Chapter 43 Caught in the act... or not
~Sage~
I yanked my purse from the floor of the car and began frantically searching through its contents, my fingers trembling as I located a pack of makeup wipes and began scrubbing at my face with the desperation of a woman whose life depended on removing all evidence of passion in the next thirty seconds. The lipstick came off in angry red streaks, and I wiped and wiped until my skin was clean, then grabbed my compact and lipstick and reapplied the color with as much precision as my shaking hands would allow.
"He's almost here," Keith observed helpfully, sounding like he was commentating on a particularly entertaining sporting event rather than watching his mate have a complete breakdown in the passenger seat.
"I know he's almost here," I hissed through gritted teeth, snapping my compact shut and shoving it back into my purse before attacking my hair with both hands. "A little more urgency on your part would be greatly appreciated right now."
"But where's the fun in urgency?" Keith asked, reaching over to brush a strand of hair away from my face with infuriating tenderness. "I'm rather enjoying watching you squirm."
I shot him a glare that should have incinerated him on the spot, but he only smiled wider, apparently immune to my murderous intent. Through the window, I could see Damon getting closer, his silhouette growing larger as he approached the car with the pace of a man who had all the time in the world and intended to use every second of it.
He was peering at the car now, trying to see through the tinted windows. Thank the goddess for the darkness of those windows, because if they had been even slightly more transparent, he would have been able to see me frantically trying to finger-comb my hair into something resembling respectability while Keith lounged in the driver's seat like a king surveying his domain.
"You know," Keith said conversationally, watching me struggle with my reflection, "there's a certain artistry to the way you look right now. It's very... authentic."
"I'm going to kill you," I muttered, pulling a small brush from my purse and running it through my hair with quick, efficient strokes. "As soon as we survive this, I am going to murder you in your sleep and no one will ever find the body."
"Promises, promises."
A sharp tap on Keith's window made us both freeze.
Damon had reached the car. He was standing right outside the driver's side door, his knuckles rapping against the tinted glass with an impatience that suggested he had been waiting for this moment ever since he first spotted us pulling into the estate.
I took one last desperate glance at my reflection. My hair was... acceptable. Not perfect, not even close to the elegant style I had left with, but at least it no longer looked like I had lost a fight with a haystack. My lipstick was clean and even, my face free of telltale smears. I looked like a woman who had perhaps been on a long drive with the windows down, not like a woman who had been thoroughly ravaged in the passenger seat of her stepson's car.
It would have to do.
I turned to Keith, and I gasped when I saw his face. His lips were stained with my lipstick, red marks smeared across his mouth and chin in a pattern that left absolutely no doubt about what we had been doing. If Damon saw that, if he saw his son wearing his Luna's lipstick like a trophy...
"Keith," I hissed, reaching over and grabbing his face with both hands before he could react. "Hold still."
"What are you—"
I didn't let him finish the question. Using the sleeve of my dress, I scrubbed frantically at his lips, wiping away the evidence of our kiss with quick, efficient movements. Keith, the insufferable man, was grinning the entire time, clearly enjoying every second of my panic while his father stood inches away demanding entrance to our little bubble of secrets.
"You're adorable when you're flustered," Keith murmured, his eyes dancing with mischief even as I worked to erase the proof of my passion from his skin.
There was another tap on the window, sharper this time, more insistent.
"Keith." Damon's voice was muffled by the glass, but the authority in it was unmistakable. "Open this window. Now."
With one last frantic swipe at Keith's face, I sat back in my seat and tried to compose myself into something resembling the dignified Luna I was supposed to be. My heart was pounding so hard I was certain Damon would be able to hear it through the car door, and my hands were trembling in my lap despite my best efforts to keep them still.
Keith, looking far too pleased with himself for a man who was about to face his suspicious father, finally reached for the window controls.
The glass slid down with a soft whir, and suddenly Damon's face was right there, his dark eyes immediately scanning the interior of the car with the intensity of a man looking for evidence of a crime. His gaze swept over me first, taking in my slightly disheveled appearance with an expression that gave nothing away, before moving to Keith with something that might have been suspicion or might have been simple irritation.
"Care to explain why it took you so long to roll down this window?" Damon asked, his voice deceptively calm in that way that always made my skin crawl.
Keith leaned back in his seat, one arm draped casually over the steering wheel, the picture of relaxed innocence despite the tension crackling in the air around us.
"I thought it was a bird," he said, his voice light and unconcerned.
Damon's eyes narrowed. "A bird?"
"Yes, a bird. They've been known to tap on windows, you know. Very persistent creatures. I didn't want to roll down the glass and give one the opportunity to fly in and make a mess of the interior. These leather seats are quite expensive."
I could see the muscle in Damon's jaw ticking, a sure sign that he was not buying a single word of Keith's ridiculous explanation. His eyes moved back to me, and I had to fight the urge to shrink into my seat as his gaze traveled over my body, taking in the elegant dress that was now slightly askew, the hair that was no longer perfectly styled, the flush that I was certain was still staining my cheeks despite my best efforts to appear calm.
"Where exactly are you coming from?" Damon asked slowly, each word carefully measured. "And why is my Luna dressed like... that?"
Before I could stammer out some excuse, Keith answered with the easy confidence of a man who had been lying to authority figures his entire life.
"I took her to see the glory of the kingdom," he said, gesturing vaguely toward the world beyond the estate's walls. "Just as you instructed when you introduced her to me as my stepmother. You did say I should make her feel welcome, did you not? Show her what our family has built? I was merely following orders."
Damon's expression didn't change, but something flickered behind his eyes, something cold that made me want to check the locks on my bedroom door as soon as I got inside.
"Until this late?" he asked, his voice carrying an edge that hadn't been there before. "It's nearly eleven, Keith. Surely showing someone the kingdom doesn't require keeping them out until such an ungodly hour."
"The kingdom is vast," Keith replied with a shrug that was almost insolent in its casualness. "And the Luna seemed particularly interested in the historical landmarks. I didn't want to rush her experience."
The silence that followed was thick enough to cut with a knife. Damon's eyes moved between us, searching for cracks in our story, looking for evidence of the truth that we were desperately trying to hide. I held my breath, afraid that even the slightest movement would give us away.
Finally, I found my voice.
"Thank you for the tour, Keith," I said, forcing my tone to remain steady despite the way my heart was threatening to beat its way out of my chest. "It was very... educational. I feel I understand the kingdom much better now."
I turned to Damon, meeting his eyes with all the composure I could muster.
"If you'll excuse me, Your Highness, I think I'll retire to my room now. It's been a long evening, and I'm quite tired."
I reached for the door handle, desperate to escape the suffocating tension of this moment, to put as much distance between myself and the suspicious Alpha King as physically possible.
But before I could push the door open, Damon's hand shot out and grabbed the frame, holding it in place.
Actually," he said, his voice dropping to a register that made ice form in my veins, "I was hoping we could talk, Luna. There are some matters I'd like to discuss with you. Privately."
Before I could think of some excuse to escape this trap that was closing around me, Damon stepped back and opened my door himself, gesturing for me to exit with the practiced courtesy of a perfect gentleman.
"After you, my dear," he said, and the smile that curved his lips didn't reach his eyes at all.