Page 58 of Master of Storms
“Because the only time he was actually interested inmewas when I told him it wouldn’t work because neither of us would give in to the other. The rest of the time Draco was cold. Practiced. Going through his lines. When I said he didn’t strike me as the sort to play at helpful consort, his eyes lit up. He likes a challenge.”
Marduk stared at her speechlessly. Five minutes. Five damned minutes, and the king had clearly managed to propose a union between them, as if Marduk didn’t exist.
And she…. That didn’t sound like she’d said no. No, it sounded like she’d offered a counter deal.
“Stop looking at me like that. Start thinking with your head and not your cock. None of this was aimed atme. You think it’s convenient that a servant directed you our way the second the king started sniffing my hair? Draco wanted you to catch us in an awkward situation, because he’s trying to test the resolve in our party. I know how theZilittuthink. They push and they test and they search for openings. And the second they find one, they attack.”
“Then you need to reassure him there is no opening here.”
Solveig’s hand slid down his chest, and then she pushed away him from her, the heat in her eyes banking. “I hardly think I’m going to be the female he tries to single out from the herd. Elin is breathtakingly beautiful. She’s young. Innocent. Pure. Unattached. If anything, she’s the one who needs to be warned.”
Was she blind?
“He didn’t even glance her way. It will be you. He’s only interested in—”
“Maledrekidon’t look at me like that, Marduk.”
“Like what? Like they want to shove you up against a wall and kiss the defiance from you? Like they want to throw you over their shoulder and steal you away to their lairs?”
Because if not, then they’re fools.
“I would like to see themtry. I’m the hunter. Not the prey.” Her right hand curled into a fist as she spun back to him. “You said it yourself. Nodrekimale would ever want a female like me.”
That cursed song.
“I was an idiot. And that’s not what I said at all.” It was like a monster that had grown in the telling, until it was this uncontrollable myth tangled around his throat. “Are you blind? You’re powerful. Dangerous. A challenge to every single maledrekiwho crosses your path. You think any of them are looking atElin? Blonde, simpering Elin, who bats her lashes and looks like she’d surrender at the merest hint of a smile? You’re a storm, Solveig. You’re a maelstrom. And maybe males don’t look at you and think of sweet kisses and surrender, but let me assure you, they look. And they wonder whether they have the strength to tame the storm.”
“Tame?” She echoed the word as if it tasted vile.
“I’m merely trying to show you what other males think when they look at you. Don’t think that thought ever crossed my mind. Your fierceness is exactly what I—”
He came to a staggering halt.
And Solveig turned on him as if she sensed weakness. “You what?”
He could barely breathe. But she was advancing upon him as if she’d sensed a mortal wound.
“You what?” she repeated, in a dangerously sultry voice.
Marduk could have lied. He could have avoided her, but as his heart kicked a little harder in his chest, he knew this was a moment from which there was no turning back.
“It’s exactly what I like the most about you,” he admitted.
* * *
There weresome moments that could never be taken back.
“What you like the most about me?” Solveig repeated.
There was no sign of Marduk’s ever-present smile. Instead, he scowled a little and crossed his arms. “You don’t have to sound so incredulous.”
“You hate me—”
“No.” His denial came swiftly. “I’ve never hated you. I was angry with you at times—you did threaten to kill me, after all. But I’ve never hated you. I may have considered vengeance once or twice, but never seriously.”
Solveig considered the admission, feeling thedrekipush within her, until her skin felt stretched. She didn’t want to say it. She didn’t want to ask. “Is that why you chose me? Revenge?”
Their eyes met.
