Page 110 of Storm of Desire
Remove Stellan, and the queen suddenly had aweakness.
But whatever she'd done to him in that dream, from hundreds of miles away, proved she was in no way weak. He breathed in the scent of Árdís's hair, a mixture of his fragrant soap and her, and suddenly realized he had no way to counteract the queen's power. Hermagic.
Magic was something he didn'tunderstand.
But Árdísdid.
"I don't want to lose you," she choked out, her fingers splaying over his chest. "I can't lose you. Ican't."
"You won't lose me," he promised. "You will never lose me, or what we share. No matter what your mother can throw at us. I refuse to let her tear usapart."
"I hate this," she moaned, her fingernails leaving little white half-moons in his forearms. "I hate feeling sopowerless."
"You're not powerless." He stroked her spine. "You're a survivor. And you have me at your side, always and forever. I promise you this: I will be there at your side, until you have no more need of me. I will guard your back, and protect you from anything your mother can throw at you. I will fight at your side, if you will it. And if you're too frightened to fightforme, then I shall fight foryou. I will loveyou—"
A scalded sound broke from hermouth.
"—no matter whether you dare love me back. We were written in the stars. I knew it the first moment I laid eyes upon you. Fight for that, Árja. Fight forus."
She buried her face in his chest again, breathinghard.
These were the moments hecherished.
To be in her bed was glorious, but to hold her in his arms.... He squeezed his eyes shut and felt the warmth of her body steal through his aching muscles. The pressure in his chest eased, and he almost fancied he could feel something fluttering against his mind, gentle fingers trying to push their way in.Árdís. Her magic trying to meld withhim.
"I love you," he whispered again. "I will always love you. And I know now you love me. Nothing is more powerful than that.Nothing."
Her fingers gave a little twitch against his chest, but she didn't say the words and he didn't push forthem.
He didn't needto.
Notanymore.
Árdís looked up, her eyes glittering strangely. "You're right," she whispered, and suddenly it was the fiercedrekiprincess before him, and not merely his wife. "I'm not powerless. I'm not defenseless. Not anymore. And I am done with running from her and letting her take away the things I holddear."
Yes.
Slowly, she drew back from him, her shoulders squaring. "If my mother wants to fight, then she has underestimated me. You are mine, Haakon Haraldsson, and I will fight anyone who dares try to take you fromme."
Outside a spear of lightning slashed through the skies, but he barely noticed. All he could feel was the surge of her mouth crashing over his, and her fists curling in the blanket around his waist as she nudged him toward thebed.
His cock surged into her hands, and then his back hit the mattress as Árdís climbed onto his lap. Her amber eyes flared, and he found himself staring directly at thedrekiwithinher.
Hisdreki.
"Mine," she hissed, not entirely human in that moment. And then she captured his mouth, her tongue pressing insistently against his, and Haakon decided not toargue.
Drekior not, she didn't scarehim.
* * *
He'd have preferredto stay in bed with his sated wife curled in his arms, but Árdís had other ideas. Slipping into her gown, she paced out onto the deck and he had no choice but tofollow.
The skies had stilled into darkness, the wind and clouds long gone as if they'd never been. Unusual. The weather here in the Arctic was always unpredictable, but changes didn't happen thisswiftly.
Youaretraveling with adreki.
One whose command of the elements wasleashed.
