Jo rolled her eyes when they got back in the car. Her eyes narrowed on Lukas when Lilianna moved all the way across the backseat to curl up against the other door.
‘She still a virgin, boss?,’ she hissed through their link.
Lukas glanced at Lily, before flipping Jo off.
‘Of course, she is. She is only 12. Take us to her house. Make it fast. I need to get Gideon away from her, before he blows this whole thing up.’
‘Copy, Luke.’
He sat back to watch Lily as Jo steered the car towards the street to start the hour long drive to Luis’s castle. Lily sighed.
“Are you okay, Lils?”
“Not really.”
“What’s wrong?”
She turned to look at him. “Why are you nice to me? No one else is.”
He was taken aback.
“What?”
She turned to stare back out of the window. She ran her fingers over the leather on the door.
“My parents are,” she paused, clearly fighting with herself, “kinda nice to me, but they have to be nice to me, since I’m their daughter. But you…. you don’t have to be.” She paused again to draw a heart on the window. “So, why are you nice to me?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?,” he asked, struggling to keep his voice even and his anger from seeping into it.
“That’s my point. Everyone has the choice, but everyone is mean to me, except you.. and a few others, but Princess Ana is nice to everyone. You are king. You don’t have to be nice to anybody, if you don’t want to be, and nobody could get mad at you.”
His heart shattered in his chest. He reached for her and Jo shook her head. He let his hand fall to his side.
“Lilianna, listen to me. You are very special to..” He cleared his throat. “I knew you were special the moment I saw you.”
She looked over her shoulder, with her eyes full of tears. “Is it because of the sparks?”
He stared at her. “The sparks?,” he repeated, trying to figure out exactly what she was talking about.
She nodded and leaned close to him. Her fingers landed on his cheek. Electricity raced over his skin. Her eyes closed.
“Those sparks. The ones I get when you touch me, or I touch you.” She pulled away suddenly to stare out of the window. “Do you feel them too, Your Majesty?”
“Lukas,” he growled.
She trembled. “Do you feel them, too, Lukas?”
He leaned over to brush her hair back, letting his fingers stroke against her neck. She turned back to him.
“I want you to feel them. They make me happy,” she confided quietly.
He swallowed hard. “I do.”
She ran her fingers along his skin. “Do you like them?”
His mouth went dry and he got lost in the sparks. He nodded, unable to respond vocally. She crawled onto his lap and snuggled into his chest. He swallowed hard again.
“Daddy has been treating me differently since you brought me home. He gives me whatever I want and doesn’t punish me anymore.”
“Do you want him to punish you?”
“When I do stuff wrong, yes, but only then.”
“Why?”
“It makes me feel like a normal kid. Daddy says I’m not, now. He says that I am going to save our kingdom. Why would he say that? What if I fail?”
He sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist. “That’s because you are under my protection and I won’t let you fail.”
She sighed. “You are too nice to me.”
He looked at Jo helplessly. ‘Faster. I need to get away from her, before I do something stupid.’
He put his cheek on her forehead as Jo sped up. “Lily, can I tell you something?”
“As long as it is good.”
He chuckled. “My fire is the strongest fire of any dragon. It will burn everything in its path. Nothing will survive. Jo, pull over.”
‘Boss, I don’t think-’
‘I said pull over. I don’t pay you to think.’
She rolled her eyes as she pulled over. ‘You don’t pay me at all, dickhead.’
His jaw clenched as he narrowed his eyes at Jo. When they were fully stopped, he got them out of the car. He took Lily to the side of the road and picked up a flower. He walked away from her a few feet and let a stream of fire out. He lifted the flower up into it and it was instantly ashed. Her eyes widened.
“It doesn’t burn me. Why doesn’t it burn me?”
“Hold out your hand, Lils.”
She did as he asked. He let another stream out and it wrapped around her, having taken hold of her outstretched hand. Her eyes closed and she shivered. The fire sank into her body and she sighed. Smoke came out of her mouth, making her giggle. He walked over to her and ran his fingers through her hair, marveling at the incredible softness. She swayed and he forced himself to step back.
“I told you, you were special. My fire will never burn you. If anybody ever tries to hurt you, it won’t let them. Now, I should get you home, before your father gets mad.”
“Can I sit on your lap?”
