• Mature • All that glitters

[Celeste Andaris]

3rd Ymiden 717

It was a new season and the Baroness Andaris had made some decisions. She and Xander Krome were to be married come Saun and, over the time since they had met Celeste had started to consider that maybe that was not the worst thing. Sitting and looking in the mirror as she brushed her hair that morning, her thoughts turned. Celeste was thinking of the time, in just one season, when she and Xander would wake together in this room. The feelings that thought brought to her were complicated, to say the least, but the simple truth of it was, it would happen.

She had chosen a simple outfit and she wore her long dark hair mostly loose, just two pieces pinned back from the side of her head to the nape of her neck. Subtle make up and she was ready so she made her way downstairs into their family dining room.

Over the short time that they'd been here, Xander and Celeste had fallen into roles and habits. He was working as the Steward in her Barony, she was doing her best to learn it all and as quickly as she could. The shallow young woman was showing remarkable depth of character in so much as she was working very hard. Each night, she stayed up late to read and study, learning everything she felt she should. It was important to her that she did this well, no doubt. What surprised Celeste was why it was important. That wasn't something she wished to over analyse before breakfast though.

Still, as he had been each morning, Xander had arrived down to breakfast before her. He hadn't started eating, though, he waited for her and she appreciated that. As she walked in, he stood as he always did and it was there that Celeste broke with what had become their routine. Forcing herself to do so, as she felt the usual fear and nervousness build within her, Celeste stepped forward until she stood right next to him. "Good morning, Lord Krome." Her voice was a whisper as she tilted her head and moved to kiss him. If he responded, she would lean in and ensure that he was clear; this was not a chaste peck.

Nor, of course, was it an easy thing to do, but Celeste remained conflicted about Xander Krome. She actively sought him out and found his company reassuring and even exciting. When he had kissed her on the trial they arrived here, Celeste had fallen completely into his embrace and the feel of his arms around her had been nothing but pleasurable. Yet, she was afraid.

None of that made a difference to the simple fact. They would be married next season and so she would have to get used to it. They had agreed on slow steps, but this was the first one she had taken voluntarily. It marked a change in her. "This time next season," she said with a smile, "it will be our wedding trial. I hope you will forgive my forwardness, but it seems appropriate, all things considered."

He would not sit till she did, she knew, so Celeste moved over to her chair. Once they were both sitting, she collected up the pile of mail that was on the side of her place setting and frowned slightly. There was a small box with a letter attached to it. "House Venora?" Celeste looked at Xander and raised an eyebrow. Then, she opened the box and could not hide the gasp which escaped her.

"Xander, look," her hand moved to gently reach out and touch the necklace, a look of delight and amazement on her face. The letter was open in there, and she could not hide the joy at such a beautiful thing. "It's from Andraska. Isn't it beautiful?"

[Xander Andaris]

Xander sat at the table waiting for Celeste to emerge from her nights sleep, one which nearly always lasted longer than his own. Every morning he was up before her, sometimes he would be working as steward and other times he would be training. Either way he nearly always found himself sat at the breakfast table awaiting her arrival. He did not mind of course in fact it gave him time to read, whether it be the Rynmere Gazette, as it was today, or some book on tactics. He never really took much he read in the Gazette seriously but it happened that in this particular issue a story had been covered that struck a little closer to home. Little did he know that what came next may make him question his dismissal.

Celeste entered and he greeted her with a kiss, that for the first time she started. She leaned into him and he wrapped an arm around her waist as they kissed, much more than a peck as he would have expected and but still surprisingly enjoyable. Had he been asked whether he would expect this less than a season ago he would have shaken his head and laughed. He was changing and every trial it was getting more clear in his actions, he thought less and less of taking over Krome and more about her and the future he needed to build for them. Still he had not lost the revolutionary within, he would never lose it, its what makes him who he is.It may quiet down though.

"Good morning." His face, although smiling, would show his surprise at her kiss. "I suppose you slept well? This place is not so bad after all the worrying I had done." Xander took her hand for a moment before waving for her to take a seat, otherwise they would have been stood there all morning. Not to mention their breakfast was waiting in the kitchen and would go cold if the did not eat soon. "Your forwardness does not need forgiving, I am happy to see you growing ever more comfortable around me. It bodes well.The story he had read in the paper about Andráska and Celeste was still fresh on his mind.

