AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I actually think he’s rather proud of it,” Livia hurried to say. “Alek said he’s been explaining it to the Rave and anyone who’ll listen, really. I think it is nearly losing Sander, nearly losing all of us, that’s troubling him. Give him time to work through what has happened.”
I kissed the tender place behind her ear, nodding. The prince could take his time, but much longer, and I’d forgo morality and have Tait dig through his heart, taking the lot of his secrets.
“Have you grown tired of this revel, love?”
Livia shuddered when my breath ghosted over her neck. “I think I have, Serpent.”
I rose, holding out my hand, and took us toward the back doors of the hall before anyone could pull us back.
Alas, Aleksi, irritating prince that he was, had other plans.
“Bloodsinger, you cannot avoid us any longer.”
Heat skittered over my skin. I closed my eyes and slowly turned. Gods, I’d known if Livia and I returned to her people, if they’d accepted me as her king, her lover, her chosen, I would undoubtedly face the man again.
We’d never spoken. Not really. The only time I’d been so close to Alek’s other father had been while he bled out, unconscious and stepping into the Otherworld.
Now, the bastard of a prince beamed at me like he knew exactly the disquiet he’d caused, while gesturing at the man at his side.
“Oh,” Livia let out a breath. “Uncle Tor. You’ve . . . have you ever spoken to the king?”
“No,” he said, never looking away from me. “The last time we were this close, I was bleeding out on the forest floor. Never had the chance.”
He was broader than his lover, with similarly dark hair, but darker eyes and a stronger chin. But buried in his eyes was the same spark of something like gratitude and affection when he looked at Aleksi.
“Don’t worry, Erik,” Aleksi said, “Daj likes to make idle chat about as much as you do.”
With a nudge to his father’s arm, the prince stepped back. I hissed when my songbird, my queen, abandoned me, a watery smile on her face. I wanted to sink into the damn soil.
“You saved my son,” Tor said. “And me.”
Without another word, he held out his arm. I hesitated, then clasped his forearm, unsteady and suspicious. Always suspicious. Some habits would die a slow death.
Torsten tipped his chin, then released my forearm. “Thank you. I think you’re an ass for taking my niece, but I will always stand with you for what you have done for my family.”
Silence built for a few breaths, then I bowed my own head in a bit of respect. “And I will always stand with them much the same.”
“Then welcome into House Ferus. Once you are in, they will never let you go.” He glanced to where his consort, the earth bender’s brother, spoke with Stieg and one of the queens, a wild sort of woman with golden braids, holding a bundled infant in her arms.
As promised, Livia’s uncle left it at that and strode away. With a tug to my hand, Livia grinned, pulling us out of the hall. She didn’t stop until we were at the edge of a dock.
“Swim with me, Serpent?”
Gods. Livia’s fingers unlaced the front of her bodice. Shewriggled free of her gown and skirts until moonlight kissed the gentle slopes of her breasts, her curves.
No need to reply, I rid myself of my clothes and lifted the water to pull us into the tides. Colder than the Ever Sea, but nothing would ever match this peace—this woman in my arms, the sea, the beat of her heart against mine.
I kissed her, deep and thorough. Livia tugged at the roots of my hair, wrapping her smooth thighs around my waist. I groaned. The feel of her heat was a delirious sort of intoxication. It robbed me of thought, of breath. It overpowered my mind until I could see nothing but her.
Livia pulled away, stroking her fingertips down my cheek. “My uncle spoke true.”
“About what?” I licked water off the curve of her neck.
“You are of House Ferus as much as I am now of the Ever.” She trapped my face in her palms, tilting her head, and drawing her lips maddeningly close. “And I will never let you go. You are my heartbond. Far longer than a thousand turns.”
I grinned against her mouth. “They played, that serpent and songbird, from sunup to sundown.”
Livia beamed, tears on her lashes, as she finished the story, the tale she’d invented so long ago. “And lived happily ever after.”
