The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 174: Late Morning

Chapter 174: Late Morning

The morning sunlight filtered inside the room through the open window and greeted Annalise who finally stirred in her sleep as the brightness was disturbing her.

She tried to turn around and face away from the brightness only to find herself burning her face in a very familiar embrace. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she scooted closer to the man and tried to return to the dreamless world of sleep.

"It’s already morning, you should wake up," Valerius whispered softly next to her ear before placing a feathery kiss on the tip of her ear which immediately made her shiver as sparks ran down her entire body thanks to that mere touch.

The man chuckled as he pulled her closer in his arms and buried his face in her hair, inhaling her scent that did magic to his soul.

"What time is it?" Annalise asked as she wished for at least a couple of more hours of sleep. Staying up for hours during the night to listen to the history of the wards and the castle turned out not to be so good of an idea as she was feeling really sleepy at the moment and her eyes even hurt when she tried to open them.

"Unfortunately, it’s already pretty late in the morning. Our guests are going to have breakfast in less than half an hour, you should really wake up." Valerius indeed sounded apologetic but there was also that tone he carried which clearly meant she barely had any other option than waking up. Besides, as the host of the castle, she needed to be present during breakfast.

Another sigh left her lips but this one was filled with the emotions of unwillingness and unhappiness unlike the one from before. She finally popped open her eyes and it took her a couple of very long seconds to adjust to the brightness that was filling her bed-chamber.

A chuckle almost broke out through the confinements of her lips as she recalled how she slept in the basement with Kenric and Damien, before ending up in the secret sphere beneath the castle with Valerius, and now she was back in her own bed-chamber.

"What’s so funny?" Valerius asked when he noticed her amused expression, his ice-blue eyes were observing her as he lay there beside her with his upper body on full display.

Annalise hurriedly shook her head with a soft smile as she pulled away from the man and climbed down from the bed while snatching her outer robe from the bedside table and draping it over her shoulders. "I should get ready for breakfast. Will you join?" Though she pointed the question at him, it was pretty clear that she was asking about the other two lords too.

Valerius also climbed down from the bed and walked toward her. Once he was standing right in front of her with only a little space separating their bodies, he spoke - "From now on, we will be joining you for every meal, all three of us."

If it had been those days from the past, she would have thought that they were only doing it because of the presence of their guests in the castle but it was not the past and she knew them better than that, they were doing it solely for her. Their trip to Lakeshire Town did change their relationship a lot, if not other things going on around their world.

She found her gaze traveling from his eyes to his perfectly shaped lips before sliding even downward where his well-built chest and abdominal muscles were waiting for her to admire them. She didn’t even realize that she was doing it until one of her hands was placed against his smooth chest.

"Annalise..." Valerius whispered as he inched another step closer to her, making their bodies press against each other while one of his hands sneaked around her waist while the other one cupped her face.

Annalise tilted her head to meet his lips in the midway as the dark lord lowered his head to close the gap between their faces. However... the very moment their lips were about to meet, someone knocked on the door and then pushed it open.

She was too surprised by the sudden disturbance that she didn’t even think about stepping out of Valerius’ arms and the man, he just simply didn’t care if someone was going to see them in such a state.

That’s why, when Sera and one of the new female servants, Vladiya, entered the room with buckets of water and towels in their hands, they found the pair of husband and wife standing next to the bed with their hands wrapped around each other.

The red color that took over Sera and Vladiya’s faces as both the women hurriedly turned around to face away from them, could compete with the one flaming Annalise’s cheeks and ears as she too hurriedly stepped out of Valerius’ arms and scurried to put as much distance between them as possible.

"Accept our apology, My Lady, My Lord. We will come back later." Sera hurriedly spoke with her face still turned toward the doorway while Vladiya stood like a statue beside her as the poor woman waited for the shock to wear off.

"No need. I’m already leaving, you should help your lady to get ready for the breakfast." Valerius told Sers as he smiled softly at Annalise, his gaze hadn’t faltered from her even for a second all this while.

Annalise watched as the man clicked his fingers and the very next second, he was standing there fully clothed. He surprised her when he took steps toward her and once again closed the distance between them that she had just created.

He pulled her in his arms as if it was the most normal thing for him to do. Placing a soft kiss on her forehead which made her close her eyes, he spoke, "I’ll see you downstairs."

And then, he was gone...!

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