Blood Legacy Chapter 132: 130. Christmas special pt.2

"Come on, dance with me, Nate,"

He blinked away that fog that had clouded his mind, surprised to notice that she was standing right next to his chair now.

He stupidly stared up at her for a moment, the slow Christmas-themed song playing in the background only now registering in his brain.

He smiled and stood up, offering her his open palm. And together they walked to the spacious area by the fireplace, her lips escaping a small giggle as he took her arms and wrapped them around the back of his neck, bringing her close to him.

"You look so beautiful in this dress," he said, placing his hands on her hips and her cheeks bloomed with a little bit of colour.

"Too bad we ruined it with chocolate," he then added and her eyes narrowed, feigning annoyance.

"I'm still mad at you for that. You and Darius," she stated, her nose scrunching up in a failing attempt to look angry.

He laughed, throwing his head back a little and her frown dissolved, finding herself smiling instead at the sight of him laughing so mirthfully. So joyful and careless, looking like the happiest man in the world as he held her and swayed with her, dancing to that slow Christmas tune.

**

The crickets chirped in the background, adding to that peaceful and relaxing silence that befell over them. The dinner party was over now, most of their small group of friends having already left.

He sat behind her on that comfy swing couch decorating her back porch, acting as a pillow for her as she rested her back against his chest, her bare legs stretched out in front of her on the couch. She held that glass of wine between her hands, her gaze unfocused.

She was deeply lost into thought, absently staring in the distance as he lightly rocked the swing with his right leg that was still on the wooden floor, making themselves slowly glide from side to side.

"I feel guilty sometimes, at least I still do," the timbre of his voice created a mild vibration that caressed her back, her brows furrowing at the sound of his words.

"What for?"

He softly smiled, peering down at her even though she couldn't see him.

"For feeling relief,"

She remained silent, inviting him to further elaborate. And with that soft smile still gracing his lips he proceeded to explain.

"From the very moment when I firstly saw him there at our school, when I found out that he was actually alive and that he was your first mate I just couldn't contain this deep sense of relief that washed over me,"

He could practically feel her brows raising with curiosity, the mental image of her displaying such expression making him chuckle a little as he paused to add,

"Don't get me wrong, I still wanted to bite his head off for taking you away from me,"

She mildly shook her head and took a sip from her glass, another small chuckle erupting from him before he let out a long, calming exhale.

"But I also quickly realized that no more I was bound to you, to that sickening duty of becoming king,"

"I never wanted any of that," he truthfully admitted. Shit. It felt so good to finally say it out loud.

"I loathed myself for merely being born into the royal family. I wanted to rip our Goddess from the sky and question her why she chose this damning path for me..."

"And when I saw him, when I saw him standing there, in the flesh and bones right in front of me I almost cried with relief, knowing that I was finally free..."

"From everything. All of it," he quietly added, his gaze lost into nothingness for another moment before he dipped his chin, placing a gentle kiss over the top of her head.

"You shouldn't feel guilty, Nate," she softly said, his brows drawing together with mild curiosity as he stared down at her.

"It's okay to feel relief. I can imagine that it hadn't been easy for you either, having to give your life away just like that for the sake of some stupid old, stuck-up bastards," He let out a small laugh at the sound of that, her head turning to peer over her shoulder for a moment.

"What? It's true!"

*If only she had known.* He lightly shook his head, still amused as he snuck one arm around her shoulders, giving her a caring hug.

"Well, then I dare you to say that to their faces when we get there," he taunted her and she let out a small giggle.

"What if I actually do? You know what, let's place a bet on it," she said and he quickly agreed,

"Sure. What are the terms?"

"If I chicken out and you win, you can get me to do a chore of your choosing. For a whole month," she said and his brow raised with interest, suddenly starting to get so many creative ideas, all at once.

"Very well. And if you win?"

"If I win, I get to dump a whole bucket of melted chocolate both on you and Darius!"

"Hey! Why do I get to be dragged into this?" Darius said with mock annoyance as he stepped onto the porch, throwing them both a displeased look.

"Uh, because you teamed up with your brother against me?" Carina said with vexation, arms crossed and throwing daggers at her mate with her eyes as he walked closer and sat down on the swinging couch with them, placing her legs in his lap.

"Hey, you were the one who started it," he shrugged, fighting back a smile as he looked at that comically scrunched-up expression painting her face.

"Still, not fair! I was only taunting you, I didn't say anything about him!"

"Well, he's my brother, of course he was going to take my side and help me get revenge," she pouted at the sound of his words and he let out a laugh, intending to say something more when the sound of someone shouting from inside the house drew their attention, all three of them staring at each other with curious frowns plastered on their faces.

*"On the third day of Christmas daddy gave me, one little hickey, two hungry kisses, three bottom spankings and a nice piece of brother sandwich!"* Andrea's loud and grating voice reached them as she drunkenly belted out from inside the house without a single care in the world. She continued to sing like that, using even more inappropriate descriptions and Carina dragged an exasperated hand over her face, her gaze meeting her mate's as she flatly commented,

"Well, at least you have a sibling that's not entirely fucked in the head,"

Both Nathan and Darius laughed and she threw an angry glower towards the back door as if she could actually see her sister there, loudly shouting back,

"Andrea, you better shut the fuck up before I come in there and make you!"