Page 43 of Caldar
Caldar stared up at her, mirth in his eyes. He was too amused for a man moments away from being gutted with a knife.
She nudged Caldar with her foot. “You said you were going to help fight with me.”
“You do not require assistance. I am enjoying this,” Caldar said.
The tension in the brig vanished. While the warlord remained grim and serious, he seemed almost… entertained.
“Such a mate mark cannot be honored. You are not bound to his male because he sank his fangs into you. That is not how claiming a mate works,” the warlord said.
“Do I have to bite him to make you understand?” She grabbed the back of Caldar’s shirt, tugging at the fabric until he stood. “I want this one. This one is mine. My mate.Mine. I licked him.”
“She did,” Caldar said, moving to place himself between the warlord and Sonia.
The warlord’s cheek darkened, and his lips pressed together, like he was trying to suppress a laugh.
“I love him. I loved him before the Suhlik blew up my vacation, I loved him before we were in that horrible maze, and I fully intend to spend the rest of my life loving him. Was it ideal? No, but he shouldn’t be murdered for something beyond his control,” she said, nearly shouting. “So we’ll go to the courthouse and file for a certificate if that’s what it takes to get you off our backs.” She didn’t know how many more ways she could repeat herself.
The warlord rubbed his chin. “If his life is to be spared, he must join a clan, preferably my clan. Only males in a clan are permitted to register for a mate.”
Caldar took a moment to respond. “You have out maneuvered me.”
The warlord lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I do not waste useful tools.”
She didn’t quite understand what was happening between them, but she suspected that the warlord used Sonia against Caldar to get him to join his club. She didn’t care. The execution was off.
“It is done,” Caldar said.
Until the warlord sheathed the blade, Sonia did not realize how tense she had been. Her entire body was wound tight.
“I will give you a few moments. Then we start our work,” the warlord said before leaving.
Caldar stood at rigid attention until the warlord and his entourage left. He immediately slumped against Sonia. She staggered under his weight.
“Are you okay?” she asked, steering him back to the padded bench.
“I will be, in time.” He huffed, then rested his head against the wall. “I have time.”
He turned to face her, a wide grin on his face now. “Wehave time.”
She liked the sound of that. “We were played,” she said.
“I concur.”
“But… how did he know I was here or what I’d say… Lorran. He snitched,” she said.
“Very likely, though I am pleased with the results.”
“What are we going to do?” she asked. The realness of the situation stretched out before her. She just strong-armed her way into a marriage with Caldar, and that made her giddy with delight.
Her.Giddy.
“Do we live here now? Do we have to go to Earth to register?”
He folded her into an embrace. “Breathe with me, my love.”
She took a deep breath, mimicking him. All her questions were still there, but they stopped crowding her. She had space to think—space to just enjoy being held.
“Let us have this moment. Worries will always be waiting,” he said. “I do not know what the future holds, and I cannot wait to discover it with you.”