He watched her flick through her mail until she reached the box and he found his own curiosity drawn to it, having grown bored of the gossip offered as news by the paper. A box from house Venora was surprising, an unexpected gift or maybe it was some form of invitation from one of them. Sadly it was no invitation but instead a very expensive looking piece of jewellery. Xander felt a pit form in his stomach as he saw the necklace and then heard the name still in his head from the Gazette. "Andráska?" He could not hide his own surprise at the revelation, except his face did not express the joy hers did.

He was far from happy with what he saw before him. An expensive gift from another man, a heart surrounded by roses. He bit his lip as he tried to avoid the strange feelings pulsing through him, he was getting better at understanding and controlling them. "I am sorry but that is insulting. How dare he think it okay to send such a gift to you, without even consulting me either." Xander suddenly felt like the paper had been telling the truth, perhaps it was not them that were fools but him. He had found he was previously indifferent to the young Baron in fact he was leaning towards liking him but now he just felt betrayed. "The Gazette already says enough about you and him, how can he think this appropriate." Xander pushed the paper so it slid over to Celeste so she could see for herself.

[Celeste Andaris]

His arm slipped around her waist and Celeste held herself against him, feeling herself relax. As her hand moved to behind his neck she realised that she was no longer kissing him because she felt she should, but because she wanted to. She would do the same tomorrow, she promised herself, and it would become easier to make those steps towards him. He looked at her and his surprise showed in his face, although his reaction to her had been entirely instinctual, she knew. "I did indeed." Celeste had been sleeping better and better, the nightmares which had plagued her since her brother's attack were ceasing. She looked at Xander and smiled a soft smile when he said her actions boded well, "I hope you do not snore, you know. I will be quite outraged." Her cheeks flushed as she spoke of them sharing a bed, but it would happen and she had to just get on with it being commonplace. That, she knew, was how she would get over this.

He liked her forwardness, she thought, although there was a spark of something in his eyes. Had he been worrying about something? It was hard to tell and although she was growing to know him better, she did not yet know the subtleties of his expression. So she focused instead on her mail, rather than asking him if something was wrong. Later, she would curse herself for that but in the moment she had no clue, so she busied herself.

The gasp she gave when she saw the necklace was not mirrored by her intended and Celeste looked at Xander in confusion as his face darkened and then he spoke. It was insulting? Why would she be insulted by a gift? Celeste looked at Xander and her face showed her amazement.

How dare he think it okay to send such a gift to you, without even consulting me her fiance said and Celeste sat, speechless. It was fine that she was, though, because apparently Xander had not finished. No, his next move was to slide the Rynmere Gazette over to her and talked about what it said about her and Andraska. Celeste looked down at it and read it. All of it.

Lifting the paper, Celeste was surprised to find that her hands were shaking. There were no words until she had read it, all of it, and then she put it back down. Her lips pursed for a moment and then, finally, she spoke.

"Jealousy is an ugly emotion, Xander. It does not suit you well." Celeste looked at him with very calm brown eyes. "I believe you when you tell me that you love me, so I will be clear with you." She closed the box of the necklace and pushed it, and the mail away. There was silence for a few moments, then she spoke again. "If a friend wishes to send me a gift why, precisely, should they consult you? Should they ask your permission? Perhaps you would like to tell them what it is that I am allowed to receive?" Judging by the low tone of Celeste's voice, there would be no ornament throwing, at least.

"You read the paper and were already starting to doubt. When I came in, you'd been reading it, hadn't you?" That had been what was bothering him, she thought. Oh, what timing. Celeste felt something building inside her which she had not felt for such a long time and she felt the words come from her mouth. "The first time I met Alistair Venora it was two trials after my brother had wrapped his hands around my throat and pinned me to the wall. He grabbed me by the hair and dipped my head into the bath again, and again. I fought him. As he held me down, I fought him."

Celeste lifted the cup of tea that had been his, but she did not really notice and drank it. "I was covered in bruises. No amount of make up could hide them, though Immortals know I tried. I met him, his mother and grandmother. I was alone, like I was when I came to your home." She breathed in and turned to look at Xander, tears in her eyes. "He made a good show of it, Xander, but after he met me that one time, Alistair refused the engagement. I had nowhere to go, no one. I couldn't go home, my brother was there. So I bought a house and I tried to live there." A single tear escaped, but she paid it no mind.

