Page 61 of Master of Storms
Anger sparked in his eyes. “Oh, I wanted you. But you made it clear you wanted nothing to do with me. You kept throwing me at your sister.”
“Aslaug wished to mate you. I did not.”
“Keep telling yourself that, Solveig.”
“I will.” The comb caught in her hair, and she cursed under her breath.
“Anytime you want to release some tension, let me know,” he said.
“I’m not the one threatening to kill the king we’re trying to entice.”
“Fine. I’ll kill him in the morning then, and none of this need matter.” Marduk plumped the pillow and then fell back onto it, cupping one hand under his head. He didn’t bother to haul the sheets higher, and the entirety of his bare chest was splayed for her perusal.
And he knew it.
Solveig’s eyes narrowed. He was daring her. Daring her to sleep on the floor. Daring her to set him against the king.
Oh, you arrogant prick.
He wanted her, did he? Wanted to release a little tension? Scratch a little itch?
“Move over,” she told him.
Stillness radiated through him, which brought a smile to her lips.Did you think I wouldn’t call your bluff, Marduk?
He swept the blankets down on her side of the bed. “You’re more than welcome to join me.”
“Scent-marking,” she told him. “And that’s all this is. If those hands stray over to my side of the bed, then I’ll remove them.”
He rolled his eyes. “I would never touch a female who didn’t demand it. Your virtue is safe.”
Solveig made sure her curtain of dark hair tumbled over her shoulders as she bent down, aware of the picture she made as she blew the candle out. “Good.”
She didn’t take her eyes off him the entire time.
Darkness plunged into the room.
He wasn’t even breathing, but she’d seen him hitch a breath at the last second, his cock twitching beneath the blankets.
Unknotting the tie on her robe, she let the silk slip down her body, pooling around her feet. The slither it made was as loud as a hoarse whisper.
“Did you just….” He audibly swallowed. “Solveig?”
“What’s wrong, Marduk?”
“Are you… naked?”
Stepping out of her slippers, she sauntered toward the bed, enjoying the sudden shifting of tension between them. “And if I was?”
“Fuck.” He shifted in the sheets. “Has anyone ever told you how evil you are?”
Solveig slipped beneath the sheets, tucking her sheathed knife under her pillow. “What a terrible thing to say,” she purred as her silken nightgown rasped over her skin. He didn’t need to know she was still wearing it. “Why would you make such a claim?”
Marduk rolled toward her, and as her eyesight slowly adjusted to the darkness, she could just make out the curve of his shoulder and the smooth glide of his hip. His voice roughened. “You know exactly what you’ve just done.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she replied, in her most innocent voice.
“Solveig.” The way he said her name had the inadvertent effect of making her thighs clench. There was heat there. Desire. And he was reining it in hard, choking on it, which made her own breath catch. “When a woman gives me that look, blows out the candle, and climbs in bed with me, it’s usually a plea. It’s a little confusing.”
