Page 84 of Crimson Kingdom

“When I got Korhonan’s letter about marrying you, I didn’t know what I was going to do,” he said slowly. “So many of your choices had already been taken from you in Socair. I thought this was the one thing you were choosing for yourself. Was it really my place to take that from you?”

“But you came,” I reminded him.

He expelled a huff of air, his thumb stroking my cheek in a slow rhythm.

“I couldn't seem to stop myself,” he admitted. “I needed to know...to see it for myself. And then I got here, and I realized that no matter what else was happening, you were still mine.”

I froze, that familiar ache searing right into my heart once again.

“Is that what it comes down to, even now, Evander?” I scarcely breathed the words. “The fact that you think you own me.”

“I do own you, Lemmikki.” His gaze bored into mine, but I glanced away, another wave of tears rolling down my face.

Of course.

He put a firm hand on my chin, guiding it toward him until I was forced to look at him once more.

“But you own me, too,” he whispered.

My lips parted, and I sucked in a breath, the words reverberating down to the deepest parts of my soul.

They felt right. Complete.

Hadn’t I just been thinking that he was mine?

He shifted until he could close the gap between us, bringing his mouth to mine. Gently, he sucked on my bottom lip, and I gasped.

His lips slid to my jaw, my neck, my collarbone. Heat flooded my veins, lighting my core on fire.

He pressed a trail of tender kisses down my shoulder, then along the low line of my bodice, taking his time with each one. Only his steadying hand on my back kept me upright, kept me from melting entirely into him.

Gradually, he worked his way back up to my mouth, moving us until we were both lying on our sides with my head on his muscled bicep. I ran my hand through his hair again, pulling his lips even closer to mine.

I could stay like this forever.

The thought was unreasonable, but it felt no less true. I could remain here, in this bed, never eating or drinking or moving, subsisting only on the feeling of his body against mine and the taste of his skin on my lips.

We stayed that way for hours, until the sun was peeking through the curtains, and finally, he kissed his way back up to my forehead.

“We should get some rest, Lemmikki.” His voice was hoarse with sleep, and it made me want to do anything but rest.

He was right, though. I was exhausted, and we had another long day of wedding planning tomorrow. The last day, in fact, before our actual wedding.

So I nodded, and he pulled me against his chest, where I fell into my first dreamless sleep in months.

CHAPTERFORTY-FOUR

Asharp knock at the door startled me out of a peaceful sleep, and Evander’s arms tensed around me.

My face was buried in his chest, my legs intertwined with his, and the last thing I wanted to do was move, but…

“Your breakfast, Lord Evander,” a polite voice called.

Right. Breakfast in our rooms, because our day was filled to the brim with last-minute wedding preparations. Which meant Taisiya was likely already in mine.

And since she worked for my father...

“Der’mo,” I cursed under my breath, forcing myself to wriggle out of Evander’s arms.