"Andraska was kind to me. He was a friend to me and I will be his friend as long as I draw breath. Distrust him all you want if you must, but you would be foolish to do so." Her voice was shaking with emotion. "But Xander, what cause have I given you to distrust me? I'm doing the best I can and I will continue to do so, but you do not own me, Lord Krome and you do not dictate who may or may not send me a gift." Picking up the Rynmere Gazette, Celeste stood and threw it down on the table.

"As for that, read it all and then try and think about why I might be angry at your lack of trust of me. Or wipe your arse with it." She would have said more, but there was the sound of a servant approaching, the tray rattling and so she sat back down, quickly wiping her eyes and looking at an entirely different piece of her mail, as the servant knocked the door she called out, her voice bright. "Come in!"

With a smile to the servant, Celeste spoke. "Thank you so much. Just leave the breakfast there, thank you. No, we'll see to ourselves this morning, thank you." When the servant left she sat, not moving or eating and most certainly not speaking. No, she determined, this was very much his turn.

[Xander Andaris]

The joking about him snoring when they would one day share a bed was soon over as the conversation took a more serious turn. He would have hoped and preferred, like always, for a peaceful and enjoyable day but it turned out this was not what the seven had planned for the trial. Xander was fuming for some reason, this Andráska must have had some guts that was for sure. Still it was highly inappropriate even if Celeste did not see it that way the rest of Rynmere would, especially the gossiping rich of Andaris and Venora. He shook his head and tapped the table with one finger as she seemed to try and argue against him and show that she was free to receive whatever she wished. Clearly missing the point.

He did not believe what he was feeling to be complete jealousy, yes part of him wished that he could have the connection with her that Baron Venora seemed to have but alas it was not that way. Instead he was angry and he could not help but feel as if he was being played for a fool. "Damn right I read that paper, as if it wasn't enough for them to claim some kind of affair based off of simple meetings, now he sends this only adding fuel to the fire of those who wish to discredit you and adding fuel to my suspicion." He rubbed his reddened cheek bones with one hand thinking about his own foolish anger but also the idiocy of such a gift.

"I know I don't own you Celeste. I would not dream to try and control you as if you were my puppet and had that been a gift from a lady I would not mind but it is not. That is a gift from a young and single Venoran Lord, it would have been appropriate for him to inform me of it rather than it being sent in secret to surprise me. Does he not read the newspaper or watch the political landscape. Can the young Rose not see that people are already out to get you, you have been attacked three times so clearly someone doesn't want you in power." Xander knocked against the table in an attempt to calm himself down, absolutely livid the Lord had done this. "I would have advised him against such a gift or at least suggested a different method of delivery now it seems much less of a simple gift to me and to others around."

She began to speak of her brother and his attack and then the engagement to Alistair, she talked about her fear and loneliness as well as his refusal to go ahead with marrying her and finally the fact that Andráska had been there to help her through it. "I can assure you Alistair did not refuse to wed you because you were bruised no that was due to his love of gentleman parts." Now he did feel jealous in many ways, fearful that the old and strong connection her and the youngest Venora shared was greater than his own, he wished he could have helped her through such things because he had no doubt such experience made people close.

Again she seemed to think that he was saying who could or could not send her gifts, he was not saying she would have been unable to receive a gift from the Lord. It was more the contents of the gift and the manner in which it was delivered. A necklace of a heart surrounded by roses was certainly not a symbol of his house or hers, no it was a symbol of Venora and quite an obvious one at that. In truth he was conflicted because he could not stop her receiving gifts but he would have liked to have been informed and shown the gift especially one so blatantly wrong to give.

"I just wish I had been informed, told of this gift so it had not surprised me and at a time like this it was not sensible. I trust you but I do not trust him, not a man I have met but once and from the house that brought us the rebel Zvezdana and the man who broke off an engagement with you in the past." Xander went quiet as the breakfast was brought in and looked at Celeste, composure regained and he closed his eyes and exhaled for a brief moment. The servant left and again it was just the two of them "It was foolish of him and that is all that needs to be said." To make the whole situation worse for the Krome, Celeste had not even denied anything was happening something that made Xander feel uneasy.

Trust was a fickle thing and something that was hard to gain but far too easy to lose.

