“My Lord, are you…drunk?”
“Noooo,” the Dark Lord shook his head emphatically. “I don’t get…drunk. It’sa lowly, human weakness. I’m above such…ah…things.”
Bellatrix Lestrange bit her lip, not sure whether she should laugh or not. The two of them were at the White Wyvern, a pub in Knockturn Alley and while the Dark Lord hadn’t drunk what most people would consider an inordinate amount, he had been growing more and more incoherent by the minute.
“Of course, my Lord. Forgive me. But, ah…are you sure you’re…feeling well?”
“Of course I am!” he replied, much louder than necessary. Some of the other people in the pub turned and stared. They had both kept their hoods up, of course, but that feeble attempt at concealing their identities wouldn’t last long if they started drawing attention to themselves. Many of the denizens of Knockturn Alley supported their cause but plenty of others didn’t, believing the Death Eaters were stirring up too much trouble, drawing the attention of Aurors and making things more difficult for the average dark magic practitioner. Then there were the foolish wannabe Dark Lords who viewed them as competition. Besides, the Ministry and the Order had spies everywhere. But the Dark Lord seemed blissfully unaware of all this at the moment.
“I am the greatest sorcerer of all time, and I am having a lovely evening with the most beautiful and powerful witch I’ve ever known!”
He tossed back the rest of his goblet, some of it sloshing on to the table. Bellatrix felt herself flush at his praise but couldn’t shake her concern. She had never seen him like this before. Sure, the White Wyvern had a reputation for especially strong drinks but they had had the same amount and she was barely lightheaded.
Suddenly, the Dark Lord lurched to his feet and pulled her up, too.
“Come on,” he said, pulling her close, “let’s dance!”
Under different circumstances, Bella would have relished this moment but almost the whole room was looking at them now. Besides, the Dark Lord wasn’t so much dancing as leaning on her while shuffling awkwardly.
“This isn’t really a dancing sort of establishment, my Lord,” she hissed. “Let’s sit back down—”
“Nonononono. They don’t control us!” He waved a hand at the crowd dismissively. “They’re all beneath us! If we wanna dance, we’ll dance.”
He attempted to maneuver her across the floor. When she resisted, he frowned in confusion.
“Wha’s the matter, Bella? I thought you liked to dance…that’s why you taught me…now I…I like it too!”
He stumbled, bumping into another group’s table and spilling their drinks. The three cloaked figures around the table shot to their feet, wands drawn.
“Hey!” one witch snapped. “Watch yourself, git!”
“How dare you speak to me like that?” the Dark Lord snapped, fishing in the pockets of his robes for his wand. “Don’t you know who I am?”
“No, they don’t,” Bella muttered, grabbing his wrist. It was tempting to just let him kill them—it certainly wouldn’t be the first murder the White Wyvern had seen—but it would draw undue attention. The last thing they needed were photos of an inebriated Dark Lord on the front page of the Daily Prophet. “And we don’t want them to, remember?”
Turning to the witches challenging them, she said coolly,
“It was a simple mistake.” She tossed a few Galleons on to their table. “There. That should make up for it.”
Without waiting to see their reaction, she turned to place some Galleons on their own table and then quickly dragged her master out of the pub. It felt deeply wrong for her to be the one ordering him around, but this was an emergency. And, at the moment, he didn’t seem to mind.
“Good thinking,” he murmured, taking a breath of the crisp night air. “Get away from them. I like it better when we’re alone. Just you and me.”
Before Bella could respond to this statement—not that she had any idea how to—he leaned in and kissed her, much more sloppily than usual, but any kiss from the Dark Lord was a treasure, so she responded eagerly as always. For a moment she forgot everything and lost herself in pure bliss. He had never shown her affection this publicly before—and there was a reason for that, she remembered, as she noticed a passing wizard squint at them suspiciously. She was married. He thought caring for another to be a shameful weakness and didn’t want anyone to know he was capable of it. If they were seen like this, it could ruin everything. And in their moment of passion, their hoods had slipped off.
Thinking quickly, Bellatrix drew her wand with one hand and Confunded the watching wizard. With the other hand, she seized the front of the Dark Lord’s robes and pulled him into a dark alleyway. He didn’t protest, simply pushed her up against the wall and continued kissing her erratically, moving from her collarbone to her forehead to her cheek to her neck and then back to her mouth, as though he was trying to cover as much space as possible. The whole time he kept murmuring,
“Bella, Bella, Bella, my Bella…”
Bellatrix sighed with delight as the bliss enveloped her again. She kissed him back whenever he stopped moving long enough and let her hands creep down his back to his hips and thighs. This was paradise…until he suddenly slumped against her shoulder and started snoring.
