Page 116 of Fate's Wicked Oath

Mariana balked. “My Oath is not my only leash, Faren. My faction is suspicious enough as it is; they won’t let me simply disappear. I know too much.”

“I’ll protect you,” Faren said simply.

She raised a brow.

“Or, rather, you’ll protect yourself and I’ll be there also,” Faren amended with an easy smile. “Even so, I don’t think it’ll come to that. You can deliver your potions as planned, then feign another summons. There are plenty of reasons for you to travel to Castle Might. Oderin or I could make it official-looking if that helps.”

She squinted at him, somber. “I don’t think you understand. My allegiance to the Valiant is more complicated than that.”

“You want freedom,” he stated. “You serve Heris Morvain because he promised you a way out of your sentence. But he is not the only one who can offer you what you seek.”

Mariana began to shake her head, a disbelieving motion that soon turned to protest, then a fear Faren had never seen before and didn’t fully understand. “No. No, you cannot cross him, Faren. If you try, he’ll—”

“I don’t mean to cross Heris,” he said. “But Oderin knows about the Lord, and he knows about the Valiant rebellion, and I think—I think he’s looking for an advantage.”

Mariana was frowning, still not willing, it seemed, to see the path Faren was laying out before her.

“You could be that advantage, Mariana,” he said plainly. “In exchange for a guarantee of your freedom, we could work with Oderin to undermine both Lord Haron and Heris Morvain. All while serving our Oaths and getting you what you want in the end.That’smy plan.”

For a moment, her face was blank and desolate. Faren braced for more objections and concerns, for her to tell him it was impossible. But then her eyes began to glisten, and her mouth quivered, and she glanced away, blinking rapidly.

“I know it’s risky, but…” Faren trailed off, wincing and uncertain.

When Mariana looked at him again, her voice was thick with emotion. “You would you do that for me?”

The question caught him off guard. “Of course.”

She shook her head disbelievingly. “The Fate of your beloved realm does not hinge on my freedom—yet your plan does. Why?”

He kissed her nose, her cheek, the corner of her mouth. “Because I’m on your side, Mariana, and I want you to get what you want.”

She stared at him as if she were about to fall apart. In a small voice, she said, “No one has ever prioritized my desires before.”

“Despite my better judgement, sweetheart, your desires have become a fascination of mine.” He tipped her chin up. “It’s quite inconvenient.”

A small smile formed on her lips; it felt like a victory.

For a heady moment, they shared breath. Then Mariana stretched up, taking his bottom lip in her teeth with a needy and sucking kiss. Her mouth was hot and wet, her breathing ragged, and soon she was in his lap again, pressing him against the headboard, draping her body over his like the most exquisite silk.

“Do you need time to warm up?” he asked, smoothing his hands over the lean muscles of her back.

“I’m warm,” she replied huskily.

With the sunlight spilling through the window, and Mariana’s honeyed skin under his fingertips, bliss poured into Faren’s body like wine into a chalice. Magic filled his veins, and this time, he did not hold back—he allowed it to flood his senses and feel every dizzying, minute detail. The texture of her tongue on his neck. The hard buds of her nipples pressed against his chest. The soft wet heat of her as she eased herself down onto his shaft, and her strong thighs flexing against his hips as she began to rock slowly in his lap.

He held the back of Mariana’s head with one hand, fingers tangled in her hair. The other hand found the small of her back, steadying the erotic undulation of her body. It felt like a dream, this warmth spreading through him. It was pleasure andsensation, but it was also hope and defiance. An audacious belief that this woman in his arms was not a foretold ending, but a Fateful beginning.

“Mariana,” Faren whispered into her ear like a promise.

Her body convulsed around him. He held her hips firmly, providing more friction. Then she was coming: shuddering, panting, soundless. He’d adored her little moans as they’d explored each other last night, but he also adored the way her ecstasy rendered her silent, as if she were a multitude of sensation too grand for anything other than reverent, witnessing quietude.

He was not so profound in his pleasure. He came with an unbidden groan, spilling into her. He wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck, hugging her as close as he could and still feeling as if they were not close enough, not even with his orgasm still pulsing inside her. She clung to him just as tightly, her fingers curled in his hair.

Gradually, the rocking of their bodies slowed, stilled.

When the gold-dust haze of their pleasure had subsided, it was as if their conversation had not been interrupted.

“Your plan”—Mariana’s voice was hoarse—“accounts for the Lord, and the Valiant, and the realm, and me—but what about you? What do you want, in the end?”