His Wicked Seduction novel Chapter 66

Half an hour before Christmas Eve dinner, Lucien paced nervously inside the vast Russell library, waiting for Cedric to arrive. Gone were the last remnants of his misplaced coldness towards Horatia. All that was left was a deep seed of love. He'd spent years salting his soul trying to prevent that seed from taking root. But Horatia had become his sun, his water, and fed that deep seed. Petals were unfurling, roots coiling deep in his heart. He was going to have a long talk with his friend and Cedric would see the light and let Horatia be with him and that was that. There was no going back; he'd crossed the final bridge and burned it to ashes.

The library door opened and Cedric entered, looking as cold as the empty suit of armor that guarded it.

"I received your summons." His friend seemed to choose his words carefully.

Lucien tried to smile, but his nerves were on edge. "I did not mean to 'summon' you. I wished to discuss something of importance." His stomach felt as though someone had unleashed a bevy of butterflies. It was almost laughable to be so frightened, like a child standing up to their teacher.

Cedric shut the library door and approached Lucien with measured steps, hands clasped behind his back. "Here I am. What do you wish to talk about?"

Cedric's body language did not bode well, not at all.

"Over the past couple of months I've undergone a change of heart. A deep one. A very deep one." It was not the most flattering or elegant phrasing, but he had to begin this dreaded conversation somehow.

"I hadn't noticed." Cedric's voice held a fair amount of suspicion.

"It was not something I wanted anyone to see, Cedric. Look, what I am trying to tell you..." The words were there, but Cedric's hard eyes stilled them on Lucien's tongue, daring him to ask for something he had no right to ask for. Lucien drew a shaky breath before continuing.

"I seek your permission to marry Horatia." How unlike him, but he had to maintain his control for this brief moment and formality was the simplest way to go.

"So it's true then? You have your eyes set on my sister?"

Lucien knew Cedric in the way only true friends could and recognized that familiar edge of danger in Cedric's tone.

"I love her, Cedric..."

"Stop! You do not love her. You may love her body and the pleasure it gives but she will not be one more lady in the line of women you leave behind brokenhearted. Not my Horatia." Cedric's fists clenched at his side. Even twenty feet apart Lucien did not feel safe.

"Easy, Cedric. I am not that man anymore. Let me explain-"

"I will not listen to your lies, Lucien." Cedric stormed over and shoved a finger deep into Lucien's chest. "Save it for the next chit you fancy! You are breaking the rules our League was built on. I demand that you stay away from Horatia. That you won't even look at her."

"No." Lucien was weary of controlling himself. Cedric would listen to him, even if he had to bind him to a chair.

Cedric's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"I said no. We agreed to the second rule because we did not trust each other with the fairer sex, and rightfully so. But time changes us all. I love Horatia and I wish to wed her. I want a passel of children and her love in my life for the rest of my days. I have asked her to marry me and she has agreed. I came to you for the sake of our friendship and because you are her family. I do not need your permission to have her, because I already do." It was the worst possible thing to say and Lucien realized it too late.

Cedric's fist drove into Lucien's stomach, staggering him back. Cedric followed and landed another solid blow to Lucien's chest, so hard that he fell back and struck a bookshelf.

"How dare you lay claim to her! She is not yours to take!" Cedric swung another fist and Lucien was struck yet again as he was cornered against the shelf.

"And she is not yours to lock away! Horatia always has and always will be her own person. She gifted me with her heart and though I do not even begin to deserve her, she wants me and no one else. So I will have her as my wife and do my best to be worthy. You may not support her decision, but by God you will not punish her for loving me." Lucien's body shook with rage as Cedric pulled him back and threw another fist into him. Cedric stumbled into one of the library's suits of armor, knocking it over with a clang and clatter.

"You've already had her, you blackguard?"

Lucien said nothing.

"She's warmed your bed. She could be with your child even now!" The accusation stung Lucien more from the truth than anything else. Cedric knew him too well.

"There, there," Lysandra said, stroking his hair in the way he'd done countless times for her. After a few minutes, he was able to control himself once more.

"You mustn't tell a soul, Lysa. No one must know what has happened here. Do you understand?"

"I do. Mother will never forgive you for fighting a duel on Christmas."

"I may not be around to suffer her ill humor." Lucien had no fear of death, even at his friend's hand, but the thought of all those years wasted without Horatia clenched his heart like nothing else.

"Dueling is illegal. You don't have to go through with it."

"It's a matter of honor. Of love."

"What good are those words on a tombstone?"

"Cedric won't let up just because I say no. He'll brand me a coward on top of everything else. Horatia cannot marry a coward. And though marrying a coward is not illegal, it should be."

"You're being ridiculous, and you cannot deflect a bullet with your wit."

Lucien gave pause at Lysandra's words. "Yes... Duels are ridiculous, aren't they? No matter. We do what we must, even when it is ridiculous." He looked over the mess the one sided battle had left in its wake. An idea began to form, and most certainly a ridiculous one.

"So you are going to shoot him?" Lysandra asked.

"I love him like a brother. So far I've never shot any of my real brothers, and I won't start with Cedric. He may be too foolish to understand the truth, but come what may, I will not fire my pistol at him."