Right. He’s drunk.
And the privacy of an alley would only last so long.
I have to get him out of here.
She pulled their hoods back up, slung one of his arms over her shoulder and started pulling him down the street. The movement woke him enough that she only had to partially support his weight and he was able to ask blearily,
“Where are we going?”
“Good question, my Lord. I don’t think you’re in any fit state to Apparate; you might get splinched.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve split myself!”
“What?”
His only explanation was to laugh as though he’d just told a hilarious joke.
“Okay. I suppose I could take you by side-along apparition, but where….”
Their usual meeting locations were either outdoors or in broken-down, abandoned buildings—nowhere that would be suitable for the Dark Lord to get some rest until he sobered up. She briefly considered taking him to the Lestranges’ Manor—he had stayed there as a guest plenty of times before—but quickly decided against it. Surely, he wouldn’t want anyone to see him like this, even the family to which many of his top Death Eaters belonged. Besides, he seemed to have forgotten that their relationship was supposed to be a secret, which would definitely cause problems. As much as she wanted the affair to be known so she could end her sham of a marriage to Rodolphus and publicly take pride in the full extent of her importance to the Dark Lord, she knew he didn’t want to lose the Lestranges’ support or have people whispering that he had gone soft. Revealing the secret now would only drive him away from her, which was the last thing she wanted.
“No need…to Apparate,” the Dark Lord assured her. “We can go to my flat.”
Bellatrix stopped and turned to look at him. “You have a flat in Knockturn Alley?”
No one—not even she— knew where the Dark Lord lived when he wasn’t staying at the home of one of his followers, but she had always imagined something grander.
“Haven’t been in a while,” he amended. “Bought it while I was working at Borgin and…Borgin and…the other one.”
“Borgin and Burke’s.” Bella remembered the Dark Lord telling her that he used to work for the famed purveyors of Dark artifacts. “That was many years ago, though, wasn’t it, my Lord?”
“Never sold it. Still mine. This way.” He pointed.
It took a while for them to find the building, between the Bellatrix having to half-carry the Dark Lord, him getting periodically distracted either by the displays in shop windows or trying to kiss her again and several wrong turns—Knockturn Alley wasn’t an easy place to navigate sober, after all.
Finally they arrived at a grimy, rickety brick building and it occurred to Bella that she’d forgotten something important.
“How do we get in? You can’t still carry the key around.”
“Cheap building. ‘Lohamora should work.”
Frowning, she pulled out her wand and cast Alohamora! Sure enough, the door creaked open. The idea of the Dark Lord living in a place with such low security, even long in the past, made her uneasy.
The entry hall was pitch-black, with no windows or even a single candle.
“Lumos!” Bellatrix tucked her lit wand behind her ear to free her hands. The light revealed only a narrow, crooked staircase covered in cobwebs.
“Right. What floor is your flat on, my Lord?”
He pointed straight up and muttered,
“Top.”
“Of course,” Bella sighed. She readjusted her grip on him and began hauling the world’s most fearsome dark wizard up the stairs. About a flight and a half up, after the Dark Lord had stumbled for the fifth time, nearly sending them both crashing downward, she switched from half-carrying him to fully carrying him, bridal style. He seemed to enjoy this, smiling broadly, and running his fingers through her hair and across her skin. And if Bella was honest with herself, she had to admit that she rather liked having the Dark Lord in her arms, even if the circumstances were bizarre. She let out a little giggle, which the Dark Lord picked up on and by the time they reached the top landing they were both laughing hysterically.
She lowered him to the floor, keeping one hand on his shoulder so he wouldn’t topple over and said,
“Please tell me it takes more than a simple Unlocking Charm to enter your flat.”
“Course!” he assured her. He leaned in close to the keyhole and hissed something in Parseltongue. His words must have been slurred because it took him a few tries before the lock clicked open. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into a narrow room containing only a dusty bookcase filled with tattered books, a rusting cot beneath a grimy window and a small iron wood stove.
Bella wanted to look around, fascinated by this glimpse of who the Dark Lord used to be, but before she could he snaked his arms around her body, pulling her close to his chest and happily announcing,
“Now we can dance!”
