Page 46 of A Darkness So Sweet

“These are a mark of a troll wife, so yes, they stay in. Anything else you will earn.”

“Earn?” She waited until he was done removing the four new piercings before shaking her head. “Are you suggesting I’ll get more of them?”

He turned his head so she could look at his ears. There were so many other things that she’d been looking at, so she hadn’t gotten a good look at all the piercings he had. But there were quite a few. From his lobes to the cartilage above, there were many piercings. Even one hidden inside his ear.

Apparently, his patience ran out for her scrutiny, though, because he grabbed onto her chin and turned her head to the side. “Piercings are an honor among my people. You earn them, far more than you earn anything else. Tattoos are decorations for many, but piercings? Those you must earn through rights and trials and life lessons.”

“What life lesson is being a troll wife?” she muttered.

But then his hand came down between them to reveal glittering emeralds in his palm. They were stunning. Absolutely gorgeous earrings with tiny cracks in the stone that made the bevels look like she could stare into them for hours on end and never see the end of these fractures. And if she listened really hard, Maia swore there was the faintest hum to them.

“These are the earrings you should have been given the night we met,” he murmured.

Ragnar drew even closer until Maia had to press her hands against his wide chest and brace herself. He freed her chin, those thick fingers sliding along her jaw until he could reach her ear. She could feel him inserting the earring and it felt... strange. Odd to have someone taking care of her like this, but it made it so she couldn’t breathe.

His heart thundered against her palm, betraying the calm in which he talked to her.

“A troll wife is a gift to her husband. A treasure that must be protected at all costs. It is his job—no, his duty and honor—to decorate her in all the elegance he can find. Gemstones do not come near to her beauty, but they can enhance it. Gold and silver are only the merest specks to make her prettier. Clothing, fabric, all of it can make her comfortable, but it’s no competition to the beauty he finds in just looking at her.”

“If a troll finds his wife that beautiful, it sounds like it’s hard to live,” she whispered. He turned her head, making quick work of the other two earrings. Maia couldn’t move her gaze from his chest, terrified of what she would find in his gaze.

“It’s an obsession that a male can never break free from. An honorable troll knows his wife is the most beautiful being he will ever see in his life. To adorn her with whatever he can find that might contend with that radiance is a lifelong challenge that none will ever succeed in.” He leaned down, those warm lips pressed to her ear, his breath caressing down her throat. “But it’s all worth it to see her in nothing but the jewelry he has given her, and the beauty that captivated him for years. When he earns that, troll wife, that is the greatest gift of all.”

And then he got off the bed and walked out of the room. As though what he had just said didn’t turn her legs to water and steal all the air from her lungs.

ChapterNineteen

MAIA

Maia slept for longer than she thought she would. After Ragnar had left the room, she’d been certain that she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. After all, how was someone supposed to close their eyes after the creature she was married to said...that?

She had a million questions. Did he find her that distractingly beautiful? No one in her life had ever mentioned that she was even pretty. Did he want to buy her gemstones? Maybe that was why he’d gotten the new earrings for her, which was rather lovely of him, even though he hadn’t been the kindest throughout this experience. Did that mean that he was going to be nicer from now on? Should she forgive him for how he’d acted?

Maybe that forgiveness was coming, but also she wanted answers for why he’d acted the way he had. Historically, Maia was too quick to forgive. She liked to smooth things over with people because she hated anyone being upset. Even when it was at her own detriment, she would rather someone else not be upset, even if that meant she had to be.

But not this time. This time, she wanted an apology. This time she would be stronger than she usually was, and she would make him apologize for being rude and for all the things that he’d done to terrify her.

Just... she would have to figure out how to do that. Or maybe how to be the kind of person whocoulddo that.

With those thoughts on her mind, she had drifted into a dreamless sleep and then woke as the wisps started blinking on again. She wasn’t sure why they were doing that, or if she should be concerned. What if they were giving her some kind of warning?

She sat straight up in bed, her heart thundering and a cold sweat spreading over her body. What if thiswasa warning? What if, after all this, she was supposed to listen to the wisps?

She didn’t hear a single thing. The entire room was as quiet as a tomb, and that in itself was rather unsettling. So she stood, padded over to the door, and opened it. Peering into the dark hallway was more than terrifying. She swore there was something moving in those shadows at the end of the hall. Sure, she was working on being brave.

But she wasn’t that brave yet.

Closing the door quietly, she looked around the room and tried to get her bearings. She’d given it a quick glance last night, but mostly she’d been looking at him. Ragnar. Kneeling in front of the fire and then kneeling in front of her. Those heated eyes looking her up and down, telling her that a troll wife was most beautiful wearing nothing but gemstones.

A shiver trailed over her body and all the hairs on her arms rose. She had to get a hold of herself. If she didn’t, she was going to lose her mind in here quickly.

Rubbing her hands over her arms, the chill set in through the holes in the shirt. Now that the fire he’d set was out, Maia had to admit, it was very cold in this room. The stone didn’t retain heat, it seemed. Which left her shivering in this shirt that wasn’t much of a shirt at all.

The wisps dimmed as she stood there, looking around. She thought for a moment maybe she’d stood still for too long, but then she noticed they were dimming so she could see light under the cracks around another door. The walls of this room weren’t carved, so it had been hard for her to notice the first time that there was another room attached to this one.

She pushed the door open and sucked in a deep breath. It was a bathroom. There was a lovely clawfoot tub carved out of white marble in the dead center. It was large enough to fit two people easily, likely three if they were friendly. The feet were carved into roots that sank into the floor. A lavatory in the back was the first thing she put to good use, before coming back to stare at the tub.

She would give anything to get into the bath right now. Half asleep and chilly, she wanted to wash the grime off her skin and the travel that likely lingered. Ragnar had said trolls bathed every single day. She wasn’t used to that.

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