[Celeste Andaris]

Celeste listened to him, to everything he had to say and she said no more for a few moments. Once the servant had gone, she sat and said nothing. The breakfast went cold and she had not spoken, simply sitting and gathering her thoughts. If he diidn't eat, she would quietly suggest that he should. Should he stand up to leave, she would ask him not to, but unless either of those things happened, she did not speak for a few minutes.

Her mind was whirling as she considered what he had said, or one very specific thing that he had, from all angles. That was what she did with most situations and hers was a mind attuned to politics, to her own gain and other people's weakness or loss. She could play that game and she could play it well. This was an opportunity for gain, she knew that. For gain with Xander, for gain with Andraska. A chance to affirm her position here and she could use it to her advantage and his detriment.

She could.

Celeste lifted her head to look at him, after all the silence that had sat between them and her voice was raw with emotion. "Your suspicion? That's what you said, adding fuel to your suspicion." Celeste's brown eyes searched his blue ones in that moment, to see his reaction to those words. "What is you suspect, Xander?"

Who do you suspect, Xander? was, of course, what she wanted to say. She did not though, she asked and she looked at him intently, watching every movement and expression on his face. As she saw it, saw the emotion flit across his face for all that he tried to hide them, Celeste sighed.

"Damn you, Xander Krome." It was a strange thing to say in a calm voice, but for all that she was maintaining a level of calm, Celeste couldn't hide the simple truth. She was hurt. Hurt by him and his suspicions. There were so many things that she could use this for, it could set the scene for their marriage and here, here she had a chance to control him. To manipulate him.

She couldn't. Instead, she spoke the simple truth.

"Do you realise that I no longer need to marry you? My father, the Baron, instructed me to, sent me to you. I am the Baroness now." Looking at him she raised an eyebrow. "I could call off this engagement and no one could stop me. I could seek the hand of Andraska Venora if I wanted it. He is a Baron in the next most important house, after all. Newly raised, like me, but a Baron nonetheless." Tapping the Gazette, Celeste spoke in fervent tones. "They see that. That's what they think is happening. They are waiting for the announcement and reporting this so that they can refer back to having seen it coming."

Celeste stood up and moved over to the window, looking out over the estate and she sighed. "It makes perfect political sense. It would strengthen my claim, my house and it would be, politically speaking, a better match." She had considered this the moment that the letter came from her grandfather and Celeste spoke in a soft tone. "Your father knew, that's why he tried to... it's what he said. That I'd be too good for you now, so he wanted his share." She hadn't told him that, of course, because she hadn't told him the realisation which had come to her the minute the letter came from her grandfather.

Wrapping her arms around herself, Celeste did not look at him, just stood and looked out of the window, although she could not say what was there. "There is a problem, though. I did not promise myself to Andraska Venora. I did not spend time trying to overcome this fear I have with Andraska Venora." Shaking her head, she wondered just what he thought had happened.

"I did not fall in love with Andraska Venora. He's my friend and that is all he will ever be. But he always will be, and I will always be his friend, too." Celeste breathed in deeply, then exhaled slowly, trying to keep herself calm. "Do you think that I have pretended to fear your touch whilst sleeping with him?" She shook her head again and repeated her first words, though more quiet than before.

"Damn you, Xander Krome."

[Xander Andaris]

He did not respond to her question, he simply couldn't find the words but at the question her searching eyes would see the emotion flicker in his features. A slight glaze and twitch of his blue hues and a short and subtle bite of his lips, all expressing the fact he was afraid of something. Him knowing that the something was losing her to the noble and kind Andráska Venora. He was a man that in the short time they had met and from what he had heard was truly good, someone Xander feared he could not compete with. Perhaps it was a stupid fear but it was there all the same and he could not stop the primal part of him that was not trusting of another man being so close with the woman who was meant to be his wife.

He knew she was well aware of what he meant when he spoke of his suspicions, she was not stupid and he knew that better than most. No, Xander knew he did not need to answer that question and that doing so would likely only make things worse instead he waited and listened. It was a curious thing to say, to damn him in such a strange way. She seemed almost too calm and he had expected more anger, perhaps a broken plate or her drink over him. Yet what came next was even more surprising.

Honesty. He had not expected the straight forward and openness that came as she spoke out words on the truth about their engagement. It stung like the stinger of a bee as she called Venora the second most important house, his honour and family heritage wounded by such a remark. Perhaps the hierarchy stated it to be that way but he did not agree, house Andaris was full of spoilt and overindulgent pigs. They called themselves dragons but instead they sat in their castles growing rich and fat while the people suffered below them. Xander took more offence to that than he would have expected, he did not love the Krome nobility but he loved the people of the Duchy that shared a name with his family.

