Page 30 of Obsessively Yours (Fae Kings of Eden #2)

30

After grueling days on the road, Violet nearly wept when the outskirts of Saltu came into view. Chances of her never traveling outside of the capital again were very high, and she desperately wanted to walk around for longer than a few minutes at a time.

The swaying of the carriage stopped, and unable to wait for Roman to help her out, as he insisted on doing, treating her like a helpless child, Violet threw open the door and jumped down just in time to see Marissa’s foot get stuck in her stirrup.

Her arms windmilled comically, and she shrieked, “Roman, help!”

Roman stood beside her horse, and when Marissa inevitably fell backwards, he stepped to the side and watched her smack into the ground.

Violet slapped a hand over her mouth to stop her laughter, as did Ares. Griff had the good grace to only allow his mouth to twitch. He held out a hand. “You’re supposed to step down, not fall.”

Marissa gasped for breath, grappling at Griff’s hand.

“You should be more careful,” Roman deadpanned.

“You think this is funny?” Marissa snapped. “You deliberately let me fall. What’s gotten into you?”

Violet hurried to Roman’s side. Did Marissa make a habit of trying to fall into Roman’s arms?

Roman’s face hardened. “Watch the way you speak to me, Marissa. The only reason you’re still here is—”

“That’s enough bickering, you two,” Violet cut in. The last thing she needed was Roman publicly threatening catty women’s lives on her behalf. “I want to walk around before my legs stay permanently numb.”

Roman tore his death glare away from Marissa. The woman shot Violet a malicious sneer and stormed off.

“You let her fall,” Violet said to Roman after the others left toward their respective homes.

Roman hiked a shoulder. “I told you I’d stay away from her.”

Violet turned her face into his arm to muffle her laugh. Tilting her face back to look at him, she blew him a kiss. “Let’s go surprise our parents and eat dinner. I’m starving.”

* * *

Roman’s mother hurried out of the palace gates toward them, her purple skirts flying around her legs. “You’re home!”

He moved forward to meet her halfway, but she flew past him and threw her arms around Violet. Roman spun around, grinning when Violet’s eyes flared. She patted Sarah’s back awkwardly. “I missed everyone too.”

His mother stepped back and waved her hand. “Come on, honey, your parents are right behind me. They can’t wait to see you.”

“Hello to you, too, Mom,” Roman said dryly and approached the two women.

She held out her arms, pulling him against her with a hearty squeeze. “I’m glad you’re home safe.” She moved back to Violet’s side. “Your father and the council are waiting to be debriefed on the attack.”

He moved to Violet’s other side, having somehow entered a silent battle with his mother over who got to stand closer to Violet. “They’ll have to wait. I need to feed my mate and take her home to rest.”

Violet waved her hand. “I’m right here, and I can feed myself. You won’t believe this, Roman, but I can find my way to my own cottage.”

His mother’s face fell. “You’re not staying in the palace?”

Violet looked from the queen to Roman, clearly confused. “We haven’t discussed it yet,” Roman replied for her.

“I hadn’t thought about it,” Violet admitted softly. “We haven’t even had time to discuss the wedding.”

Roman beamed with pride at how freely she spoke of marrying him.

“There won’t be time for a wedding before Roman’s coronation,” Sarah said ruefully but soon perked up. “That just means we’ll have two coronations!”

“Two coronations?” Violet parroted.

“Oh, gods,” Roman groaned. “You’re just looking for an excuse to throw two more events. We can marry tonight and be crowned together.” Violet looked uneasy, and Roman’s elation deflated. “You don’t want to marry me tonight?”

“It’s not that,” she assured him, softening her words. “I just…” She blew out a breath. “I always wanted to plan my wedding. You know—flowers, cake, inviting my friends.”

The queen beamed, and Roman sighed in defeat. “If a grand wedding is what you want,” he pecked the top of her head, “then you will have one. Though I think we can still crown her at my coronation.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” his mother remarked.

“Mom!” Violet cried suddenly, breaking away from Roman and Sarah to run toward Meri and Edgar. The Maekins hustled down the palace steps, and Roman glanced sideways at his mother. She must have run full speed to reach Roman and Violet once she’d received word they were in the capital.

Meri burst into tears, babbling about the rebel attack and how Violet could never leave again. Edgar wrapped his arms around his daughter, murmuring something for only them to hear.

“Don’t I get a hug?” an annoying voice asked Violet. Slayton and Roman’s father stood behind the Maekins, and when Violet saw her friend, she threw her arms wide.