“I thought you were about to pass out,” she laughed, but didn’t protest as he spun her around and around, occasionally stopping to steal another kiss. Bella lost track of exactly how long they spent gyrating across the tiny space. With no more audience, she relaxed and let herself enjoy this moment with the man she loved. She also cherished the knowledge that, with alcohol removing all his usual inhibitions, his first instincts were to hold her tight. So much of their time together was overshadowed by her worries that it wouldn’t last, that what was a raging inferno for her was only a flickering candle for him and that one day his fear of intimacy would cause him to drive her away forever. But the way he was acting now suggested that his feelings for her were genuine, even if he struggled to express them.
In vino veritas? she wondered, although what they had drunk was much stronger than wine. Or will he regret this once he’s back in his right mind?
Gradually, the Dark Lord’s steps became more staggered, until he seemed about to fall over again. Bellatrix steered him over to the cot and lowered him on to it. To her surprise, he pulled her down on top of him, wrapped his legs around her waist and began kissing her hungrily, his long fingers slithering through her hair. Her heart soared as she kissed him back and laid a trail of loving bites down his neck. This was pure, undiluted ecstasy, stronger than any other dark magic she knew. She began sliding her hands under his robes—and he didn’t stop her. That made her freeze.
Although they’d been seeing each other for several months, they hadn’t slept together yet. Bella wanted to, desperately, but the Dark Lord was cautious. This was his first relationship and, in every sense that mattered, Bella’s too, and he wanted to take things slow. It seemed that was something else he’d forgotten in his drunken stupor.
So? a little voice in her head whispered. He seems perfectly happy now. Might as well keep going. He probably won’t even remember in the morning.
It was tempting, so very tempting, but Bellatrix forced herself to resist. She wanted the Dark Lord, more than anything in the world, but she also loved him and that meant she couldn’t let herself take advantage of him in this weakened state. He would never forgive her, and she’d never forgive herself, either.
Whatever his feelings for her, whatever they did together, she wanted it to be real. It was the same reason she’d never tried slipping him a love potion during all those long years he’d refused to see her as more than just another Death Eater, no matter how desperate she got.
It took every ounce of strength she possessed, but Bellatrix stopped kissing the Dark Lord and began untangling herself from him. He made a disappointed noise and reached for her as she climbed off the cot.
“I’m sorry, my Lord,” she said with a heavy sigh. “But you don’t really want this. Not like this anyway.”
“Bella, don’t go….” He reached for her again but seemed unable to sit up.
“I don’t want to go,” she assured him, heart aching. “But I don’t want you doing anything you’ll regret in the morning.”
He surged upward just enough to grab her wrist, a wild, almost frightened look in his eyes.
“Don’t leave me! We don’t have to do…that but, stay with me, Bella. Don’t leave me alone. Please!”
She could only stare at him, stunned. Wracking her brains, she tried to remember if she had ever heard him say please for anything before, ever. She hadn’t.
“Okay,” she said softly. She crouched next to the cot and took his hand in both of hers. “I’ll stay.”
He relaxed instantly.
“Good. I like it better when you’re with me.” He wiggled to the side, pressing himself against the wall to make a space on the edge of the mattress. “Will you lie down with me?”
When she hesitated, he added,
“I won’t do anything. I just…want you close.”
How could she say no to that?
Gingerly, she stretched out next to him, stiff with the effort of holding herself back from doing more. Trying to break the tension she said,
“I had no idea you were such a lightweight, my Lord. Although now that I think about it, I suppose I never have seen you drink more than a bit of wine at a party.”
“Wasn’t always this way,” he mumbled. “I used to be made of stronger stuff. Side effect of immortality, I guess. Seems to get worse every time I…well. A small price to pay.”
Bellatrix wondered what he was talking about. She didn’t doubt his claims of immortality; if anyone was capable of transcending the laws of the universe, it was this miracle of a man; but what exactly had he done that ensured it? That was his most closely guarded secret and she had never wanted to pry, but the fact that whatever it was lowered his liquor tolerance was certainly interesting. What other side effects were there? Was this the reason he looked the way he did, red eyes, no nose and impossibly pale skin? Not that she minded, she adored how inhuman he looked, how beyond everyone else he was.
