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He wrinkled his nose. She had far too much faith in his ability to befriend the standoffish king. If he and Mehl hadn’t managed the feat in the centuries they’d known each other, they weren’t likely to succeed now. It was far better to focus on the problem at hand.
“Is there something we should know?” Toren called, his voice raised to cross the distance.
Ignoring his brother, Ber leaned closer to Tes. “So we’re decided? We’ll battle together, neither going alone to spare the other?”
“I promise I won’t go without you,” she replied.
Satisfaction and relief lightened his heart until he nearly laughed with it. “And I promise that I won’t go without you. I don’t like to think of it, but I’m certain that if we fall, Toren will see things set right for Speran. However, I would rather we survive to raise our son in his rightful place.”
Tes squeezed his hand. “As would I.”
Turning toward the throne, his wife linked arms with him, and they walked together to share their decision with the others. From now on, they would remain open with one another. No hiding behind good intentions or silly plans.
It was the only way they would succeed.
He wasn’t angry.
That thought settled in the back of Tes’s mind when they checked on Speran. It teased at her again as she slipped into the changing room to don her sleeping gown. But as she padded back into the bedroom, the realization blazed through her like a fire.He wasn’t angry.He only wanted to stay with me.
Even now, Ber bent over a small table near the bed, his journal open in front of him. He’d unbound his hair so that the dark strands tumbled around his shoulders and obscured part of his face. His pen moved almost frantically over the page as he wrote down the events of the evening, making the delicate chair wobble with the motion. The little seat had to be uncomfortable, but he’d wanted to remain close to her.
Though her footsteps were soft, he turned when she approached. “That was fast.”
“Yes. It’s been a long day,” she said, chuckling lightly. “Or maybe it was having to eat dinner with the court. That would wear anyone out.”
Ber smiled. “You should go to bed. I’ll join you as soon as I finish this.”
She nodded, but as he turned back to his journal, she could only stare at his back. Finally, they were together again—and in a normal situation. They weren’t at odds. There was no imminent danger. It was merely bedtime, and there was no reason they couldn’t spend it together.
Her body heated and her stomach fluttered with unexpected nerves. Even before everything had gone so wrong, they hadn’t had much opportunity to be together so casually. They’d barely been married before leaving Centoi for her mission to Llyalia, and of course, Ber hadn’t been allowed to spend the night in the princess’s chambers before they’d wed.
Not openly, in any case.
Tes could navigate clandestine meetings and stolen moments, danger on all sides. Peace was another matter. How did onedonormal? Should she ask him to join her or wait for him to finish his task? For once, there was no urgency. She could rest in bed until he was done, surely. Then they could savor each other without worrying about guards, assassins, or her father.
Decided, she turned toward the bed. But she’d barely managed to pull back the covers before a strong arm banded around her waist. Ber pulled her back against him, and she groaned. He was already hard for her. Then he kissed his way up the side of her neck, and she shivered with need.
“I felt you watching me,” Ber murmured in her ear. “Dare I ask why you stopped?”
“You were busy,” she breathed.
His free hand glided over her stomach and then down until only her sleeping gown was between his hand and her heated flesh. “Not so busy that I would leave you like this, my love. Did you think I wouldn’t sense your desire?”
He teased his finger against her nub, and she was already so wet for him that the thin cloth of her gown provided little barrier. Pleasure darted through her, her legs trembling with it. She should have known he would sense what she was feeling. He always had, even before the link had formed between them.
And they rarely had managed slow.
“Please,” she moaned.
His breathy chuckle brushed the sensitive skin of her neck, and she pressed herself back against him. “Ah, Tes, I’ve torture in mind,” he said.
She frowned. He couldn’t mean it. His hard cock pressed into her bottom with too much insistence for that. “I want you now.” Tes wiggled. “We can take our time later.”
“No.” Ber’s arm tightened around her waist, stilling her movements. “No, my dearest wife. I rather think I’ll claim you at my own pace. Unless you’d rather I leave you alone?”
Going slow might kill her, but Tes was certain of one thing—if he left her alone now, she would kill him. “I’ll yield,” she answered on a gasp.
He rewarded her by moving his finger. “Good girl.”
