A few hours ago, before the break of dawn, Lucian had woken up in Ave's bed. At first, he didn't make any attempt to move as Ave had turned to face him in her sleep and had her leg draped over his body, with her arm wrapped around his waist while she buried her head into his chest, he could feel her warm breathing falling on his skin where his buttons were left unbuttoned, causing his lower abdomen to tighten up and his arm to instinctively tighten around her.
He wished he could remain like this with her until they both slept in, but he dared not allow the sun to rise before he'd depart from her room. He didn't want to risk being caught by one of the Empress's dogs and get reported for being with Ave. The last thing he wanted was to allow the heartless woman to use Ave just to get to him.