Unfortunately for her, Roman was faster, and before she could wrap her arms around Slayton, he’d wrapped his arm around her waist and hauled her against his chest. She frowned up at him. “Let me go.”

Roman grunted. “No.”

“Aww, come on, Rome.” Slayton held his arms wide. “I’ll let you hug me first.”

“The only way my arms are going around you is to rip you in half,” Roman muttered.

Violet tried to pry Roman’s arm from around her. “I won’t marry you if you don’t let me hug him,” she threatened.

Roman lowered his lips to ear. “If you thought binding your wrists was bad, you’re going to be thoroughly upset when I chain you to my bed until you change your mind.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” He stared down at her until she sighed with resignation. “Yes, you would. I’m going to hug him at some point. It might as well be with you standing here.”

Roman instantly released her, shooting daggers at Slayton. The man yanked Violet into a tight embrace and smirked over her shoulder.

“I will kill you,” Roman threatened.

Slayton released Violet and winked at Roman. “You love me too much to kill me.”

Roman almost growled like a feral dog but stopped himself. The king chuckled and wrapped an arm around Violet’s shoulders. “I’m coming to discover my son is intense like his mother. We’re glad you’ve all arrived home safe.”

The queen harrumphed and walked around them toward the palace entrance. “I had the kitchens prepare extra food in the event you arrived before dinner. Dinner should be ready.”

They all filed inside the palace, and it didn’t escape Roman’s notice that Violet leaned closer into his side, gripping his hand like a vise. She’d entered in the palace more over the years, finally overcoming her reservations for the most part, but the events of the past week must have brought forth old fears.

“If you’d rather have dinner elsewhere, the others won’t mind.”

His mate straightened her shoulders. “I’m done running, and if we’re to marry, I need to be able to walk through the palace with ease.”

Roman admired her courage, but the fact she had to be courageous about walking through the fucking palace in the first place pissed him off.

* * *

The table and chairs in the private palace dining room were taller than Violet remembered. There were even rungs used as footrests at the bottom of the chairs, but what confounded Violet more was that the table and chairs weren’t the only things with added height.

Once she’d taken note of the dining furniture, she began cataloguing other things when they passed through the halls after dinner. Benches and settees stood at a taller height as well; not as tall as the table and chairs, but noticeably taller in their own right.

Roman tugged Violet through the palace until they reached the courtyard. “I want to show you something, and if afterward you still want to stay in your cottage, we will.”

Violet shot him a quizzical look. “What does the surprise have to do with my cottage?”

“It’s a surprise.” A horse waited for them at the palace entrance, and after he’d set her atop his mount and climbed up after her, he led them around the side of the massive palace and past the warrior compound.

“Has that gate always been there?” she asked when they approached the palace wall. A small door-sized gate with two guards on either side stood in the middle of what Violet could have sworn was a flat, gate-less wall.

Roman dismounted, helped Violet down, and handed the reins to one of the guards. He pulled out a key and unlocked the gate, ushering her through. While Roman locked the gate back, Violet tried to grasp what she saw.

A stone house in the same style of the palace, only much smaller, stood tall in front of them in the middle of a miniature courtyard, surrounded by its own stone walls. These walls, however, had even more weaponry adorning the top, and trees had been cleared from the vicinity, creating an impenetrable fortress.

The building itself looked to be the size of one wing of the palace. Six stone pillars lined the porch, with large windows placed between each, and massive, cherrywood double doors with intricate designs carved into the wood. Surrounding the porch were flowers of every kind. Some Violet recognized, and others she didn’t.

Roman placed a gentle hand on her back. “Do you like it?”

Speechless, Violet turned to him fully, noting how nervous he looked. “Roman, this is beautiful, but what is it? I’ve never heard of this place.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. “I had it built for us while you were gone.”

She stood staring between him and the house. “You built us a house?” He chewed the inside of his cheek, looking unsure, and nodded. “Why?”

His shoulders drooped. “I know you get scared in the palace, and I thought if I built you a new one just for us and a select few staff, you’d feel safer.” He’d stunned her speechless, and without preamble, she threw herself into his arms. “We can live in your cottage, princess. We don’t have to live here.”

“Are you kidding?” she mumbled against his chest. “I love it.” Lifting her head, she tried to force every ounce of her gratitude and love into her words. “I’m making sure this goes in the history books. I want everyone to know how thoughtful you are.” She twisted to look at the house again. “I can’t believe you built us a house because I was scared.”

