Page 100 of Master of Storms
It was close enough to her commands last night that he saw fury flash through her dark eyes. A queen on the edge. But it wasn’t mere anger that lit her face like that.
They paused outside Árdís’s door. Yanking his shirt together, she shoved the buttons through each loop. “One night, I promised you. One. And it’s done, Marduk.”
It was far from done.
He leaned closer, sleepy-lashed and hungry. “So you’re going to share a bed with me tonight and not touch me?”
Solveig glanced up from beneath her lashes.
He wanted to kiss the tip of her stubborn nose.
“Fight it,” he whispered. “You’ll lose. Eventually. And then we can come together like a clash of storms again.”
“So. Arrogant.” She tugged the top button of his shirt together. “I swear you were put on this world to frustrate me.”
Torchlight gleamed in her dark eyes, turning them into obsidian flames as she muttered to herself and slipped the last button into its loop. He didn’t even think she realized what she’d just said.
Because if he was put on this world for her, then he would have known by now. He would have felt something, wouldn’t he?
Sharp fingers squeezed his heart. He’d never dreamed of such a thing before. He’d never desired it.
Until he finally realized what the lack of it meant.
They were not soulmates, destined for each other.
And for the first time in his life, as he looked down at her dark head, he wanted it to be real.
“Marduk?” She glanced up as if she’d sensed his distraction.
He had to say something.
“You’d think the mark would fade,” he whispered as she released the top button. “I always heal within a matter of hours. But the bite is still there.”
“Shut up.”
“Is yours still there?” He let his thumb brush against the undercurve of her breast, right over the spot where he’d bitten her.
Heat surfaced in her cheeks. Fury in her eyes.
But as their gazes met, he saw a sense of hesitation there. She who never hesitated, and yet it was written all over her skin.
“What?” he whispered, trying to chase down her thought.
“Nothing.”
“You’re such a liar.”
She growled in her throat.
“You are,” he told her. “I thought we were sharing secrets now. What’s wrong?”
Solveig glanced half to the side, her hands resting on his shirt. “Mydreki’sgone quiet within me. I don’t know what it means.”
“Maybe she’s exhausted? I did keep you busy last night.”
Confusion notched itself between her brows. “You don’t understand. It’s never quiet when you’re around. It’s always….”
“What?”
