Ruhn and Lidia: HOFAS Bonus Chapter

The modern art gallery off Archer Street was empty, save for the snobby draki receptionist who’d buzzed them in through the glass doors. Bryce had recommended the place, and as Ruhn and Lidia surveyed the array of paintings of bug-eyed cats and statues of rotten banana peels, he could only wonder if his sister had been fucking with him.

“This is…” Lidia had walked up to a painting of a dog walking its owner. “Art?”

Ruhn grunted. “Apparently.”

Across the immaculate gallery, the receptionist sniffed but didn’t look up from his laptop. Would the asshole have even let them in if he hadn’t recognized them? It was impossible to go any- where in this city, on this continent, on this entire fucking planet without being recognized. Certainly not after the events of last month.

Life hadn’t gone back to normal, not really, but tonight was supposed to be Ruhn’s attempt at it.

“You really want to hang something like this in the living room?” Lidia motioned to a painting of one of those bug-eyed cats sitting on top of a trash can, a rat dangling from its mouth.

“Not your thing?”

She scowled. “I’m not entirely sure what my artistic taste is, but I know it’s not this.”

He considered her words. “You don’t know what kind of art you’re into?”

She shook her head, her long golden hair flowing with the movement. Gone was the chignon. He’d spent hours running his hands through the silken strands of her hair, learning what made her lush body literally burn with desire.

“I was raised to appreciate only classical, imperial artwork-as was befitting a female of my heritage.”

He winced. He’d thought his childhood had been oppressive, but at least his father, piece of shit that he was, hadn’t stifled Ruhn’s interests. “So no teenage bedroom full of band posters for you?”

She chuckled, crossing her arms as she moved to the next painting. Her jeans did wonders for her ass,

and her tight black cashmere sweater left little to the imagination when it came to the breasts he couldn’t stop touching. Tasting.

He couldn’t get enough of her. Even living together these past several weeks, working together most days in the Aux … he couldn’t stop wanting her, needing her. It wasn’t just her body, though. It was Lidia herself- her wit, her dry humor, her bravery and selflessness and compassion.

He didn’t care how much Flynn and Dec teased him. He was unabashedly, unrelentingly in love with this female. With his mate.

“I’ve never had the opportunity,” Lidia said as she studied the next cat portrait, “to express myself through art. Not even by decorating.”

Ruhn peered at the massive black-and-white painting of a cat vomiting up a planet that resembled Midgard. “If you want to go wild and paint the apartment black and tape up band posters I won’t object. But if you hang up one of these monstrosities, we might have a problem.”

Lidia snorted, turning back to him. Gods, she was beautiful. Even more so now that she was in civilian clothes, no trace of the Hind to be found. Heat stirred in his gut, and from the golden eyes warmed, she knew what he was thinking. But Lidia said, “I was provided a suite of rooms at my father’s estate. It never crossed my mind, even as a child, that I might make the space my own. The rooms belonged to my father. They were to look the way he wanted them to look, just as I was to look the way he wanted me to.”

The heat cooled in her eyes, and Ruhn sauntered over, sliding an arm around her waist. “And the day you had Ophion squash him, he finally looked the way you wanted him to look.”

She choked. “That’s not funny.”

Ruhn pressed a kiss to her brow, breathing in her beckoning scent. “You laughed. Admit it: that sound was a laugh.”

She nudged him with a hip. “You’re a bad influence.”

“That’s the best thing anyone’s ever said about me.”

Lidia pulled away, and for a moment, Ruhn let himself admire her. His mate. His brave, lovely, brilliant mate.

Somehow, they’d made it. Somehow, they were standing in this weird gallery, shopping for artwork for their apartment. They were here, doing a relatively mundane thing, and the Asteri were dead. Pollux was dead. Mordoc was dead.

His father was dead.

And Ruhn was no longer Crown Prince Ruhn, but simply Ruhn Danaan. Well, technically, he was now Commander Danaan of the Crescent City Aux, but he only liked to bust that one out when Aux grunts were mouthing off.

Life was weirdly normal and yet… not. How long would this gallery last? Or the streetlamps outside? Or what about the cars, idling in traffic? Or the phone buzzing in his pocket-

Ruhn drew his stare from Lidia’s, realizing he’d been free- falling into her eyes, and pulled out his phone.

It was Flynn, who was technically on duty right now. Ruhn had instructed the asshole not to bother him on his night off under any circumstances. Any.

