Page 140 of Onyx Cage: Volume II
Whatever she saw in my expression made her lean her head down for a slow, purposeful kiss that left no doubt of her intentions.
“You know, for all your jokes about my stamina, you certainly do seem to be testing it now,” I murmured against her lips.
I was only half-joking, but I certainly wasn’t complaining. I felt it, too, this constant, compelling need to consume and be consumed by one another.
Rowan smiled against my mouth, her teeth nipping at my bottom lip just long enough to drive me insane.
“Well, if it’s too much for you…” She pulled away with a dramatic sigh, and I tugged her back toward me firmly.
Maybe this feeling of foreboding was valid, and maybe we were hurtling toward something that would tear all of this apart. But I had her now, and I damned sure wasn’t going to waste a minute of that.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Rowan didn’t bother reaching for a dressing gown when she left our bed, something I realized I could quickly get used to. Sadly, her mass of hair tumbled down to obscure my view somewhat, but most of my favorite parts of her were still on display.
She paused when her feet touched the ground, running her hands along the airy canopy.
I had been hoping she would never have cause to want to hide behind this one, but perhaps I was also just unwilling to revisit the endless days of silence emanating from an opaque velvet shroud.
Her lips tilted up in a smile, signaling her approval again. She continued in her perusal, peeking into my office before coming to a pause in her vast closet. I followed her, taking in the room as she did.
Her assessing gaze tripped over a rectangular wooden box, trepidation shadowing her pale-green eyes.
Though it was relatively simple, the box had been crafted with artistry and sealed shut with an ornate metal clasp carved with familiar intricate whorls. Familiar, because they were thesame ones that adorned the ring box I had given her…the one made by the strangely enigmatic weapons master at Chridhe.
“What is that?” I kept my tone even, trying not to betray the concern that churned in my gut at the reaction the box seemed to cause in her.
“Something Rayan gave me,” she said, confirming my suspicions. “Something he said not to open until I knew I needed it.”
I didn’t need to ask her if he had the same fae blood as her family. There had been something distinctlyotherabout him, and I strongly doubted that she would have blindly trusted the advice otherwise.
But what did he think she would need that he couldn’t tell her about in advance?
Rowan had spent the past hour unknowingly chasing away the icy, ominous feeling that had settled along my spine when she was gone, but something about this box threatened to bring the feeling right back.
“How will you know if you need it if you don’t know what it is?” My voice was quieter than I meant it to be.
“That...that is the question.”
A beat of silence passed before she cleared her throat, visibly forcing a lighter expression.
“You never did tell me where those dresses came from.” She gestured to the gowns she had left behind, the ones Taisiya had hung just before she arrived.
I followed her gaze to the black traveling gown she had worn when we departed for the cabin, just before the world turned on its head.
“I would think that’s obvious.” Unless she thought she had a mysterious clothing benefactor.
She leveled an exasperated look at me. “I meant that they don’t look like any other Socairan dresses I’ve seen.”
No, because Socairan dresses were made for ladies who neither rode astride nor used a sword.
I shrugged, moving closer to my feral wife. “Well, those seemed highly impractical, as you aren’t like any Socairan women I’ve seen.”
“So you designed them?” she pressed. “I never knew you took such an interest in women’s fashion.”
I let out a snort. “I can assure you, I do not. I merely explained to the estate seamstress the kinds of things you would be doing, that you would need the use of your hands and the ability to ride a horse and dress yourself. After she recovered from fainting over the impropriety of it,shedesigned them.”
“And do you?” She shifted to face me more fully.