Page 141 of Onyx Cage: Volume II
I raised my eyebrows, silently asking her to expound.
She met my eyes solidly, taking a steadying breath that told me the answer to whatever she was going to ask was more important than her casual tone implied. “Faint from the impropriety of it?”
“I’m really not the fainting kind,” I assured her with a dry chuckle.
She blinked, disappointment pinching her eyes, and I took a breath to consider her question more deeply.
Did I faint from the impropriety of women riding into battle? From her impropriety in general?
Or was she asking if I regretted marrying someone so opposite to all that I had known in my kingdom?
Didn’t she realize that if I had wanted a demure, silent bride, I wouldn’t have waited for her particular kind of chaos to enter my life?
Talking had never been our strong suit, so I chose my words carefully, giving her the honesty she needed.
“I won’t pretend that your outspoken nature doesn’t present some concerns in the context of Socairan politics,” I told herplainly, since I suspected she was at least in part referring to the choices she had made tonight. “Things are...freer in Lochlann. There, you give your opinion and someone else gives theirs, and you both move on. Here, everything we do and don’t say is scrutinized and hoarded away to be used as a weapon.”
My tone was gentle, as close as I could come to explaining why I wouldn’t always blindly agree with every reckless storms-damned thing she did.
“Oh.” The sound was too small for the woman who made it.
She averted her gaze, suddenly finding the sleeve of the pale-blue dress hanging beside her fascinating.
I grasped her chin in my hand, guiding her face back toward mine until she met my eyes again, long enough for her to see the truth in them.
“But if you’re asking whether I would have preferred a quiet wife who rode sidesaddle and didn’t have an incredibly inappropriate dagger stashed on her person at all times, the answer is a resounding no.” I pressed a kiss against her perfect, waiting mouth, searing the words into her soul.
No, I never would have chosen anyone else.
No, I don’t regret it.
I never could, Lemmikki.
She leaned into me, as she had so many times now, and I slid my tongue along the seam of her lips, willing her to understand how irrevocable my need for her was. She traced a path up my chest with her warm hands, sparks following in their wake.
When she locked her arms around my neck, I took advantage of the leverage to lift her by her muscular thighs, wrapping her legs around me. She gasped against my mouth, and I deepened the kiss, pulling her tighter against me while I walked us back toward the bed.
She returned every ounce of my desire in kind, arching against me while I followed her onto the plush mattress. Slowly,I moved my lips down her neck, sliding them down her torso. When I got to the subtle muscles just below her navel, she shifted impatiently, tugging on my shoulders to bring me back to her.
I chuckled against her skin, nipping at her hipbone instead.
“Evander,” she said breathlessly.
Of all the ways I enjoyed my name on her lips, that particular tone, the delicate balance between a demand and a plea, was by far my favorite.
I moved my ministrations lower, cutting off her protest when I pressed a kiss along the inside of her thigh.
“Yes, Lemmikki?” I murmured against her in a deceptively casual tone. “Was there something you needed?”
“For you to not be an arrogant—aalio,” she bit back, though the insult fell flat when she had to pause on a gasp.
Smirking, I worked my way back up her body to finally cede to her demands. As much as I had missed every other thing about her, I hadn’t realized how badly I had needed this, too, the small moments of playfulness and laughter she brought with her.
“I’m afraid I can’t help you there,” I told her, pressing another kiss against her mouth.
She laughed softly, a whisper of air dancing along my lips, and for the first time since Yuriy interrupted our wedding morning, I almost felt I could breathe again.
The slow morning we should have gotten to enjoy after our wedding night was interrupted for the second time, only this time, the only one likely to start a war was my lemmikki.