So Ruhn answered with a terse “What.” “There’s, uh… a problem.”

Ruhn gripped the phone so hard the plastic groaned. “Is Rigelus back from the dead?”

“No.”

“Then leave me the fuck alone.” Ruhn hung up. Lidia arched a brow. “You didn’t want to know?”

Ruhn put a hand on her lower back, guiding her toward the next piece of art. And fine, maybe his hand slid south a bit. To the beginning of the luscious curve of her ass.

Maybe her back arched a little bit, too. Like she remembered how he’d worshipped that spectacular ass last night-

His phone rang again. Dec this time.

Ruhn growled deep in his throat and answered, “What.”

“I really think you might want to check this out.” “Call Athalar.”

“Athalar is on the Depth Charger with your sister and the Ocean Queen right now. You’re closer.”

“It’s also my night off-“

“We’re at the eastern night garden in FiRo. Just get down here.” Dec ended the call.

Ruhn blew out a long breath. Lidia’s brows were raised, a half smile gracing her full mouth. “My plan for tonight was to take you art shopping,” he said, “then go out to a fancy dinner, and then fuck for ten hours straight.” She laughed, the sound full of joy, of life. So Ruhn wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing that beautiful, smiling mouth once, twice. “Rain check?”

She kissed him back. “As long as we get in at least two hours of straight fucking, I’m good.”

It was Ruhn’s turn to laugh, and as he steered them toward the glass exit, leaving the horrific cat art behind, he knew that it didn’t matter what he was doing with his night, so long as Lidia was by his side.

Traffic was bad enough that they opted to walk over to Five Roses instead of sitting in a taxi for an hour.

“I’m shocked anyone’s using their car right now,” Lidia murmured as they passed yet another avenue crammed bumper-to-bumper. “They’re wasting firstlight.”

“I’m guessing they’re Firstlight Zero deniers.”

There was a growing group of people who outright refused to believe the firstlight would run out eventually, who thought it was all some giant government conspiracy led by a cabal of nefarious people-Ruhn and Lidia among them-to switch over to a different power source that they had business stakes in, and would profit from.

It was delusional, ridiculous shit. And yet plenty of people bought it, denying even the possibility of the very real end coming, a big fucking Firstlight Zero power reading. Their resources were finite now, and if they didn’t stop expending and start conserving, they’d reach Firstlight Zero way faster than the experts had calculated.

Traffic thinned out a bit in FiRo, mostly because the Fae had instituted so many zoning laws and regulations against low-end restaurants, bars, and

hotels that there wasn’t much to draw tourists and unwanted people into their blooming paradise of villas and private gardens after sunset. An issue Ruhn had promised himself he’d deal with later, once they’d figured out how to avoid losing all their tech and reverting to reading by candlelight and cooking over hearths.

Lidia’s slender hand slid into his as they turned onto a calm, villa-lined block, the olive trees whispering in the crisp autumn night. “I’ve been thinking,” she said, quietly enough that he knew whatever it was, it was serious.

“Yeah?” He squeezed her hand, letting her know he was there. Lidia paused at the end of the street, a block away from the night garden. The golden light from the streetlamps danced in her hair as she lifted her other hand to his cheek. Ruhn closed his eyes, savoring her featherlight touch. Lidia said, “You’re so… pretty.”

Ruhn opened his eyes, laughing. “That’s what you’ve been thinking about?”

Joy sparked in her gaze. “No. I mean, yes. I was thinking about something else, but then you looked like… you, and…” She rose onto her toes and kissed him, teeth clamping on his new lip ring, tugging lightly. Teasingly.

Before he could yank her against him and thoroughly explore her mouth, Lidia pulled back, running her fingers over the buzzed side of his head. “Before you distracted me with all this . . .” She traced her fingers over the tattoos crawling up the column of his throat.

Ruhn grinned. He’d started getting his tattoos inked on his skin again-mostly new designs, but he’d had some of the old ones re-created. The skin on one hand was still a paler hue compared to the skin on the other- a slight reminder of what he’d endured in those Asteri dungeons.

Lidia’s hand stilled on the side of his neck. There was such love and joy and hope in her eyes that his breath stalled in his chest. She smiled again, like she sensed that. She peered down at their linked hands. “I’ve been thinking that… I’d like to marry you.”

The world slipped out from underneath him. The stars overhead seemed to gleam brighter, drawing closer. Were his knees shaking?

