Lucian eventually stood up with Celine attached to him like a moss on a tree. She weighed nothing to him, so it was not a big problem.
He carefully closed the window and then started walking back towards his office, with her still clinging to his shirt, dragging her behind him. Whether it was a tantrum or something else, he didn't know.
He laid her on his bed, placing her in the middle of the pillow fort. She didn't let go, so he ended up lying on top of her, squeezing her under his weight.
The guilt refused to leave him alone, and he didn't know what to do with it.
'She is just playing with my feelings now,' he thought, not letting her get her way.
He rolled off of her, taking advantage of his strength and quickly wrapped the sheets around her like a caterpillar.
"You don't choke your lover," he scolded her, "It's a bad habit. Don't do it ever again."
He should have scolded her the first time she did it too, but his head was always in a weird place around her.
He would find himself indulging her to the point that he let himself get bitten, scratched, smeared with mud and whatever else her imagination came up with.
It was the opposite of what the priests made him feel. Instead of being disgusted, he was having fun. She was a hilarious wolf, trying to eat him up, and he was the clueless lamb, letting her.
"This is not how loving couples act towards each other," he continued his scolding, "They respect each other and take care of one another. It's about support, and understanding. You don't hurt each other, and if you do, you make up for it and apologize. You can't just do what you want and then expect me to let it slide."
She outstretched her arms for an apology hug, probably thinking they were playing around again, making Lucian facepalm himself.
"I'm serious, Celine. I'm going to take a bath and when I come back, you'll have to apologize and swear to never choke me again," he said, and left for the bathroom.
"I can swear to help you wash your hair instead," she said, unwrapping herself from her cocoon and following after him.
"Did you even listen to a word I said?" he asked. She was already behind him, helping him set the fire to boil the water inside a kettle.
"If I kept listening to your words, your neck would be carrying my handprints to the grave right now," she said, overbearing and unapologetic as usual.
"You...you are really something else," he ruffled his hair in frustration.
"Of course, I'm the best," she laughed, contagiously, "Fret not, I will help you bathe like a maid to satiate your desire for power over me, and you will have to be satisfied with that much. Now, take off your clothes and let me see the damage I have caused you."
"..." Lucian's nostrils flared as he turned his back to her, not wanting to look at her face lest she saw his stupid grin, "You are not my maid. Don't talk like that."
Her tone, her words, her voice, all of it made him want to laugh, and he wasn't sure why. She was good at twisting his heart into knots, and he couldn't stop it from happening.
He loved it how she could turn even the most depressing thing around and make him feel better about it. Like getting bruises just to get tended to afterward, and see her cute face while she pretended to be a maid. A very domineering maid, who only listened to her own rules, and no one else's.
'Mission tame the wolf is failing...'
Lucian thought as he unbuttoned his shirt. They already saw each other naked, so he had no qualms about undressing in front of her, and instead focused on what to do to convince her to change her ways.
'She's not even bothered by her wrong doings, and is a little too good at manipulating me...consequences aren't working as they are supposed to...maybe I should try rewards instead...and lots of treats...'
He paused in his thoughts.
'Isn't that exactly what she wants me to do?'
He looked over his shoulder in horror, seeing her turn on the faucet to fill in the tub.
'I'm being manipulated! Oh, Gods above, she's turning the punishment into a reward. I'm being outplayed...I'm losing control...'
"Can I choose the essential oil?" she asked, looking through the collection on the shelf, sniffing each to see if there were any that she liked.
"Do I get a say in it?" he asked, half sarcastically, not sure if he was allowed to make decisions for himself when she was around.
She smiled, "Aren't you going to choose depending on what I would like to smell anyway?"
"..." Lucian grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her out of the bathroom before she could drive him crazy. "I'm locking the doors."
"I will scream," she threatened him.
"Then do it, see what happens," he threatened her back, and locked the doors.
He let out a breath, and then another. His heart was beating too loudly, his body was too warm, and his chest was a mess of butterflies. Whether from stress, or excitement, or anger, or fear, or whatever it was.
He ended up choosing her favorite citrusy scent and added it to the water, then removed his clothes and sunk into the tub, closing his eyes.
He didn't have a chance to take a bath before meeting her because a certain someone didn't give him a chance to.
"My Lo~rd," she called out to him humorously, tapping her fingers against the door instead of knocking, "Your back is going to itch if I'm not there to wash it for you. I will make you feel really nice and clean, so good that you will want to keep me by your side fore~ver and e~ver."