Page 127 of Master of Storms
“I won’t tell anyone that your knees are shaking.” There was a smile on his lips in the mirror as he brushed her hair out.
“You summoned Chaos,” she said.
Marduk’s hands paused, then he resumed his brushing, laying her hair out over the back of the chair like a silken waterfall. “I don’t even want to think about that moment. My mind still hasn’t recovered.” He shuddered. “Mydrekimagics were trapped within me, and I was desperate—”
“Desperate?”
Marduk met her gaze in the mirror. “Yes. Desperate. I could hear you screaming, and there’s not a single sound in the world that has ever chilled me so. I needed to get to you. And so I found a way to do so.” He shuddered again. “Though I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Solveig curled in on herself a little. What was he saying? That he’d been worried about her?
Desperate.
She didn’t know what to do with that word.
Marduk gathered her hair in a sheaf and then ran his fingers through it. There was something infinitely gentle about the gesture. “I can almost sense you trying to pick my words apart, so I’ll state it plainly. You nearly died, and it scared me so badly I can’t keep pretending. I would have given my life in that moment, if you were safe. I would have doneanythingto rescue you.”
A little shiver worked its way through her. “Marduk—”
“No.” He captured her chin and turned her head, bending down to kiss her. “You will listen to me this time so that none of my intentions can be misconstrued. This may have begun in enmity, this may have become nothing more than passion, but it is not going to end that way.” Soft lips brushed against her cheek, her ear. “You are mine, Solveig.Mine. And I’m not going to let you go without a fight. If someone tries to hurt you, I will kill them. If someone stands in your way, then I will remove them. And once this is all done and you are absolved of your debt to theZinicourt, then I will fight for you. I know you want this handfasting to be over, but I’m not done, Solveig.”
Her heart started thumping. “That’s not your decision.”
“I know.” He pressed one knee between hers, forcing them wider. “Which means I need to convince you to take this risk.”
Solveig looked up at him as he knelt on the chair, one knee thrust between hers.
And he kissed her.
Gently. Softly.
Pouring his heart and soul into the caress until she was barely breathing.
Her heart started to skip a beat, and she leaned into the kiss, desperately hungry for more.
Marduk captured her wrists—her fists were snarled in his shirt—and broke the kiss with a sigh. “Later.”
“Where are you going?”
He unhooked her fist from his shirt and kissed her knuckles with a wicked smile. “To run you a bath. You’re still injured, and while I would love to start convincing you to keep me around right now, it can wait until you’re clean and warm.”
“Abath?”
“Yes.” He threw a wink over his shoulder as he headed for the bathing chambers. “And if you’re a good girl, I might spend the rest of the night eating your sweet, pretty wet pussy. But that decision’s yours, of course.”
* * *
“You hate the mating bond,don’t you?” Marduk mused as Solveig floated in the bath. “You once said there was nothing so despicable as being forced to surrender to a male, but you know that’s not true. If it’s surrender, then it goes both ways.”
She snorted. “Of course it does.”
He flicked a splash of water at her. “Strangely, I seem to be the one doing most of the surrendering here. I’m fairly certain I just bared my soul to you. The least you can do is return the favor.”
Solveig rolled her eyes. “You’re so dramatic.”
“Who?” he asked simply.
“Who what?”
