Chapter 10

Ellery

As one ofCallan's friends lifted his hand and walked toward the stage, I turned to leave. I could stand here and watch this for hours, but Scarlet and I had things to take care of, and it would be easier to do so while everyone was distracted.

I didn't get far before someone stepped in my way. I stopped short to avoid crashing into the broad chest before me.

Tilting my head back, I kept expecting to find the face that went with the chest, but I had to keep going until my head finally stopped, and I found myself looking at… Ryker Locke. The heir of Locksley castle, the duke's only living child, and the man I'd stolen a fortune from, towered over me as he blocked my way.

My heart slammed off my ribs, not because I'd robbed him, but because whereas Callan was the boy I kissed under the willow tree, Ryker was the man I dreamed about kissing… every night for three years.

It had been years since I last had any real interaction with him, but I could tell the man before me was a lot different than the one who once sat in my home with my mother and father and ate dinner while a blizzard raged outside.

He'd been thinner then, clean-shaven, and his hair was darker. Time in the sun had lightened his hair while creating a callousness in his silver eyes that wasn't there before.

Those eyes… I remembered how they sparkled when he spoke with my parents. His father, a much more brooding figure, barely spoke as the wind howled outside and snow pelted the windowpanes, but he let his displeasure over having to spend the night in our lowly manor known.

I thought he should sleep in the stables, but that wouldn't have been allowed. The duke was one of the most powerful men in the realm and an asshole.

Despite the cold battering the windows and seeping through the cracks on gusts of wind, I'd been warm while watching Ryker. I'd never seen anyone as handsome as him or been around a fellow lightning bearer. Of course, he didn't know I was one too, but everyone knew he was.

I was used to the boys at the school, but Ryker was a man. Of course, I'd seen men before. After all, they worked the fields and horses at the manor, but he'd been so different. He was tall, confident, and powerful, and the warm timbre in his voice made my stomach flutter.

He'd sipped his wine while the fire crackled, and the night passed in a blur. And the entire time, I watched him from under my lashes while sipping the small glass of wine my mother allowed me.

I didn't see how a man as warm as Ryker had a father who was so cold as he sat in silent disdain. The duke barely spoke to my parents and never said a word to me or the servants.

My home, which was large, beautiful, and full of warmth, had been beneath him. He made that clear with his every disapproving look at the tapestries on the walls, my mother's artwork, and the food set before him.

The unexpected blizzard, a magnetic storm that unleashed its wrath on the land and made opening portals impossible, had forced the duke and his son to stop at the manor for the night or face possible death. The duke acted like our home was barely above freezing to death.

But his son… well, his son had captivated me completely. He didn't acknowledge his father, and I got the impression they didn't like each other, but from what I could see, they were complete opposites.

His father only spoke to be shown to his room, and he retired early while Ryker played cards with my mother and father. I tried to stay up too, but my father shooed me from the room.

At seventeen, they felt I was too young to be up all night playing cards and drinking. I didn't agree but was never going to win the argument and felt humiliated as I retreated upstairs.

But I didn't go to bed. I stayed by the stairs, peering through the railing as they sat up late into the night drinking, laughing, and playing games.

I smiled every time Ryker laughed, and the deep timbre of his voice comforted me. They were all still sitting at the card table, with the fire playing over them, when exhaustion won, and I retreated to my room.

When I woke the next morning, I discovered the storm had passed and they were getting ready to leave. I stood at my window, watching their carriage take off on the snow-covered roads. The duke rode in the vehicle while his son rode his horse beside the driver until they disappeared into the woods.

I hadn't seen Ryker again until earlier, and it was not the reunion I'd spent hours daydreaming about as a girl. Now, as a woman, I realized those dreams were foolish nonsense, but I couldn't stop my gaze from falling to his mouth before recalling he'd most likely kill me if he knew the truth.