Page 60 of Master of Storms
The truth struck her hard.You liked him more than you wanted to admit. He could have stolen your heart. If you’d let him.
No wonder herdrekiraged. She had very nearly fallen into a trap of her own choosing, and it had been warning her all along.
* * *
Marduk tossedthe blankets back on their bed.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Solveig ran her fingers through the tangle of her wet hair. Her bath had restored some of her equilibrium and given her time to think. “I thought we’d agreed you were taking the floor?”
“That was for two nights.” There was an edge to his voice. “This is a different situation. You need my scent on your skin.”
Her fingers snagged in her hair. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“What’s the point in even pretending there’s a mating alliance between us if you’re batting your lashes at another man?”
Oh, hell no.“Batting my lashes?”
“Do you know what the problem between us is?” Marduk advanced on her suddenly, lamplight casting flickering shadows over his bare chest. Every inch of him was sleek muscle, and she couldn’t help admiring him.
“I could name a dozen things.” She stepped to the side, intent on moving past him.
He reached out, his arm locking around her waist. “I could name one.”
Their eyes met.
It was a trap. She knew it was a trap, and for the life of her she couldn’t avoid it. “Then name it.”
Marduk leaned closer, his breath whispering over her skin and his eyes alight with amber fire. “We need to fuck. This storm has been brewing between us for years. It needs to be assuaged, before one of us does something we’ll regret.”
The crudity of the word drove a lance of aching desire through her. Solveig pressed a hand to his chest, feeling the pulse of his heart beneath her palm. All she need do was wield claws and she could pluck his heart right out from beneath the cage of his ribs. “It’s such a romantic proposition, Marduk, that I’ll need a chance to consider it.” She cocked her head, nibbling on her lower lip. “I fear I’ll have to decline.”
Ducking under his arm, she sauntered across the room, feeling his eyes follow her.
“Romance? When have you ever desired romance? I thought you preferred truth?”
“Every girl desires a bit of romance.”
“You want me,” he growled behind her. “I know you do. I can see your eyes lingering on me. I can smell it on you.”
Frustration edged his voice.
Good. She wanted it to ache within him just as much as it ached within her.
“I want a great many things in life,” she retorted. “The bodies of my enemies stacked before me. An entire cavern of dwarvish gold that I can swim in. Maybe a few pretty diamonds, because adrekigirl can never have too many diamonds. A collection of crowns. A throne.”
“And not a single mention of another living soul.”
However poorly it might have been sighted, the remark hit its target. She curled her lip at him as she plucked up her comb. “Oh, please. Are you trying to say you’re the type of male who yearns for a volcano large enough for two? Have you named all your future kits yet?”
Marduk crossed his arms over his chest, the muscles in his biceps flexing. “Goddess, no. What would I do with kits? I just find it interesting that your aspirations don’t seem to include anyone else.”
“I haven’t found a male who’d be content to let me rule,” she replied with a shrug. “They always seem to keep pushing for more.”
“I don’t yearn for your crown, Solveig. I just wantyou. Beneath me.”
There it was, out there in the open.
“That wasn’t what you said ten years ago.”