Lidia burst out laughing. “Your face! Ruhn-what does that mean?”

“You… want to marry me?” The words caught in his throat, snagging.

She lowered her gaze for a moment, as if unsure. “Do you want to marry me?”

He blinked. “Is that a serious fucking question?”

She glared daggers at him. “Yes. I mean, we’re mates, and I thought it might be.”

Ruhn kissed her deeply.

“I want to marry you,” he said between kisses, nipping at her lips. “I want you to marry me. More than anything.” She laughed again, and he swallowed the sound as he kissed her harder, deeper.

She wanted to marry him. Loved him enough to make it permanent beyond even their mating bond. To… become a family. Tears pricked in his eyes. He’d never realized how much he wanted one. Yes, Bryce was his sister, and he had his mother, but it wasn’t the same, somehow, as this thing he was about to begin with Lidia. It didn’t matter if they had kids, or if her sons were enough, he and Lidia would be a family.

She retreated, scanning his face, noting the tears forming. She kissed one away. “I love you, you know that?”

Ruhn cradled her face gently in his hands. “You’re sure? You want a wedding and all that crap?”

Amusement danced over her features. “I don’t think I want a big, fancy wedding, but… a small party with our friends, maybe?” “Whatever you want. I don’t care. I mean-not that I don’t care, but I’m cool with anything, so long as we wind up legally wed at the end of it.”

She grinned, taking his hand again and leading him back into a walk. “Well, I guess that’s a good thing,” she said after a minute as the sweet scent of night- blooming jasmine greeted them, and the bioluminescent garden glowed mere steps away.

“Why?” They crossed the quiet street, the slick cobblestones stained green and blue by the light of the shining plants and flowers.

He was so busy trying to read her face that he didn’t turn until she pointed into the garden. To where Flynn and Dec stood in suits, Bryce and Hunt grinning with them.

“Because I thought we’d get married right now.”

It was the most romantic, insane thing Ruhn had ever done-and he hadn’t even planned it.

That was all Lidia: Flynn and Dec had lured him over here at her direction with their vague “problem.” Not wanting to use up any extra firstlight, Lidia had chosen the night garden for its natural source of illumination. She’d gotten Bryce and Athalar, who had pretended to be summoned by the Ocean Queen, to be over here all afternoon and evening setting up the long table under a massive moon magnolia tree. Ithan, Tharion, and Isaiah were now grinning at him. Along with Hypaxia and Brann and Actaeon, and-

At that point, Ruhn started crying. He didn’t notice who else sat there; he just knew they were all there to celebrate him—and Lidia.

A black-robed Priestess of Cthona married Lidia and Ruhn beneath that moon magnolia, the plate-sized blooms each glowing as brightly as the celestial orb they’d been named after.

He didn’t need time to think, or prepare, or second- guess. Nothing had ever felt more right. It didn’t matter that they were both in their casual clothes, or that Ruhn hadn’t showered since yesterday.

All that mattered was that Lidia was there with him under the moon magnolia, her hand in his as he slid the titanium ring- which she’d procured herself, of course-onto her finger.

Titanium-the strongest of the wedding metals. Meant to symbolize the unbreakable nature of a couple’s bond. After what they’d been through, Ruhn suspected a new sort of metal would have to be invented to embody the strength of their bond, but he’d take titanium for now.

And as Lidia slid a matching titanium ring onto Ruhn’s finger, he wondered if they’d also need to invent a new word for love, to embody what overflowed from his heart.

“So all that bullshit you spun about going to the Depth Charger,” Ruhn said to Bryce later as they sat at one end of the long table, sipping sparkling wine-courtesy of the Autumn King’s dwindling stash, his sister had boasted-“was a cover for this?”

Bryce, wearing a painted-on red dress that he had caught Athalar ogling at least twice, swigged from her flute of wine. “Oh, we went to the Depth Charger.” She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder, to where Lidia was sitting with Brann and Ace a few seats away. “We had to go get them. I’m thinking I could start a new business: Magical Starborn Princess Sullen Teenager Transportation Services.”

Ruhn chuckled. “Where are Renki and Davit?”

Bryce smiled. “Lidia invited them, too, but they thought it’d be good for the boys to try out a quick solo trip. We’re bringing them back tomorrow morning.”

Ruhn watched his mate-his wife-talking with her sons. That quiet, radiant joy glimmered from her.

