Page 22 of A Song of Saints and Swans
“ANTHIA!”It was my turn to shriek before collapsing backward onto the grass and covering my face with my hands. “I didnotneed to know that information about my half-brother.”
She loudly scoffed before peeling my hands away, so I could better see the disbelief written on her beautiful face. “That’s a bit hypocritical coming from you, don’t you think?”
“That’s different!”I sputtered, struggling to explainwhy.“Jarilo and I were created for each other… for ritualistic… reasons.”
“Ritualisticpegging?”Anthia deadpanned, laughing when I yanked her to the ground along with me.
She rolled onto her belly and propped herself up on her elbows, gazing down at me with an adorably unsure expression once again.
“Could I… watchyou do that sometime?” she whispered, blushing in a way that caused a burst of snowflakes to gather around us. “I mean, do you think Jar would mind if I watched?”
Oh, dove.
“What if I gaveyouan ice cock instead?” I softly replied, noticing how her eyes immediately darkened. “Jar would lose his mind if hissymbolic consortasked him to bend for her.”
The less I’m involved, the better.
“Ohhh, I think I’d like that… someday…” Her gaze searched mine with so much heat, it was all I could do not to throw her onto her back and fuck her again.
Walk away, walk away, walk away.
She abruptly switched topics and sat up, much to my disappointmentandrelief. “How does being a consort work, exactly? Especially if I’m not a god like you two.”
Sitting up to join her, I picked a leaf out of her hair, knowing full well I was just looking for excuses to touch her at this point.
“Well, it includes vows similar to human marriages, along with mate bonds like you shifters prefer. And while it’ssupposedto be a monogamous relationship, affairs happen—like when Mokosh left Veles so she could create the Riders, and then Vel indirectly did the same.”
Realizing clarification was needed, I added, “My mother is an exception anyway, as she’s the consort ofbothVeles and Perun—”
“I wouldn’t want that,” Anthia cut in, shaking her head firmly, although she’d dropped her gaze. “If I agreed to be your consort, then I would expect faithfulness. I mean, obviously this situation would be unique—because of who’s involved—but still...”
Cocking my head, I took a moment to observe the swan shifter before me, noticing she seemed almostnervous.
She probably doesn’t want to seem too demanding.
Silly dove.
“‘Thia,” I gently spoke, resting my hand over hers. “It’s okay to expect faithfulness from your partner, regardless of whether they’re a god.”
When she simply peeked up at me through her long lashes, I switched tactics. “How about this? If you truly wantto accept Jarilo as your consort, I promise to not only help you articulate your needs, but to smite his ass if he so much aslooksat anyone else.”
Not that he’ll ever have eyes for anyone but her.
Anthia laughed, tossing a pebble into the lake before turning to face me again. “I think I’d be perfectly capable of putting Jarilo in his place if need be.” She cleared her throat. “But what about you?”
“What about me?” I asked, confused by the question. “I told you, I can help in any way you need but, otherwise, I’ll let you handle it between the two of you.”
Her face fell, and I immediately realized I’d said the wrong thing.
What did I do?!
“Do you not…youdon’t want…” Anthia stammered before understanding washed over her face. “Rena. Do you think I’monlytalking about—”
Loud laughter coming from theVardointerrupted wherever she was going with her question. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Margo and Konstantin playfully battling each other with tent poles as they set up outdoor sleeping arrangements—presumably so we could take the bed.
I wonder if they have an extra tent I could use.
“Oh, shit,” I cursed under my breath, turning back to face the lake. “I truly need to scry for them, like I promised.”
