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“What are you doing?” Eirah squeaked but didn’t thrash in his arms.
“Putting you to bed.” He lifted his brows pointedly, then carefully deposited her on the fur blankets.
“Did you forget something?” Eirah grinned, blinking innocently at him. “My robe.”
Morozko rolled his eyes, sighing before he pushed away from the bed and strode into the bathing chamber to grab her robe and a towel to dry her hair. The robe he placed beside her, but the towel he used gently on her hair. An act he’d never done for anyone else. It was too intimate, too personal, and none had been so close to him.
She slid the robe on, eyeing him as he dried his hair. “What are you doing?”
“Drying myself?” he said coyly, but there was no use putting off what he came to her room for. “You make this difficult. You makemostthings difficult.” Morozko slid beneath the blankets and stared at her for a long moment. His heart thumped wildly in his chest with love for Eirah of Vinti. For her resilience, bravery, and how quickly she’d adapted to her new life.
Eirah remained sitting atop the blankets, and confusion swept across her face. “Are you going to be a prick afterthat?” She jerked her head toward the bathing room.
“No,” he whispered, pushing himself up. The blankets spilled around his waist, and he wished that he could speak the words as easily as they flitted around in his head. “You have a choice to make,” he began, grimacing at how harsh the words sounded. “What I mean is… I wish for you to stay in the castle. If you stay, you have a place by my side, as my equal—as my queen—forever.”
Morozko sucked in a breath, as if a weight had lifted from his chest, freeing him to speak with ease. “You’ve done the impossible, Eirah of Vinti, and captured my heart. An act I didn’t think anyone capable of.” He was quiet for a time, and she remained silent as well, peering at him with wide eyes.
The fireplace crackled, but that was the only sound in the room, making Morozko uneasy. Not knowing what Eirah was thinking, he wished in that moment she’d let her guard down, and allow him to hear her. If she rejected him, he’d let her go, but if Eirah chose to leave, would he recover?
He clamped down on his bottom lip, his sharp canine biting into it. “Is this how you wish to slay me—with suspense?” Morozko attempted to jest, but he didn’t laugh or smile.
“Oh, you foolish king.” Eirah closed the distance between them, cupping his cheeks. “Of course I’ll stay. And in case that wasn’t clear enough, I love you.”
Relief flooded him and a warmth he’d never felt touched his being. Morozko leaned in, brushing his lips against Eirah’s, then deepening it as he slid his tongue into her mouth. He withdrew, and she pressed her forehead to his.
“Against your better judgment, perhaps,” he taunted her, then pulled Eirah into his arms and cradled her, tilting her backward before taking possession of her lips once again.
Eirah laughed against his mouth. “Perhaps.” She dragged her fingers down the nape of his neck to his shoulders. “If I stay, if I become your queen, I do have a request.”
Morozko lifted his head, squinting at her. “Oh?” What did the little bird have up her sleeve? What could she possibly want?
She smiled slowly, tugging a strand of his hair. “Love me for the rest of your days, Morozko.”
The words, while simple, held a vulnerability to them. Morozko lifted his hand, stroked her cheek with his knuckles and kissed her tenderly. “I vow to love you until my dying day, Eirah.”
And a vow was never to be broken when spoken by the Frost King.
Epilogue
EIRAH
Morozko proved to be quite the lover, taking care of Eirah thoroughly again and again until she was a useless heap on his bed. She shouldn’t have been surprised, not with all the lovers he’d had over the centuries. Envy didn’t course through her because she’d drawn something new from the Frost King, something she hadn’t known existed within him as his icy heart defrosted. Humanity.
Compassion still lingered within her, too, and she would teach it to their children if she and Morozko decided to bear them. Eirah still couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that he’d asked her to be his queen, and she just hoped she could become worthy of all the lives in Frosteria.
No longer did humans exist in Frosteria—it was now a world filled with immortals to live as long as they wished. That evening, she and Morozko would perform their duty, and she hoped his vision was true, that these new demons would help to keep the changelings at bay.
Eirah peered at Morozko beneath lowered lashes, the fur blanket barely covering his thigh, exposing the curve of his buttocks. In this lighting, Morozko appeared younger, his expression serene, and she wanted to press her lips to his, then wake him with her mouth around his length. All in due time—she would save that for another day. For now, she had a different plan for him.
“I wouldn’t mind you expressing your desire first,” Morozko whispered, his lips tilting up at the edges as he slowly inched the blanket down even more.
“Bah!” she hissed, bringing the furs back up even though she was enticed to rip them away. “Don’t ruin it!”
“I didn’t hear the rest of what you were thinking. Only the part about your lips around my cock,” he purred, his pale blue eyes cracking open. “I can be patient, though. Surprise me with your endless creativity. I’ll be waiting.”
With a smile, she pressed her lips to his in a kiss, one that was meant to be quick, until he pulled her atop him. Her heart craved him, his touch, his taste.
Eirah’s hands traveled up his warm chest to cradle his face. “I promise I’ll return before we have to leave tonight.”
