Defying the Lycan King (Kira and Derek) novel Chapter 154

Chapter 154: Darkness and Duty

Kira quickly scrambled off Derek, doing her best to keep her face neutral even as her cheeks burned. He sat up with a smug little smile that made her want to smack him and kiss him at the same time.

"Who said anything about love?" she muttered, smoothing down her dress. "My face is flushed from the cold outside. It’s cold outside."

"Oh, really?" Derek drawled, clearly not believing a word.

"Yes," she replied quickly, refusing to meet his eyes. "And what about you? You keep pulling me down onto your chest and kissing me without warning. I told you not to fall in love with me, didn’t I? So what does that say about you?"

Derek chuckled, looking at her with open amusement. "I never knew it only took one question to produce all of that."

"All of what?"

"You’re very predictable, Kira."

She eyed him, but said nothing. He patted the empty space on the couch beside him.

Kira’s heart, which had only just started behaving, immediately resumed its chaos. "I’m suddenly very tired," she announced. "I’m going to bed. You should get back to your documents."

"How’s your leg?" he asked, before she could turn away. "Dr Adah mentioned it’s healing faster than she expected."

Kira’s racing heart slowed a little, grateful for the neutral topic. She turned back to face him. "It is, yes. Much better."

"Come." He patted the cushion again and reached toward the side table for the small jar of balm he kept there. "Sit. I’ll massage it."

She stood where she was. She wasn’t sure she could survive any more of this evening. Why was he suddenly making her so nervous?

Derek glanced up and raised his brows. "Are you going to sit down, or is the legendary Kira suddenly afraid of a little body contact?"

Kira scoffed. "I am not afraid of anything." She crossed to the couch and sat down with great dignity. "I’m letting you do this because Dr Adah specifically said to massage it. That is the only reason."

"Of course," he said, perfectly neutral.

He took the throw pillow from the couch and set it on the floor beside her feet, then sat down on it and lifted her left leg gently into his lap.

"I’m glad this is healing as fast as it is," he said, almost to himself. "It was partly my fault it happened at all."

Kira said nothing; she just looked down at him and fought the very specific urge to reach down and run her fingers through his hair again. She kept her hands firmly in her own lap.

He began to massage her foot and ankle with careful, steady strokes. They stayed like that for a little while, no words between them, just the soft sounds of the evening settling into the palace.

"The day after tomorrow," Kira finally broke the silence, "you’ll officially become King of Dravengard."

Derek looked up at her, and a small smile tugged at his lips. "Who would have thought, right?"

She inhaled deeply. "I never had trouble picturing you as King, honestly." She leaned back against the cushions. "But isn’t the throne hereditary?"

"It is," he replied simply, eyes returning to her leg.

"So why were you made regent? Why did you have to prove yourself before it was given to you?"

Derek remained silent for a long moment. Kira realised she might have touched on something sensitive. She opened her mouth to tell him he didn’t have to answer, but he spoke first.

"When my people were killed in that massacre, I was just seventeen." He said it plainly, without drama, his eyes on her leg. "My memory kept replaying it. I couldn’t make it stop. My father’s severed head on the floor. Those men..." He swallowed. "They violated my mother until the breath left her body. And even after she stopped breathing, they didn’t stop."

"Oh goddess," Kira whispered. Her heart broke in two.

Seventeen years old. A seventeen-year-old boy watching that.

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