Gradually, his breathing deepened, and the Dark Lord drifted off to sleep. Beside him, Bella had never felt more awake. It felt like she was burning, being so close to him, but still not close enough and having to resist every impulse that told her to go further. Her anxiety was higher than it ever got before a battle. Part of her wished she were drunk, too, so she wouldn’t have to be so aware of every painstaking detail: the ident of his head on the pillow, the way his chest softly rose and fell, the fact that one of her legs was pressed up against his. The other part of her was glad to be aware of all of this, greedily hoarding the moment in her memory; something she could go back to when they were apart. She thought of the myth of Tantalus, tormented by hunger and thirst, with everything he longed for so close and yet always just out of reach. This must be exactly how it felt to be him.
At one point, he rolled over and flung an arm around her and Bellatrix gasped as though scalded, her heart galloping faster than it ever had before.
You should be enjoying this, she told herself. You’re in bed with the Dark Lord, wrapped up in his arms. How often have I dreamed of this?
Of course, in her imaginings, it had gone a bit differently. She sighed, a burst of frustration suddenly overcoming desire’s position as her foremost emotion. This was somehow both the most exhilarating and most agonizing night of her life.
Still, she was never one to let an opportunity go to waste. It occurred to her that, with the Dark Lord unconscious, now was the perfect moment to tell him something she’d wanted to say for a long while.
But first she had to make sure he really was fully unconscious. It would be disastrous if he actually heard her. She rolled over, wriggling under his arm until they were face to face and asked,
“My Lord? Are you awake?”
No response.
She reached out and touched his face, tracing her fingers reverently over his sharp cheekbones, thin lips and the spot where a nose would be on a lesser man.
“You’re so beautiful,” she murmured. It occurred to her that she had never seen him look so peaceful before and her heart ached with tenderness.
He hadn’t responded to her words or her touch, but she decided to try one more thing before revealing her deepest truth.
“My Lord, I think we’re under attack.”
He didn’t even twitch.
Okay, he must really be out cold. I’ve never seen him not be ready for a fight.
She took a deep breath and they were so close that she breathed in the same air he was breathing out.
“I want to tell you something, my Lord, but I know you won’t want to hear it. That’s why I’m telling you like this.”
She spoke the next words slowly, with deliberation and force behind them.
“I love you. I’ve loved you from the moment we met and there will never be a time when I don’t love you. I love you with all my heart and soul. And I know you can’t return the feeling, but I don’t care. It doesn’t make me love you any less. Nothing could.”
Tears welled in her eyes as she continued,
“I know you see love as the ultimate weakness. And maybe you’re right. It certainly can make things difficult. If so, it’s a weakness I’ll gladly bare for you. But maybe you’re wrong. That would be a first, I know, but…I believe loving you makes me more powerful. Or knowing you does, at least, and it’s hard to separate the two.”
She stroked his face again, making sure he still had not awakened. He had not.
“I just wanted to say it,” she finished. “I love you and always will.
”
With a sigh, she gave him a soft kiss, whispered,
“I love you,” one more time and curled up next to him, her head pressed against his chest so she could hear his heartbeat.
Her own was still entirely too fast due to their proximity, but she felt lighter somehow, after having finally said it. Eventually, she too drifted off to sleep.
Bellatrix was rudely awakened a few hours later by the Dark Lord essentially climbing over her to vomit on to the floor. She rubbed his back until he was finished retching, then said sympathetically,
“Hangovers are the worst. Do you want me to run to the elixir shop down the street and get you a potion for it?”
He turned to look at her in horror.
“Bellatrix,” he said in the voice of someone trying very hard not to panic. “What are you—why—oh no—what happened last night?”
He stood, a hint of anger in his red eyes, beneath the bleariness and worry.
“Nothing,” Bella replied quickly.
He gave her an impatient look.
“Nothing that hasn’t happened before,” she amended.
The Dark Lord moved backwards, as though he was trying to put as much distance between them as possible—which wasn’t much, in this tiny flat.
“Do you really expect me to believe that when you’re in my bed?”
“My Lord, I promise you, nothing untoward happened last night. How much do you remember?”
He frowned, massaging his forehead in concentration.
“I remember going to the White Wyvern…and after that…it’s a bit of a blur. I know we were kissing in an alleyway and I think…you carried me at one point? Unless that was a dream….”
“That happened,” Bellatrix confirmed.
“But I don’t remember telling you about this place…and I don’t remember what happened once we got here.”
“We danced a bit. Kissed some more. And then…you, uh, pulled me into bed with you.”
He buried his face in his hands, muttering a string of curses.
“But that was it! I mean…you seemed interested in going further but I could tell you weren’t in your right mind, so I tried to leave but you asked me to stay, and we went to sleep.”
