation.
“Are we going home now?”
He froze in place for an instant, then continued what he was doing. I looked at Preston and mouthed, What is with him?, which caused him to giggle and Drake to glance over his shoulder at me.
We both tried to hide our guilty expressions, but we failed and I joined in with Preston’s innocent laugh.
Drake playfully pointed his finger at Preston just as he finished cleaning up our mess. “How do I get you to Felicity?” he asked Preston.
“She’s right there,” Preston said, nodding to the window.
In the distance on a hilltop, I could see Libby, Willow’s baby sister. A second later, Felicity came up behind her. I didn’t know her that well. I knew her soul mate, Brady, simply because he was with Willow when she came to ask for our help.
Preston reached over and hugged me just before he hopped down from his stool and hugged Drake. He waved to me once more before he charged out the back door and ran toward Libby.
We both watched as he met them, then they disappeared over the hill.
“You never answered my question,” I said quietly as I glanced at him. I swear, I could stare at him all day long and never lose interest. There was just so much mystery in every gesture and movement of his body. So far, he had managed to surprise me every day that I had known him in this life.
Slowly, he turned to face me, carefully moving around the bar that was separating us and maneuvering his tall, lean body in front of me. “Tell me, why would you want to spend your birthday mucking around an old palace full of haunts when you could go anywhere in the universe you wanted?”
I furrowed my brow as I silently counted the days since I’d left my home. If I had managed to sleep through yesterday, then I guess he was right; it was my birthday.
“Because I want to be there.”
“Why?”
I glanced away.
“Madison Marie,” he breathed.
“I don’t know. I just know I want to be there. I feel like you are keeping me away for a reason.”
“A bad reason?” he pushed.
“I don’t know,” I said as I dared to look into those spellbinding eyes. “You just act weird when I ask you to take me there. I know it’s dangerous and that other stuff, but still.”
He leaned into me. Feeling the sensation of falling backward forced me to clasp my legs and arms around what was in front of me, which happened to be Drake. Before I could act like that was an accident, he moved even closer to me, allowing no room to separate us. Heat absorbed my skin as the scent of roses filled the room, and I felt his energy seductively caressing my skin.
“I act weird,” he repeated, angling his head down to where little to no space separated us.
“You tense,” I said under my breath as I struggled to hold myself back. I wanted to kiss him so bad.
“You call it home,” he murmured as his lips brushed against mine.
“Am I suffocating you?” I definitely didn’t mean to do that. I mean, that place was vast enough that I was sure that if we really wanted to, we could go weeks without crossing each other’s paths. I admit, I was a little heartbroken at the thought of that. I would have thought with how forward he was that commitment was not a fear of his. I could be wrong. I have been before.
His lips connected with mine. I quietly sighed, feeling how soft they were, how perfectly they moved with mine. Drake had the most insane way of kissing—you never knew where it would lead because no matter how subtle it was, passion was there; a gentle, yet all-consuming compassion.
That kiss was far too short. I was barely able to savor the sensation of mint on his warm tongue.
“You’re making me happy.” His lips met mine once again. “Very happy,” he murmured as his hands framed my face gently, as if he wanted to ensure that I would not pull away from his touch.
“Then what’s with the delay, Blakeshire?”
He smirked before stealing one more deep kiss. “It’s your birthday. You should not be lurking in the cold, damp corners of that palace or knee deep in old books.”
“Am I that obvious?” I asked with a bit of a blush.
“You talk in your sleep.”
I lifted a brow. I didn’t remember any words that I had said in that wicked dream. “What did I say?”
“Several phrases.”
“Enlighten me.”
He pursed his lips as his eyes fell into mine. “He was forced to fake love, and now with his true lover he will fake hate…something about fooling them all, going back to the beginning.”
I swayed slightly, hearing those words from another voice in my mind—a powerful voice that was connected to Drake in some sacred way.
Drake wrapped one of his arms around me as he saw my perplexed expression. “Tell me about the dream.”
I moved my head from side to side as I let out a deep breath. “I didn’t dream that. I remember hearing it, though. Understanding something.”
“You repeated that line at least fifty times. You dreamed it in some way.”