Roman slid both hands to the sides of Violet’s neck and framed her jaw with his thumbs. “There is no limit to what I would do for you.”

Running her hands up his chest, she lifted on to her toes and slanted her mouth over his. He deepened the kiss, his lips caressing hers with slow, deliberate tenderness. His tongue slid against hers in a sensuous dance.

Once they came up for air, he rested his forehead against hers. “I want to show you the rest before this goes any farther.”

Violet huffed out a laugh and pecked his cheek. “Lead the way, prince.”

* * *

Violet trailed after Roman, having long let go of his hand to stop and look at the flowers around the porch. Porch was too small a word. Her entire cottage could fit on the “porch.”

Once she’d thoroughly inspected the foliage, she bounded up the stairs to where Roman waited for her by the huge double doors. Detailed carvings swirled across the wood, stopping her up short with a gasp. “Violets,” she breathed.

Roman tapped his forearm peeking out from his rolled-up sleeves. “Drawn by the same artist who did these.”

A dark feeling of inadequacy almost overwhelmed her. All these years, he’d never lost hope in them like she had. While she’d traveled the world to chase her dreams and run from fear, he’d stayed behind, building a life for her, not them. Everything he’d done had been for her comfort, but what had he done for himself?

A calloused hand slid around the nape of her neck and into her hair, grabbing a handful to tilt her head back. “Are you hurt?”

Roman’s gaze, so earnest and full of concern, almost turned her into a watering pot. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she moved away from him and gestured around. “You did all of this,” she motioned to his tattoos, “and this, and gods knows what else. You stalked me, you watched me sleep, which in retrospect is really fucking weird, but it’s also sweet, and what have I done?” She held her hands up with a shrug and dropped them helplessly. “I’ve done nothing but stand here and cry on the beautiful porch of the beautiful house you had built for me.”

Silence stretched between them like a gaping canyon, separating them. Pointing out their one-sided relationship wasn’t her best idea. What if she lost him? “I’ll do better,” she swore. “I’ll play strategy games with you every day.”

“You cheat,” he reminded her pointedly.

Sniffling, she flicked her hand dismissively. “I don’t cheat. I’ll read those boring books you like so we can talk about them, and I’ll—”

“Stop.”

Violet snapped her mouth shut, her lip trembling as Roman took measured steps toward her. “You really don’t know, do you?”

She swiped her nose with her sleeve and steadied her voice. “Know what?”

Roman huffed out a quiet laugh, and once he stood toe to toe with her, he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Do you remember the first time we met? You ran into me in the hallway.”

“You ran into me,” she replied with a sniffle.

His lips split into a beautiful smile. “That morning when I woke, I’d hated my life.” Violet sucked in a sharp breath. “I love my parents, and they meant well, but they kept me on a tight leash. Too tight. I didn’t have any friends or much contact with anyone my own age.”

“Roman,” Violet whispered, her heart breaking into a million pieces for the young prince forced to wear the heavy crown.

He idly traced the outline of her face as he continued to speak. “When I started training with the junior warriors, I didn’t know how to speak to the other kids. That didn’t stop them from wanting to be around me, but it stopped me from wanting to be around them.” His fingers trailed down to her neck and tenderly stroked her pounding pulse. “And then I met you. You made me feel like I was normal.” Roman dropped his head forward and laughed. “You threatened to kill me within the first day.”

A laugh bubbled out of her upon remembering their back and forth. “That was thirteen years ago.”

“You got me a birthday gift,” he went on, ignoring her protests. “A beaded bracelet in human-grass green that sits in a box in my room because I wore it until it nearly fell to pieces. No one other than my family has ever gotten me a gift other than you.

“I don’t know who I’d be had I not met you. I was a shell of a boy who didn’t know how to laugh, then you came along and forced me to. Hell, you made me sneak out in the middle of the night to smuggle half-dead chickens into our classroom.”

“The chickens were fine,” she laughed through her tears, playfully swatting his arm.

He released her and stepped back. “I have loved you since the day I watched you crawl around in chicken shit, Violet Maekin, and now that I have you, I’m never letting you go.”

“I’m sorry I gave up on us,” she whispered. “I loved you so much and didn’t think I could compete with a mate bond, but that’s no excuse.”

“Don’t,” he replied, his voice sharp. “Don’t blame yourself for being the rational one out of the two of us. Someone has to balance me out.”

Violet burst out laughing, thinking he was kidding, but the deadpan expression on his face told her he wasn’t. She laughed harder and walked into his embrace. “I love you, Roman, and I swear I’ll do a better job showing you.”