The Dark Lord still looked suspicious. Before he could say anything else, he hunched over and vomited again. Bella resisted the impulse to get up and help him—it was probably best to keep her distance just now.
“I want to believe you, Bellatrix,” he said, straightening up. “I want to be able to trust you. But I have seen your desire for me…I know how strong it is…could you really resist such an opportunity?”
“Look into my mind. I’ll show you exactly what happened.”
“Please, Bella. I know how skilled you are at Occlumency.”
“I won’t use it now, I swear. I’ll drop all my defenses. Please, just look! I can’t bare seeing you so upset.”
Slowly, almost timidly, he locked eyes and then minds, with her.
There are two levels of Occlumency one can learn. The first is simply blocking someone from entering your mind altogether, hiding all your thoughts behind an impenetrable wall. The downside is that whoever is trying to read your mind would be able to tell you were shielding yourself against them.
The other, far more difficult form of Occlumency, involves letting someone into your mind, but rearranging all your thoughts so that the invader sees whatever they need to see on the top level but misses additional things that have been hidden in the depths.
It was that second form that Bellatrix employed, displaying every moment of the previous night to her master—except for when she’d confessed her true feelings as he slept.
Together, they reviewed Bella’s memories. The Dark Lord went through them multiple times, but she didn’t mind. There was a certain intimacy to sharing thoughts like this that she cherished.
Finally, he seemed satisfied and broke the connection with a sigh of relief. Rather awkwardly, he gave her a formal nod, as though acknowledging she had told the truth. Bellatrix didn’t say anything. When the Dark Lord was in a delicate mood, it was always best to let him lead the conversation and this was wholly uncharted territory for them.
A long, heavy silence passed before he said,
“Actually, I think I would like that Hangover-Reversing Potion. Would you mind fetching it for me?”
“Of course not, my Lord. Would you like anything else? Some breakfast, perhaps?”
“No,” he replied quickly, still looking queasy, then added, “But you should get something for yourself if you’re hungry. I don’t have any food here.”
“Yes, my Lord. I’ll be back soon.”
It didn’t take too long to pick up the potion and grab a sausage and egg sandwich from a little stand in the Alley. (What sort of creature the eggs came from was a bit unclear but it tasted fine.)
She also got some coffee as she’d barely slept the night before and sensed she’d want to be fully alert for whatever was going to happen next.
When she returned, the Dark Lord was staring out the flat’s one grimy window with his hands folded behind his back. Wordlessly, she handed him the potion and he gulped it down. The silence remained another few minutes as he let the potion take effect, then he turned to her and said,
“Bellatrix, I believe I owe you…an…apology.”
“Whatever for, my Lord?” she asked, dumbfounded. She could count on one hand the number of times he’d apologized to her before.
“For…losing control. It’s been a while since I’ve drunk so much and I believe the effects alcohol has on me have…increased since last time. Rather significantly. As a result, I became most unprofessional and put you in a very uncomfortable position.”
“My Lord, no position you could put me in would ever be uncomfortable.”
He frowned slightly, picking up on the innuendo, but said nothing as she continued,
“Besides, we’ve been…unprofessional around each other many times now.”
“Not like last night. I was completely unaware of what I was doing, I saw through your memories that I spiraled rapidly out of control and, if it hadn’t been for you, I would have deeply embarrassed myself and thus endangered our entire movement.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, my Lord. Everyone gets drunk sometimes!”
“Perhaps, but I am not everyone. I am supposed to be better. I…regret that you had to see me in such a state.”
“There’s no need. It hasn’t changed my view of you, my Lord. Nothing could.”
He looked at her doubtfully.
“And I brought you here! A member of the Noble House of Black, in this dump! I…I never wanted to advertise this part of my life to you.”
“My Lord, please, it’s not like I’m some soft rich girl who will crumple into dust if she doesn’t sleep on satin sheets in elegant mansions. Okay, technically I am a rich girl but I don’t need to be pampered. You know that! I’ve slept outside, on the bare ground, on missions. I actually rather like this flat. I mean, it’s in a great location!”
“I appreciate you trying to console me, Bella, and I know you are capable of roughing it but…although it’s true you deserve better accommodations, that is not the only reason I regret showing you this place. There are not many things I am ashamed of, but I am ashamed of this. I know how much you admire me, and I’ll admit I enjoy it. I can’t stand the idea of you picturing a younger me living in such squalor.”