Xander scowled and said something very juvenile and unlike him at that moment as she spoke of Adráska being a much better option than himself. "If the Venora is so much of a better option then why are you here with me? Why are you not waiting to wed the young Rose? Xander felt sick after the words left his mouth but he could not stop them as he was overwhelmed by emotions. "If I am so little of a prize then why are you wasting your precious and only true wedding on me?" He knew the answer to his question but without composure at that point and ruled by emotion he was unable to hold back the stream of thought and selfish cruelty in his questions.

Xander knew she no longer had to marry him, he had realised that too when she had told him of the letter. He had never expected it to come up though, No, Xander had expected it to remain unspoken and for the marriage to go ahead without it even being considered. Finally she spoke of his father, the animal he was, who had survived after all that had happened. The man was now cooped up in the Northern Krome House with the servants at his mercy, of which he had little. This saddened Xander, he knew his father would be putting them through hell and he had heard of the sounds coming from the place, those of torture. He had night terrors about it and he blamed himself for making those innocents have to endure something worse than before.

In the end came the declaration that she had not promised herself to Andráska and nor had she been trying to overcome her fears with him. Instead, Xander knew, she had been doing those things with him. Yet, even as he trusted and believed her he could not reign in his emotions. He looked at her over in the window, the morning light framing her in a most wonderful spectacle. Xander sat back in his seat and rubbed his face as he considered his options. To him he seemed to have few and he knew that in truth Celeste held all the power in the situation. He inhaled and calmed himself, pulling himself back into a calmer and more composed state.

Struck by what he really knew to be true he continued. "I know you wouldn't do that to me Celeste but I cannot hide that I fear perhaps he wants it." Xander stood himself now, the seat sliding out and falling to the ground behind him with a clatter. "The man is a saint, he is a hero and a kinder man I have not met. If there was ever a man for a groom to fear being around his bride it is him." Xander stepped out from behind the table and continued to watch her in the window, his blue hues alive with a mix of contradictory emotions. He walked over to Celeste and placed his arms around her in a moment of silent reflection and emotion.

He placed his hands upon the belly that would one day carry his children and imagined standing in this exact place an arc from now. He pictured the bump that would be beneath his hands as he rested his head in the crook of her neck. "I am sorry Celeste, I don't know if I will ever lose the fear of you being stolen from me by a better man. So indeed, damn me, but I love you Celeste and even if I have to fear every bachelor in Rynmere it will be worth it to have you by my side." He was sincere but he felt sour, still angry with the actions of the Venoran and unable to sate his fear that he would try and entice the woman from his arms into the thorny grasp of the rose.

[Celeste Andaris]

If this was what she hoped and believed it to be, Celeste thought as she gazed out of the window, not seeing anything there, then why were they both so afraid? They were, she knew it as surely as she knew anything; she had seen it in Xander's face when she asked him what he suspected. He did not like her assessment of Venora and its standing, she could hear his breathing change and she knew that his face was scowling, his forehead crinkling like the scrunched up newspaper which had started this. She almost smiled as she realised that she knew what his face was doing without looking. Almost.

Instead, though, she heard his words and she felt each one like a blow. Why was she doing this? Why was she wasting her only wedding on him? Cold fury gripped her and her hands tightened, nails digging into her palms as she stood and looked. Not moving, she remained impassive under his words. Biting her lower lip, she did not blurt out the truth, or shout back that maybe she damn well should. She would not resort to his behaviour and he did not deserve the truth, so she kept quiet. No answer would help, so she let him ask and come to his own conclusion.

It seemed like he would anyway.

She couldn't maintain that composure, though, nor hide the flinch when the chair clattered to the floor. Yet, he moved and his arms wrapped around her, his words gentle and honest. He rested his head in the crook of her neck and she rested her head against his. This time next season, they would be wed and by this time next arc they could have a child, if the fates smiled upon them. They could be standing here, holding their child on this trial next arc. What more did he want from her?

