Awakening Love: Reborn to Be His Duchess Chapter 126: The Only Way To Ease An Aphrodisiac

Or during weary lessons, he would lean over and whisper, "Ella, want to go play?"

Elowen couldn't recall exactly when or why that changed—when Alaric stopped smiling so easily at her, stopped calling her Ella.

"What about me?" Cassian's voice drew her back.

Elowen was slow to catch on. "What?"

"May I call you that too?"

Elowen blinked.

Slowly, his meaning dawned on her. He wants to call me Ella, too.

For some reason, her heart began to thump wildly against her ribs. Heat rushed to her cheeks.

"Ella." It seemed to be his first time trying it, the name tentative on his lips.

Yet his voice was naturally magnetic and pleasing, and hearing it spoken so intimately sent an inexplicable shiver through her.

"You dislike it?" Cassian observed her expression.

"It's not that..." Elowen flushed, unable to meet his gaze.

He gave a soft hum. "Then you like it."

Elowen was taken aback. You can deduce that?

"Ella," he called again.

The second time was smoother, laced with a subtle, unspoken intimacy.

Elowen's face burned. She couldn't answer.

Cassian's eyes held hers. "Have you ever considered that my beloved might be you?"

Elowen stared, stunned.

His beloved? Me?

She had used that line to bluff Daphne, but she'd never truly considered it a possibility.

How could it be?

After a long silence, her fingers clenched. "My lord, is it..."

"Hmm?" His tone was questioning.

Elowen's expression turned serious. "Is the aphrodisiac wine taking effect?"

This gave Cassian pause.

"I've heard that people will talk nonsense when under its influence."

What she'd actually heard was: "at a time like that, a man will say anything—sweet lies included."

And a time like that... probably meant after he'd had an aphrodisiac, right?

Cassian's attention was wholly fixed on her face.

Her cheeks were flushed like sunset clouds, her lips full and soft.

Countless nights, in the dim light, he had watched her fall asleep.

Now, Cassian's throat moved with a swallow. A raw, barely restrained emotion surged within him.

His palm stroked the small of her back. "Besides talking nonsense, what else does it do?"

"I... I don't know. Perhaps... a little handsy?"

Cassian took her cue. "Yes," he murmured. "A little."

Then he leaned in. His heated lips met hers.

Elowen hadn't seen that coming at all. Her eyes flew wide, shock crashing through her as she stared at Cassian.

She met his eyes—dark, deep, like a still pool.

He was looking down at her, a lazy yet intensely focused expression as he studied her reaction.

Elowen hurriedly shut her eyes.

His lips remained pressed against hers, unmoving.

Only then did she think to push him away.

Her hands came up, but they met only the firm, unyielding planes of his chest. He didn't budge. His lips moved against hers, a gentle, testing pressure.

A soft, muffled sound escaped her throat.

Cassian heard it and pulled back slightly.

Elowen's heart hammered. When she opened her eyes, they were slightly red-rimmed.

Cassian's throat worked. "The effects are worsening," he said, his voice rough.

If the potion's effects were worsening, there was no helping it.

Elowen peeked at him. "You... kissed me just now. Is it better?"

Cassian shook his head. "Not that quickly."

"Then..." Elowen trailed off, too embarrassed to continue.

"It might require... another," Cassian finished for her, helpfully.

Elowen was dumbfounded. Again?

Her face, already crimson, now flushed a delicate pink down her neck.

"Do you hate this?" Cassian asked.

Elowen made a pained face. "I..."

She whispered, barely audible, "I'm... nervous."

This kind of thing between a man and a woman was nothing like anything else.

She could be bold in other areas, but in this, her courage evaporated.

She often wrote of romance in her tales, but those were based on others' stories and her own imagination. She always extinguished the candle at the crucial moment, skirting any detail.

Not because she didn't want to write it, but because she didn't know how.

She wrote of kisses, but only briefly.

This was entirely new to her, in both her past and present life.

Today was her first kiss.

"Nervous," Cassian repeated the word softly.

Then he sighed, "Forget it."

He coughed. "They say the only way to ease an aphrodisiac is to be close to a woman. But if you don't want that, I won't push you. It's just a damn drug. Strong, sure, but nothing I can't take. Worst case, I pass out for a few days."

He coughed again, his face visibly paling further, a picture of profound suffering.