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“Will you marry me?” he murmured.
I froze.
“You absoluteprick!”I hissed when I’d recovered, slapping his thigh hard enough for the crack to echo around the empty throne room. Mat frowned.
“You’re generally meant to say yes,” he pointed out. “Unless it’s a no?”
“No?” I repeated, in disbelief that he would even suggest such a possibility.
“Oh,” said Mathias, his mouth twisting downwards.
I spluttered. “No, that’s not-”
“I understand, Ren.” He patted my arm condescendingly and tried to slide from my lap, his knees not even unbent before I dragged him back to me and smothered him in kisses. He snickered, clearly unable to contain his amusement at the look of horror that must have passed over my face.
“No, you fucker,yes!”
He was laughing and squirming, half-heartedly trying to push me away as I nosed into his neck and licked at the marks I’d left with my teeth this morning as the ink dried on the last of the pardons.
“I was going to askyou,” I growled into his skin, feeling him shiver against me.
“Yeah, well, you were taking too long.”
“I was in the middle of the fucking question!” I protested.
“As I said,” Mat teased, grabbing my crown and placing it on his own head as he’d done all those months ago when we were still a secret we’d had to keep hidden in the shadows. “Too long.”
I dipped my hand beneath the hem of his shirt, scraping my fingernails over his ribs until he yelped. And then I did it again because he deserved all that shit and more.
“Let’s try that again,” I said, leaning back so I could enjoy the sight of him wearing Quareh’s fucking crown. Mathias’ cheeks were flushed, his eyes bright, and he watched me with a grin that spoke of mischief and exhilaration. “Nathanael Velichkov?”
“Yes, Your Majesty?” he asked.
“I’m going to marry the fuck out of you,” I told him. “And you’re going to let me. That’s an order.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
*
Chapter Fifty-Three
Four months later
“Oh,” Ren exclaimed happily from over my shoulder. “Velichkov is here!”
“I’ll go and meet him at the gates, my king,” said Luis, and I heard him leave the balcony, boots stomping on the tiles.
I sighed, leaning on the wall and resting my chin in my hands as I stared at the empty road.
“He’ll come,mi corazón,” Ren murmured to me, pressing a kiss to the back of my head.
“When?” I demanded, straightening up and beginning to pace the small balcony again, my eyes fixed on the horizon. The eastern tower of the Márosian palace provided an excellent view of any horses approaching the city, but that meant nothing when therewereno fucking horses approaching the city. “Mila got here daysago, as did all my other brothers.”
“Oh, I know,” Ren said dryly. “Each one of them has tried to corner me for a ‘talk’.” He huffed out an indignant snort. “If I have to makeone moreimpassioned speech about loving you more than I give a fuck about what excruciating torture they plan to inflict on me, I’ll...”
I cocked my head without turning around.
“...explode with happiness,” he finished carefully.