“No, but you can sit next to me and lay on my shoulder.”
“Deal!”
She limped back to the car and he shook his head, grinning. He climbed into the car after her and she immediately laid her head on his shoulder. Jo started driving again. She looked at him in the mirror.
‘She’s unusual, Luke. You are going to have your hands full.’
Gideon perked up at the thought of having his hands full of her and Lukas growled at him, making him back down. The rest of the ride was done in silence as the two in the backseat enjoyed their improper closeness. They pulled up in front of the castle and she sighed, but didn’t move.
“Does this mean we have to get out?,” she whispered.
“Yeah, sadly.”
“Will you come back to see me?”
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Alright.”
She pressed a kiss to his cheek, before climbing out of the car. He followed slowly behind her. Luis stood in the foyer, obviously waiting for them. He waited until his daughter was upstairs, before he spoke.
“Did you enjoy your day with my daughter, Lukas?”
“I did, yes.”
“You can’t just take her whenever you want.”
“I can, and I will, if I want to.”
“Why did you take her?”
Lukas glanced up the stairs where his young mate had disappeared.
“Who taught her how to use a mating call?”
Luis frowned. “Nobody taught her about mating calls.”
“Well, she used one. I took her to protect her. Every unmated male in the school would have tried to claim her. Adults and students. It wouldn’t have mattered to them that she’s 12.”
“And what about you, Lukas? Did you have sex with her?”
Gideon pushed forward and his usual light green eyes darkened. “What did you just ask me?”
“I asked you, if you had sex with my daughter, Lukas?”
Lukas flew across the foyer to slam the man against the wall, growling as his aura pushed out. “You mean, did I rape my 12 year old mate?”
Luis struggled, but managed to nod.
“Gideon wanted to answer her call. I wouldn’t let him. She is a child, and I am not a pedophile,” Lukas hissed. “And I am your king. You will address me as so.”
“You’re right. She is a child, but you being around is going to distract her and make her grow up faster than she should. You said you wouldn’t do this to her. Trust me to protect her. She is my daughter.”
Lukas’s hand went around his throat, squeezing it. Luis started turning red.
“The only one I trust with that, besides me, is Gideon. You are lucky she is even here.”
A whimper from behind them made Lukas drop Luis on the ground. Lilianna stood at the top of the stairs, tears coursing down her face. She took a step down, lifting her hand to her mouth.
“Your Majesty, I’m sorry for whatever I did to anger you. Please, don’t punish Daddy. Please.”
Lukas took the stairs two at a time and she backed up. Her fear ate at him and he hated himself. He never wanted to scare her. He lifted his hand to touch her face and she flinched. He sighed, dropping his hand.
“Lily, I’m sorry. It wasn’t you. Your father said something he shouldn’t have. You did nothing wrong.”
“What did he say?”
Lukas’s jaw clenched. “He asked me if I had sex with you.”
Her mouth dropped open and she turned to stare at her father. “Daddy, he took me to see a movie and then he brought me home. He doesn’t want to have sex with me. That’s just stupid.”
“What movie did you see?,” her father asked.
“Great White: God of the sea,” she replied.
“Alright. I apologize, Your highness.”
Lukas’s eyes never left Lily’s face. “Forgiven.”
Lily wiped the last of her tears away, before taking a step towards Lukas. “I’m sorry for causing a problem.”
He touched her cheek. “You didn’t. Your father is going to keep you home for a few days, okay?”
“Okay.”
He hugged her, breathing in her scent of sweetened cherries. She tried to pull back, but he wrapped his arm around her, and held her for a minute longer. He let her go and walked quickly out of the castle. Jo eyed him.
“You okay?”
“No. Take me home.”
He turned around to look back at the front door, where his mate was now standing, watching them leave. Gideon tried to take over and Lukas shoved him down. He broke out into a sweat, trying to hold him back.
‘Gideon, stop! Luis is right! We have to stay away from her. We are going to ruin her childhood if we don’t.’
‘SHE IS OURS!,’ he roared.
‘And we have to wait. She deserves that.’
‘What do we deserve?’
‘Her and to have the best her we can have, she has to grow up and become who she is meant to be.’
‘I hate this.”
‘I do, too. Trust me.’
‘Have fun not shifting until she’s by our side,’ Gideon growled, and then his presence faded until he was gone.