His words cut through her thoughts, the tone conciliatory and honest. Yet she knew that it was not over for him. So, she placed her hands over his and rested against him. "You have trusted me with so much. I find it hard to comprehend why you do not trust me now?" Their hands clasped together on her stomach moved as a sigh emanated from her. "You talk about what Andraska wants, what if he wants to wed me?" She shook her head. "You ask me why I don't change my mind and go to him? The answer to that is simple, Xander, and you are a fool for not seeing it."

It was strange to talk to him without seeing him, so Celeste turned, standing as close to him as she had been, her arms around his waist as she looked at him. "I could have walked away and if I was being political, I would have. My father, my grandfather, my brother? They would think that I should." Her hand raised to his face and she reached to put his hair behind his ear. "Andraska Venora is a hero, I do not think he is a saint and you would have to go far to find a kinder man. But Xander Krome, I don't care what he wants, or the Warricks or the Burhans. I care what I want, and I want you." Her gaze was determined as she tried to get that into what she was coming to the conclusion was his very thick skull.

"You, who rescued me the first time we met and I did not realise that we were already engaged. You, who looked surprised when I chose to walk in the snow and impressed when I told you I'm not made of potato mash. The man who has defended me more times than I can count and who has held me whilst I nearly died from fever. It was you I called for then, not Andraska or Alistair, not my father or anyone. Just you." Celeste motioned around to the room and then returned her hands to him. "I don't need you for political gain, I don't want you to further my house. I need and want you because you are the best man I have ever met, you lumbering oaf. If I don't care what those eligible bachelors want, why do you? I am where I choose to be, with who I choose to be with. Now, and all our trials."

As she had not a half break before, she kissed him then, leaning into his arms and just allowing herself to feel what she did. "You have nothing to fear from any eligible bachelor. They hold no interest for me." Her hands moved to pull herself closer to him. "How many ways do I need to tell you?"

[Xander Andaris]

Perhaps he really was a fool, although he really did know why she was not leaving. She had told him the reason why when they first came to Astedia. It was the same reason he was giving up his name for her, the same reason he was giving up his chance to become a legitimate leader of Krome. The problem was he had never felt it before, he had doubted its existence until such a short time ago and now he was struggling with truly believing in it. He had seen people believe they were in love, seen them think that they would never be happier but then he had seen them fall out of love and seen the pain it caused them. His father showed it better than any, he had once loved his mother but now he was not faithful and he would even go as far as to attack the future wife of his son. It was hard to truly believe something after that.

She turned to face him as she spoke and he looked into her brown eyes, studying them for the emotions they conveyed. Watching them show her adoration of him as she said she cared not what others thought or wanted but that she cared for her own wants and she wanted him. She continued on after to speak of his good deeds. It calmed his nerves and did work to somewhat lift his fears that she would leave him. Alas, he would have to better get to know Andráska before he would ever truly be comfortable. He knew that and he could only hope that once he had met with the Baron more he would be able to put an end to his selfish and jealous feelings. Celeste was right, jealousy did not suit him and nor did the childish way he had acted moments earlier.

Her flattery and his rampant emotions caused his cheeks to flush somewhat as he held her in the Ymiden morning light. Her skin seemed to glow as he looked at her and ran through all that had been said in his head. The argument had seemed to stop now but still he could not help but feel the uncomfortable feeling towards the Venoran. He would need to see the man again and he knew this now. He would need to see the man alone.

She kissed him now and he had remained silent, allowing his face to show his acceptance and belief in her words. She had swayed him and shown him she really was loyal and honest or as far as he could tell. So as she kissed him he returned it with the same intensity. He matched her honesty and passion, her emotion expressed by the action reflected in him. He parted from the kiss to answer her final question, a final message on the topic. "You don't need to tell me, I have always known deep down and I am sorry that I'm so paranoid." His voice was soft and sincere before he kissed her again.

He gently pressed her to the wall as he met her in a lover's embrace, passion overflowing from the confines in which he often tried to keep it. It took all his will to break the kiss but they had things to do, they had responsibilities now. A baroness like Celeste did not have time to waste engaging in such acts with their lover. He still held her as he looked at her and smiled, somehow even after their fight seeing her in his arms made him happy. "You should eat, you will need the energy to get through the day especially with all the late nights you have been having." He still stood close to her, waiting to see if she would take his advice. It was good advice although the immortals knew he wished it was not, having her in his arms would have been much preferred.

