Summary: A little reimagining of the scene in Lykos after the alliance dinner, in which the airship is slightly delayed, and Kenna and Diavolos end up spending some time together.
Just as they’re about to leave for Aurelia, something goes wrong with the airship’s instrumentation. Although Whitlock assures Kenna and Annelyse that it won’t take long to fix and they’ll be in the air within the hour, it’s frustrating. Kenna has never been one for sitting and waiting, and she stares impatiently while Whitlock works, as if she can will the airship to fix itself. Whitlock makes her leave after a few minutes, telling her she can’t hover and pace or it will take him longer.
Kenna wanders back towards the castle, meandering along the rocky land surrounding it. She spots Diavolos reclining on a patch of grass, hands behind his head, looking remarkably at ease, given the situation. As much as she despises Luther and the children of his she’s met before today, she’s undeniably curious about Diavolos. She’s honestly surprised any member of the Nevrakis family would voluntarily be locked up in the general population of the dungeons, or could manage to get through dinner without threatening or insulting someone.
She wonders if he’ll tell her anything about himself, then wonders what it is about him that has her so intrigued. Kenna finds herself making her way towards him, to discuss their plan when they get to Aurelia, she tells herself. Diavolos turns his head and cracks his eyes open when he hears her approach.
“Queen Kenna,” he greets her with a grin. “Did Whitlock kick you off the airship?”
“He might have,” she says, then confesses, “I’m not good at sitting and waiting.”
Diavolos chuckles. “I could have guessed that.”
He peers up at her, patting the ground next to him. “Are you just going to stand there?”
Kenna raises an eyebrow, and Diavolos smiles sincerely. “I’m not going to try and attack you, Kenna. I don’t go after people for no reason.”
“Are you sure you’re a Nevrakis?” She flinches a little as the words come out; they sound harsher than she intended.
But Diavolos just laughs again. “The last I checked.”
He pats the ground again, and Kenna hides a smile as she lowers herself down to sit next to him, her elbow bumping against his. They sit quietly for a few minutes, until Kenna sighs and starts plucking at the grass. She taps her boot restlessly, grinning when Diavolos sits up and grabs her foot.
“Stop fidgeting,” he says with a smirk.
“I told you I’m not good at sitting and waiting,” Kenna laughs.
“You realize you’ll be stuck on an airship for the next several hours?”
“Yes, but at least then we’ll be going somewhere,” she grumbles.
“I don’t know how you’re so relaxed. You’re used to being in battle, not just sitting around,” she points out.
“Yes,” he agrees. “But the trips to and from the Iron Empire involved a lot of sitting and waiting.”
He gently presses on her shoulder. “Lay back. Relax.”
“Fine,” she sighs, reclining back on the ground, Diavolos lying back down next to her.
Turning her head, she looks at Diavolos as he closes his eyes again. She can’t help but notice how incredibly handsome he is, his dark features and full lips, his high cheekbones and long, dark eyelashes.
Diavolos slowly opens his eyes, turning to look at her, a confident smirk spreading across his face as she feels her cheeks turn pink. Kenna doesn’t know if she feels more embarrassed at being caught staring at him so blatantly, or more of a sense of forbidden longing as she notices the way he’s looking at her.
“What?” he asks, the low quality of his voice sending a shiver down her spine.
“Nothing,” she murmurs, glancing down at his lips unintentionally, then dragging her eyes back up to meet his gaze.
“You sure?”
“No,” she admits quietly, then rolls to her side and walks her fingers up his chest to grip his collar.
“Tell me something about yourself,” she murmurs, and almost laughs at the sudden confused look on his face.
“Tell you…?” he trails off, shaking his head and smiling wryly at her. “You are unlike any woman I’ve ever met, Kenna.”
“A good thing, I hope,” she answers, brushing her fingertips over the dark stubble across his jawline.
His eyes flash with heat as he shifts onto his side, bringing them so close together that his chest nearly touches hers.
“It’s a good thing,” he assures her, then points at the scar going through his left eyebrow and says, “I wasn’t paying attention riding my horse, and ran right into a low hanging branch.”
Kenna smiles, trying not to laugh, and Diavolos sternly says, “That stays between us”, though she can see a hint of amusement on his face.
“Of course.” She inches closer to him, his breath puffing across her lips. “Tell me something else.”
“Is that really what you want?” he asks, bringing his hand up to run through her long hair.
Kenna slips her hand down, fingers tightening around his collar again. “No,” she says, her voice barely a whisper as she leans in and touches her lips to his as her eyes drift closed. He kisses her back, a gentle pressure against her mouth, and when she opens her eyes again, Diavolos is staring at her.
“I’ve been wanting to kiss you since I first saw you,” he says with a grin, moving his hand down to settle on her hip.
A smile crosses her face. “That would have made this alliance more interesting.”
“Mmm,” he rumbles.
Kenna leans in to kiss him again, another slow brushing of her mouth over his. She means for it to stay gentle, sweet, to see if whatever she’s feeling is just a fleeting physical attraction. But then his arm wraps around her, his mouth opening slightly and his tongue teasing over her lips, and she’s lost. She curls her fingers in his hair, tugging at the dark strands, and her breath catches suddenly when he rolls to his back and pulls her over him.
Sinking into him, she brings her other hand up to bury in his hair, his kisses growing deeper, insistent, as he bands his arms around her back, pressing her tightly against him. She shifts up, and shivers at the guttural groan he lets out, pulling back briefly to stare at him. Diavolos is looking at her in a way that no one else ever has, not even Dom, and a surge of want and anticipation courses through her. Their lips crash together as he grips the back of her neck and pulls her back down against his chest. He rolls them again, the ground cool underneath her. One of his hands tangles in her hair, the other sliding under her hip. Her fingers clench desperately at the rough material of his shirt as he moves down, sucking and biting her neck.
Her hips press up into his, and she whimpers when he stops suddenly. She can feel his mouth hovering just above her, his weight pressing her into the ground, her eyes still closed as her mind tries to wrap around what just happened. She kissed Diavolos. She thinks she would like to keep kissing Diavolos. He’s an undeniably good kisser. Then she remembers she kissed him in front of the castle at Lykos, where anyone can see them, and she panics suddenly at that thought. Diavolos murmurs her name in her ear right as her eyes fly open, settling on his face, just inches from hers.
“Someone’s looking for you,” Diavolos says, rolling off of her and on to his back.
Kenna distantly hears Annelyse shouting for her, and sits up quickly, running her hands through her hair. She hears Diavolos chuckle as he pulls a twig out from the dark strands before he stands and holds a hand out, tugging her up easily.
“I…” Kenna flushes, can’t hide her smile as she looks at him.
“I feel the same way,” Diavolos says teasingly, brushing grass off his pants.
The shouts grow louder as Annelyse gets closer, and Kenna calls back. Diavolos sneaks another quick kiss to her lips, and Kenna groans to herself when he bends down and says in a low voice, “If you want me to tell you more about myself, you know where to find me.”