“My Lord, I don’t just admire you; I worship you.” To prove her point, she knelt at his feet and kissed the hem of his robes. “And as I said before, nothing could change that. It doesn’t matter what you came from when the truth is you were always destined for greatness. In fact, you are greatness personified. You are the most magnificent wizard I have ever known, who has ever existed. You make everything, everyplace sacred just by being nearby. That’s what you’ve done to this flat and it’s what you are in the process of doing to the world. And I swear, I will always be your most faithful servant, no matter what.”
He reached down and ran his fingers through her hair before placing them under her chin, tilting her head up until their eyes met.
“You speak well, Bella. And I am glad to have your allegiance. But there are…certain things you don’t know about me.”
Bellatrix wondered if he was referring to the fact that he was half-blood. She already knew this and had long ago made her peace with it, but she felt it was best not to be the one to bring it up, especially when he was already in such a sensitive mood. Instead, she kissed his hand, lips lingering on his skin far longer than necessary, and repeated even more fervently,
“No matter what.”
He stared at her, eyes full of what she wanted to call longing, but perhaps that was just wishful thinking. Gently, he pulled her to her feet and reiterated,
“I do value you greatly, Bellatrix. And I would also like to let you know how much I appreciate the way you handled the events of last night. You have my gratitude for getting me away from the crowds, sparing me further humiliation and for not…ah, taking advantage of my delirious state.”
“I couldn’t have. I—” She cast about for a word that wasn’t “love.” “—respect you too much.”
He nodded, twisting his fingers together awkwardly.
“Well, you handled the situation well, although I still wish I hadn’t put you in it to begin with. You should probably go now. Rodolphus will be wondering where you’ve been.”
Bella felt herself crumple, both physically and emotionally. Even though she’d done everything right, he was still sending her away—likely out of his own embarrassment, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.
“It’ll be fine.” She tried to keep her voice light. “I’ll just tell him I’ve been on a top secret mission.”
“You know eventually he’s going to become suspicious of how many ‘top secret missions’ you receive.”
“I doubt it. He’s an idiot and I’m a brilliant Death Eater.”
“You are, but you need to be cautious.”
“Yes, my Lord. When shall we meet next?”
He looked away.
“I’ll let you know.”
Her heart sank. Clearly, the Dark Lord had gotten cold feet about their relationship again, which meant he’d avoid her outside of Death Eater meetings for a while and her soul would yearn for him like a fish stranded in the desert yearns for water.
“Of course, my Lord. Good day.”
She bowed to him and headed for the door. As she opened it, he called,
“It’s not that I don’t want to be intimate with you, Bella.”
She turned around.
“I just…want to wait until I’m sure it’s the right time. I like our little arrangement but this is new territory for me—for both of us, really—and I don’t want to rush into anything and risk spoiling it. But I assure you, you are…special to me.”
Bellatrix strode back across the room and kissed him, lightly and quickly so he’d know she wasn’t trying to cross any boundaries, but she couldn’t think of any other way to express what he had just said had meant to her.
“I understand,” she murmured. And she did. Although she didn’t share his reluctance to dive into physical intimacy, her reasons for not confessing her love while he was conscious were the same: fear of upsetting their delicate balance. “And I don’t mind waiting. You’re special to me too, my Lord. I mean, of course you’re special, you’re the Dark Lord! But you’re special to me in an additional, more unique way. And I’ll be willing to wait for you forever.”
Gently, he reached out and caressed her face.
“I don’t think you’ll have to wait quite that long.”
They stood like that for a few moments, her cheek pressed against his hand, lost in each other’s eyes, until, somewhat hesitantly, he lowered his hand.
“But for now, I really do think you should go. It’s nothing personal; I just need to clear my head after last night. But it’s myself I’m upset with, not you.”
He kissed her on the forehead.
“Goodbye, Bella. We’ll meet again soon enough. And, truly, thank you for handling all this so well.”
“Of course, my Lord. I’d do anything for you.”
She turned to leave again and this time he didn’t stop her. Still, she felt hopeful as she headed down the rickety stairs. All things considered, it had been a pretty good night. Glowing, she thought about how affectionate the Dark Lord had been while under the influence. Was that how he truly felt about her, how he’d act all the time once he finally became comfortable with their romance? Would they maybe one day reach a point where she could properly tell him she loved him? Could he ever say it back?
All she could do was continue to wait. So far, her patience seemed to be paying off.