Page 102 of Master of Storms
“Not with me.”
Solveig’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand what’s happening to me.”
His heart skipped a beat. This confession was worth its weight in gold, because she never dropped her guard. Ever.
And he forced himself to stop smiling, because if she was going to lower her shield, then he could only do likewise. “Maybe we should have done this ten years ago? It might have saved us both a lot of heartache and suffering.”
“Heartache?”
He gave her a slow, determined look. “You can pretend if you want to, but I know I hurt you.” He chewed on his lip before confessing in a quiet voice, “And I know you hurt me.”
It made her draw back, until they were nose to nose. Light spilled through the window, her hair shining like black silk.
“Did you think you hadn’t? I lied when I said I didn’t think of you in those ten years. I did.”
“Drekican’t lie.”
“They can if they believe it,” he pointed out. “And I was willing to take the risk that my magic might latch onto the words, because to tell you the truth meant… admitting it to myself.” He brushed his fingers through her hair. “You were the one woman who might have ruined me.”
She sat so still, he could hear her heart racing. “Stop telling me your weaknesses, Marduk. I’ll only use them to destroy you.”
“If you truly meant to destroy me, then you wouldn’t warn me. You speak a good game about being ruthless, but you have morals and you have self-imposed rules. You won’t break them.”
Stalemate. He could see it in her eyes, and he gave into desire and kissed her.
It was a soft kiss. Gentle. A little tender.
Solveig squirmed and then broke the caress with a gasp. But she didn’t fight her way free of him. Merely rested her forehead against his.
It felt strange to nestle here with her in his arms. His thumb slowed its hypnotic glide over her hip. His heart skipped a beat.
He wasn’t the sort of male to linger in a female’s arms.
There was always a restless sort of urge driving him on. Mountains to explore. Skies to conquer. Another country to venture into. Another girl to kiss. Anything to escape.
But right now, that urge was gone.
What would it be like to stay right here at her side? He’d never tire of her. She was so wild and free that being with her would always be like chasing a storm. And maybe she wouldn’t be the kind of female that would be easy to live with, but to watch her conquer her father’s court, and then take on the world, would be every kind of wonderful, and—
Marduk froze.
“What?” Solveig drew back. “You look like your balls just sucked themselves up inside your abdomen.”
A stunningly accurate assessment.
Marduk slowly resumed stroking her hip. “I think I’m having a sudden epiphany of my own.”
“If this has anything to do with how good you are in bed, I swear I shall strangle you.”
“It doesn’t.” He took in her heart-shaped face. Angry and defiant, and two seconds away from punching him again, if he was any sort of judge. “I don’t want to fly away.”
“I’m not sure how—”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “I think, maybe, that I understand what you’re trying to say about yourdreki, because I think mine’s gone quiet too. I can never stay in one place. I can never seem to settle. It’s like this burr of irritation that sets my teeth on edge if I stay still too long. But right now, it’s gone.” He threw his head back and laughed. “Maybe we should go back to bed. Maybe we should never leave it.”
Someone coughed politely.
Or not so politely, because it was swiftly followed by, “Well,thisis an interesting development.”