[Celeste Andaris]

His cheeks were flushed as he stood there, his arms tight around her and his intense blue gaze on her. Celeste watched him, wondering what it was that he was thinking, feeling. She hated how his words could hurt her. As much as she knew he felt the same, she was not used to being vulnerable and she was very clear that it did not suit her. Standing in the window, she watched the way the early morning sunlight danced in, how his hair changed colour beneath the gaze of the morning light. Her eyes searched his face, seeking clues to his thoughts and cues for her own, but she saw none.

She was simply too full of her own emotions in this moment.

No man would ever own her, nor control her. She was Celeste Andaris and she would not ever be vulnerable; so she had promised herself. Peake had reinforced that behaviour, ensuring that her heart was broken. It had been what she told him, after all, that he would break her heart into a hundred thousand pieces, and he did.

No. She would not remember that. Not here, not now.

Briefly, she tensed in his arms and then they were kissing and for the first time in a long time, for the first time since Peake's hand had wrapped around her throat, instinct fully took over. He paused and spoke to her, telling her he knew that he had nothing to fear, that he had always known. "None of it matters, don't apologise. You make me crazy, it's only fair that I do the same, is it not?"

The words were out of her mouth just barely and then he was kissing her, his body pressing against hers, her back to the wall and her hands were in his hair, then moving down his back and every part of her was returning the kiss, her hands exploring his back, his shoulders, then returning to his hair as she pulled herself against him.

He stopped, though, breaking off their embrace and she looked at him, wide eyed as he did so. He spoke softly, urging her to eat, but he stayed where he was. His arms were still around her and Celeste looked up at him and shook her head. "I'm not hungry, Xander." She was trembling from head to foot, but she didn't know why in this moment. She didn't care about the meal, or the argument, right in this moment she was all instinct and that was an unusual place for her, to say the least. Dark brown eyes were filled with desire and nerves in equal measure. "Xander?" Celeste whispered, pulling him back as close to her as he could be, holding on to him as though he was saving her from drowning. She had a hundred things she wanted to say and do, but in that moment, she spoke just one. Her voice was a whisper and filled with raw emotion when she spoke the basic truth. "Damn you, Xander Krome. You made me fall in love with you. That wasn't in the plan."

[Xander Andaris]

He was happy, happy that the fight was behind them, and although he still felt wary of Andráska, he was sure he would eventually come round. With time he would learn to trust and belief in love, as well as possibly a realisation that the Baron was not a threat. He was beginning to understand that now and he was ready to try and move past it. "Indeed, fair it is. Two crazy lovers in Andaris I suppose." Xander chuckled softly at his words. The two of them were lovers and they certainly were going through many crazy things together and of course they were crazy about one another.

As they kissed her hands explored his back, her fingers igniting small fires across his firm muscular flesh. Every trial with Celeste brought with it a new experience, a new sensation or emotion. He had never kissed like this before, never felt so out of control and without a desire to stop. His own hands simply rested on her hips, holding her close into him. Her hands ran through his hair and a shiver ran down his spine. His heart was thudding heavy in his ears as the kiss was parted to speak.

"Things don't often go to plan for us it seems." He smiled as he said it, amused at the fact that everything always seemed to go wrong or at least different from how they had planned it. It was as if planning only helped them to see when things were not going how they had planned. "But I love you too my Baroness." The way she held him was as if he were keeping her from falling off a cliff. He knew it were not he case but how close and tightly she held him was like she was afraid if she let go she would fall and strangely enough he felt the same. As he gazed into the brown hues of her eyes he felt like he would never would never let her go again.

His hands still on her hips and emotions in control of him, the passion burning through its container like acid. He kissed her once again except now he lifted her, using his strength that he had gained from his training and he turned to lift her onto the table behind them. There was a soft rattle of silverware as Xander pushed them aside with his hand before placing it on the cheek of his lover, only pausing for a breath.

He parted the kiss one more time as a thought raced through his head. A memory of their agreement to take steps together, to help her reach a point of comfort. Always being the gentleman he was he could not ignore it. "I am not moving too fast for you am I?" He felt foolish asking the question, for some reason it felt like it made him less of a man but the more he thought about it the more he thought it a sensible thing to ask. He awaited her response and as he did his hand found its place on the small of Celeste's back the other on the side of her head. His lips too found a new place to rest as the came into contact with her neck and trailed to her shoulder. The adrenaline pumped through his veins as his leg twitched for a trill and his heart raced out of control.