Page 154 of Night Meets the Elf Queen

She let out a small grunt and turned on her side away from him. “Grumpy this morning? I must not have done my duty last night, though I was convinced I had when you screamed like a wild cat.”

Lifting her head, she groaned and shoved him. “I did not sound like a wild cat.” Then she rolled into him, wrapping her bare thigh around his hip. “Ijustwoke up. I’m not grumpy.”

“You’ve never been a morning person.”

“Goddess of night, remember?”

He smiled, brushing stray hair off her cheek. She had a soft pink to her skin today. Her hand suddenly clamped around his hardened length and he sucked in a sharp breath. “Fuck,” he murmured. Her slow movement along his tender flesh and a mischievous grin brought on a shudder. “Valeen.”

They were soon a tangle of limbs, damp with sweat. Watching her come apart gave him a high he couldn’t get enough of, so he kept going until she cried out again and again. He couldn’t get enough of her, nor she him.

Scheming and war and troubles faded away. The outside world could wait while for one small moment it was just them, in love, mated and married once again. It was almost more special than the first time, at least it rivaled it.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever craved you so much,” she said in the late afternoon, sitting on the kitchen countertop in only his tunic. There was something about her in his clothes that made him almost feral. The apple crunched loudly between her teeth, and she leaned back on her hands and smiled at him. “I always want you but since the ceremony it’s all I can think about.”

He smiled, knowing the feeling, and pulled the scones he’d made out of the oven and set them on the stovetop. The smell of them filled the air making his mouth water. “It’s quite the pull, isn’t it?”

In a couple strides, he had his hands on her thighs and dragged her to the edge. The loose shirt fell to the side revealing her shoulder. He leaned in for a kiss then paused—the lily mark on her arm… “Your mate mark is different. There is a secondflower on it. And it’s darker, and more pronounced.” The second flower was smaller on a stem to the right.

She glanced down at it then her fingertips ran over his and he shuddered at her touch. “So is yours. Mine was pulsing during the ceremony and while weconsummated,” she said the last word with a giggle. He loved her shy laughter.

“Interesting.” He’d felt it too. “It makes sense it would change since we are reborn and renewed.”

He snapped his fingers, and a scone appeared in his hand. He brought it to her mouth, and she bit into it. She moaned in delight and rolled her eyes back. He chuckled. “Good?”

“So good. I don’t know what you do to make them taste better than anyone else. It’s all the same ingredients.”

“But it’s made by the god of magic’s hand. It’s magic, love, that’s the secret. I will it to taste divine.”

She took it from his hand and devoured another bite. “You should bake more.”

“When I don’t have heads to roll, hearts to rip out, and a castle to build you, I will.” The sound of the sea crashed, and the warm salt air fluttered in from the open windows. “Will you walk the beach with me?”

The sand wassoft and squishy on his bare feet. They spent the day laughing and finding shells. The waves rolled over his ankles, but he didn’t go in far. He was content to watch her swim from the shore. There were too many times he’d been forced to drown in it for training with Synick that he just couldn’t enjoy swimming. And she knew that.

She dove underwater and came back up with a large white conch shell. “Look what I found,” she said, grinning with almostchildlike excitement. Even if he didn’t care much for shells, it made him happy because she was. She rushed out of the water and set it in his hand. There was a pink iridescent shine to it.

“We’ll keep it as a souvenir from our second honeymoon.”

He couldn’t remember a time in this life where he’d ever been this content. If she asked him to run away and give up their lives as gods, he would. He’d give up his revenge, he’d give it all up for her. Only the sad reality was eventually they’d be found. Assassins would come. Her life would always be in danger. So, for now, he’d cherish this day and tomorrow it was war.

Chapter 48

THANE

He’d spent the entire night pacing his room or the castle halls, going over every word Katana had said.I won’t live in Valeen’s shadow.She wasn’t that, never that. He couldn’t even compare them. They were so different.

Soon after she left him sitting at the bar with Evalyn, she asked her for a room, claiming she was too tired to walk back to the castle.

It’s done now. It was a mistake.

The words kept ringing in his ears.Mistake, mistake, mistake.

She thought he was a mistake. It was as crushing as the day Valeen left with Hel—worse even. He felt like he was going insane, how could he love her already? The moment she walked away was when he realized losing her would break him in more ways than he could handle. Maker, he was a fool for telling her they could sleep in the same room and it didn’t have to mean anything.

He stopped by her room to see if she’d returned this morning, to find it empty. Then he found himself at the stablesand took Phantom out bareback. Waiting to have him saddled and readied was too long. Hooves pounded over the cobblestone streets of the city. He took the less-crowded route but there were still people who had to hurry out of his way.

He pulled Phantom to a stop and swung down. Evalyn’s door was already open, letting in the warm morning air. The tables and chairs were set up for business once again. Leif was still passed out in the corner booth. He and Fennan decided to leave him rather than drag him back the night before.

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