Page 210 of Severed Heir

“Shit,” I moaned, biting back my scream.

He smiled from his bow, slowing his stroking fingers before I forced him to look up.

“You taste like every one of my desires,” he murmured, pressing his lips gently to the flame relic on my palm. “And if Hadrian thinks he can keep me at bay, treating me like some beast after his daughter, then I’ll become exactly what he believes I am.”

I raised an eyebrow, my voice low, questioning. “You’ll become a beast?”

His lips curved into a sly smile. “No. But it’ll be painfully obvious when his precious heir can’t walk straight after being bent over tables in the dark.”

His fingers stroked deeper, twisting as I hunched over in pleasure. “Bent over?” I swallowed hard. “Are you really that opposed to marriage, Archer?”

His smile deepened, a glint of something I couldn’t quite place in his eyes. “Do you want to marry me?”

Oh Gods, one more stroke and that would be it.

“No,” I breathed, grinding my hips harder into his fingers. “I mean, things seem complicated right now.”

He reached into his pocket, his fingers brushing against something… shiny. What thefuckwas happening?

“Oh,shit,” but that cry was for pleasure.

“I’m already on one knee, Severyn.” He drew out a sparkling iced diamond, its facets catching the dim light and scattering rainbows across the room. “A North Colindale jewel, won during your father’s bid. I’d never take away where you came from. You weren’t trapped in that frozen land. It was your first home.”

He looked up at me. “I want to court you. Properly. In the noble way. Let me parade you through halls, learn your mind before your body. Let me fall for you the way you deserve.”

Surely, there were more romantic ways to propose a courtship than with my legs spread and his fingers just inside me. And yet, gods, the man still made it sound sacred.

The diamond glinted in the low light as Archer lifted my wrist and slipped a dark silver band onto my index finger. My breath caught.

“The blood of silver,” he said softly, “from the mountains of a home you never had the chance to love. And now, I ask to court you in a new one—while my home, my heart, rests within you.”

His voice dipped. “Severyn Blanche, may I court you?”

“Yes,” I breathed, voice catching. “If it involves more of this, then yes.”

A smile tugged at his mouth as he pulled me close, his arms anchoring me like always. “Good. Now let’s hope this titling goes better than your last one… Severyn Lynch.”

I laughed under my breath, then shook my head. “No. This isn’t a proposal. It’s a courtship.”

He leaned in, forehead pressed to mine. “Then I promise—when this is over, I’ll marry you.”

That… was a big rock.

I stared at the diamond, the icy gleam of it settling in my chest. It was beautiful, almost ethereal and otherworldly. But more than that, it was a reminder of where I grew up. It was a diamond from the North.

“We can wait how ever long,” he said.

Then he lowered to his knees again and buried his face under my dress, and I had a taste of what married life with Archer would be like.

Chapter Forty

The sound of drums echoed from the outskirts of Wrathi, their steady beat a call to the people, a summons to witness their new heir. The rhythm pounded in the air, reverberating off the stone streets as the townspeople gathered.

I stood at the center of the square, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest. I was not just a name passed down in whispers. Not just the heir of a dying title. This kingdom was my blood, its weight, its fire, its grief. I carried it all.

Hadrian stepped forward and raised my hand high for all to see. “She is my burning heir,” he declared, voice ringing through the silence. “My flesh. My blood. My daughter. Her name is Severyn, and she is your newest heir.”

Motava, his wife, clapped once, and I found myself wondering whether their marriage had ever been forged from love.

---