If she’d introduced the boys to Hypaxia-their aunt- Ruhn had missed it. The new Head of Flame and Shadow was already gone, no doubt to deal with yet another crisis either within her House or in the city.

“The kids are staying with us,” Bryce went on. “So they don’t have to listen to you and Lidia being gross all night.”

Ruhn glowered at his sister. “Thanks, I think?”

But he really couldn’t have asked for anything better. The boys would be a floor away from them-and yeah, they wouldn’t use the guest bedroom that Lidia had already decorated for them, but there would be time for that.

So Ruhn amended, with a warm smile, “Thanks- truly.”

Bryce kissed his cheek. “Anything for my big brother.” She gestured down the table toward Lidia. “I’m happy for you guys- really fucking happy, Ruhn.”

“I’m happy for us, too.” Brann said something that had Lidia bursting into laughter. Even Ace offered up a hint of a smile.

Ruhn glanced back at his sister, finding her eyes gleaming with silver. “Don’t you dare cry,” he warned her. “Or I’ll start crying again.”

Bryce threw her arms around him and held him tight. “You deserve to be happy, Ruhn,” she said thickly. “More than anyone I know.”

He just hugged her back, letting the embrace convey all that was in his heart.

Ruhn found himself passed around from friend to friend for the next hour, losing sight of his bride for a good chunk of that time. When he’d finally had enough of being without her, he found Lidia talking quietly to Naomi Boreas.

“You guys are talking shop?” Ruhn asked, sliding an arm around Lidia’s shoulders. “At our wedding? Really?”

Naomi rolled her eyes. “Is there something else we should be discussing? Our hair and nails?”

Ruhn didn’t dare answer that one, so he just grinned his most charming grin. Naomi winked at Lidia before walking away. They’d become good friends these last several weeks, and Ruhn was glad of it. He knew Bryce was trying to get the two of them- and Hypaxia- to join her, Fury, and Juniper in some sort of Badass Females Only social group, but conflicting schedules and putting out constant fires had intervened. Gods help everyone else when they finally managed to make it happen, though.

Ruhn pulled Lidia a few feet farther into the garden, night crocuses glowing a deep amethyst at their feet. “Lidia, I don’t have words for what tonight was. Is. What it means to me.”

Her soft smile was a thing of remarkable beauty. “I was so nervous you’d say no.”

“To marrying you? Seriously?”

She shrugged. “I’d hoped you’d say yes, but you do have all those tattoos and that lip ring, and-“

He laughed. “And that means I’m anti-marriage?”

“You’re unconventional. I worried that marriage might be too normal for you.” “What changed your mind?”

“Your sister. She told me that if I proposed to you, you’d cry like a baby and say yes.” Lidia cocked her head. “Which you did.” Ruhn glared over a shoulder at Bryce, now sitting on Athalar’s lap and chatting animatedly with Fury and June. “She knows me well, huh?”

When he looked back at Lidia, she was grinning at him again. Right as-

“Is that music?”

As if on cue, a trio of musicians appeared near the head of the table. Real musicians, to avoid using firstlight from speakers or their phones. And when they began playing a slow, sweet song.

“Dance with me, Ruhn.”

He gaped at his wife. “You really coordinated this down to the last detail.”

She brushed invisible dust off her shoulders. “I coordinated the hit on the Spine-a wedding was nothing.” But she lowered her hand to take his. “I never got to dance with you in the garden at the Autumnal Equinox. Consider this my way of apologizing for bailing on you.”

Ruhn kissed her-gently, lightly. “You do owe me for that, I guess.”

Her arms twined around his neck, and as her body lined up against his, as they fell into the melody, everything else faded away.

“I’m so grateful,” Ruhn said, seeing her and only her. “So damn grateful that Cormac gave me that comm crystal.”

“Technically, he blackmailed you into taking it,” she said dryly.

“True.” But Ruhn still offered up a prayer of thanks to the dead Avallen Prince, wherever his soul now resided. Hopefully he’d been reunited with Sofie Renast at last.

“I’m grateful, too,” Lidia said quietly. “For all of it, good and bad. Because it brought me to you. It brought us to this to right now.”

There was nothing more to say, not after that. So Ruhn held her tighter, and they danced in contented, joyous silence under the moon magnolia as the distant stars wheeled overhead.

So much of the future was undecided-he knew a great deal of hardship was coming their way. But for right now, for this moment, with Lidia in his arms, surrounded by their friends…

For right now, for the first time in his life, everything was perfect.