Jay was already awake when the sun slipped through the curtains. He hadn't slept a wink, only held Leana's bandaged, broken body close to him. Still, he was draped in a towel and his hair, airdried to his forehead. How could he sleep after what she had told him? In a matter of hours he had heard the entire recent history of the Unseelie court. The tragedy of Queen Ariana which sent her beloved and benevolent son into madness, the death of Nydale Payne, the years and years of sexual abuse that Leana had experienced at the hand of the man she once loved and called friend.
Trying his best to cope with the information he had gotten, he pushed it to the back of his mind and ran his fingers through her matted hair, still course from the rain. That moment would have been a good ending to the horrors of the previous night if Dronolas hadn't crashed into the room breathless with pure panic in his eyes. "She's here!" He hissed causing Leana to stir. Jehovah's body fell stiff. Leaping out of the bed, he scooped Leana into his arms much to her protest. Placing her before the wardrobe he opened it and trapped her between himself and the door.
"Hide. Please," He hissed. Taking the hint of who 'she' was, Leana backed into the wardrobe, Jay shutting the doors behind her.
Mere moments after Jay closed the doors, Dron's muffled voice could be heard in the next room addressing the visitor. Leana, only now waking up and beginning to peek through the slight gap in the cheap wardrobe doors, pressed her face to the crack to see Jehovah desperately yanking on a pair of jeans. Her wings crushed behind her. He tumbled all around the bedroom was he yanked the fabric over his legs, finally buttoning them as the door opened.
"Jay!" A high voice called. A woman dashed for him and threw her arms around him as he sent an apologetic look towards the wardrobe. Leana's eyes widened; this was Elixibur Aerin," Leana's eyes tightened on the woman's back. What a perfect place to embed a dagger. It took all of her strength to remind herself that children should not be punished for the crimes of their parents, but she sure would have liked to gut the bitch.
Slowly, she lifted her head from his chest and scanned him up and down hungrily. Now she really did want to gut her. "I'm taking Dronolas early," She told him. What a bitch! Jehovah growled in his chest, knowing full well that the only reason she was doing it was because he and Jay couldn't bear to be separated. "Come home," She purred as she began sliding a nail – that was way too long to be practical – down his chest. Though, he didn't look the least bit interested. Taking her hand and pushing it away from his chest, he cocked his neck and smiled respectfully. "The agreement was a fortnight, majesty," The woman sneered in that wicked childish way that she did.
"Nonetheless, I need him back. You're welcome back whenever," The woman turned towards the wardrobe, as if baiting him. And it worked.
"Wait!" He called, dropping his head as she smirked knowing full well that she had won. "I'll come tomorrow," Jay murmured as Leana's heart shattered. If she was armed, she would have leapt out of her hiding space and killed the witch right there.
"Good," The Seelie queen smirked as she turned on her heel, swaying what she liked to call hips on her way out. "I'll see you soon, Jay," Her voice cruel and triumphant as Jehovah slumped down onto the bed in defeat. "Come, Dron!" She yelled, her voice changing. Leana found herself question how such a terrifying tone of voice could come from such a small woman. There was a slam of a door as she left with his friend undoubtedly in tow. Waiting a few seconds as if to make sure that she wasn't going to come back, Leana creaked out of the wardrobe, still standing there in a thin underskirt and bandaged torso. She looked awful.
Jay didn't seem to think so. He looked up at her and stared her up and down. Something about the intense emotion of the moment provoked some sort of feral attraction in his mind. Standing, he stormed over to her, pressing her shocked body between himself and the wall. Normally, she would scream, feel trapped and sick but this time, she bled into his kiss. Jehovah wrapped his bare arms around her and hoisted her up. One inhale of his musky scent and she began to feel faint and sleepy again, forgetting about the revelation of his departure.
His right hand dropped to her thigh, pulling up the skirts that still hung loose around her waist. She couldn't move even if she tried, like his fingers had short circuited her mind in the best possible way. He turned her around and placed her delicately on the bed, growling against her lips from his own restraint. With her own lips, she felt his mouth stretch wider and wider fighting between smiling and kissing.
After a moment, he pulled away from her, his eyes scanning her entire body before him. Her damaged, broken body, and his face dropped. Pushing himself up, he turned his head away. "As much as I might regret this later, I can't do this," But she had gone too far! She wanted him. She sat forward, gabbing his shoulders but he removed her hands. "No Leana," he told her. "Look at you, you nearly died!" He hissed, his voice filling with pain. "I can't risk hurting you," He got off the bed and went to find a shirt leaving her highly unsatisfied. For a moment, she folded her arms and huffed like a spoilt child, but after a moment of consideration, she knew that it was for the best.
"Jay," He turned with a raised brow. "What's your last name?" she asked timidly. Jay smiled.
"Seral," So pretty.
"Please don't go," She whimpered from the bed. Her quiet voice made his heart shatter. He didn't want to leave her, he didn't want to go back to that damned court just to play the role of glorified toy to that awful woman. In that moment, he would have given his exceptional life up just to live here as a human with her forever.
He straightened himself after pulling on a plain gray tee and walked over to her, taking her small face in his hand. He wondered for a moment, how could such a small woman be as deadly as she was. "I have to go, Lea," He told her. "If I don't she'll wonder why I wish to stay," She snatched her face from his and stood, her ribs aching with every step though she bit back a cry not wanting to appear pained in front of him.
"You think I can't handle some Seelie wench?" She asked, turning with a grin as she made her way into the main living area of the apartment.
"No, but a platoon of soldiers may be a little more of a challenge," Jehovah warned smiling after her. Leana only veered and squinted at him over her shoulder.
"Child's play," He wanted to say there and then, but she the king rendered her helpless though he dared not. From what he had learned from the alchemist, Deploma was once their friend and Leana's lover. Attentive and caring in every way. But after what his own court did to that poor boy's mother, there was no changing his mind back to what it once was.
Hanging his head as Leana flung herself up onto his kitchen counter, taking an apple and taking a seductive bite, he shook his messy hair just to look up and see her eyes on him. "I have to go," He repeated, stalking closer to her and placing his hands either side of her on the counter. Leana stretched her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer, fearing that when she let him go, he would never come back.
"Promise me," She begged, wrapping her legs around his waist, pulling him as close to her own body that she could. "Promise me you'll come back," This seemed to snap something in him. Did she truly believe that he would leave her? Jehovah pulled his head away and took her cheek in his large, calloused hand. He looked down into her amethyst eyes full of needless desperation and hope.
"Leana," He murmured. "You are not to go back to that place," He shook her face gently, tears collecting in his own eyes from the fear of not being there the next time. "You hear me? Never,"
"But…"
"And if he comes for you, we'll kill him together," He interrupted, looking at her blank face. He pressed his own lips against hers and kissed her, possibly for the last time in a while. Once she had relaxed enough in his promise and had released his waist from the grip of her legs, Leana slid out from under him.
She slinked across the room, grabbing a hoodie off of the back of the couch, throwing it over her head and covering her bandaged body. All whilst Jehovah watched her, she glanced up at the clock on the wall. "It's only six," She remarked, turning to face him with a trusting smile. "Don't stay away too long," she cooed before slipping out the door. He wondered if he should ask her if she would be okay, but he knew that she would be.