His breath caught when she inched her knees apart in a clear invitation.
How he longed for her.
For ages, all he had wanted was to run his hands along her velvety skin and taste every inch of hisniliave. He needed todevour his wife, to imprint himself on her forever. Because that was what this meant.
Forever.
He lifted her left foot and pressed a kiss to the inside of her ankle. Slowly, he apologized with kisses for each one of her bruises. It was his job to protect her, and one of his own had hurt hisniliave.
“Lo bietelle,” he whispered, pulling back before he reached the junction between her thighs.
She smiled once again and crawled into his lap.
Neve groaned, the silk of her skin sliding against his own. His hearts thundered as he stared into her lovely human face,soravsurging against his belly in appreciation of his mate. She was everything he never wanted, and everything he could possibly dream.
“Lo kaeye vae,” he murmured.I love you.He was still too much of a coward to say it in the common tongue, but the words were out in the open now. Neve hadn’t thought he could bond with a human but now that it was done, he had no regrets.
He buried his face in her neck, breathing her in as his hands roamed her delicate frame. His brows furrowed when her familiar ginger scent didn’t flood his senses. Instead, something sickly sweet greeted him.
“What is that...” He flinched as a pinch at the back of his neck registered. His mouth went slack, tongue feeling heavy.
His body lost all coordination and slumped into the bottom of the shower. Lia stared down at him, all traces of desire and love gone. His mate glared at him, a dagger now in her hand as she straddled his hips.
His wife leaned over his body, tilting his chin up with the tip of her blade. “Did you really think I would let a monster touch me?” Her lips curved cruelly. “You thought to use me. Did you think that I didn’t know?”
He tried to reply, but his mouth wouldn’t work. Warm water covered his fingers and then wrists, slowly rising. The recessed shower was filling up.
I changed. We changed. I love you. You love me.
She chuckled, but it sounded nothing like his wife. Her wet rose-gold hair darkened to the color of blood and hung between them, dripping steadily onto his chest, the spray from above steadily filling the bottom of the deep shower basin. Soon, his pointed ears were filled with water, but he could still hear clearly.
Dahlia gestured to her face with the blade. “This was your doing.”
He’d trusted Lumi, and it had almost led to Lia’s death.
His fingers twitched against her calves which bracketed his hips as she knelt over him.
I’m sorry. Lo bietelle.
As if she could hear his thoughts, she shook her head. “You aren’t, but you will be.” She glared at him. “You thought you could just take, and I’d fall at your feet. That everyone would fall in line because you’re the mighty Frost King, but you’re nothing but a weak king with a crumbling kingdom. You leave death in your wake. Your family is proof of that. How much longer until death consumes Loriia?”
She sighed, gently drawing a pattern on his chest with the tip of the dagger, silver blood welling to the surface. The water rose until it covered his eyes and mouth, leaving only his nose exposed. He stared up through the water, Lia’s body distorted.
“I’ll not rot with you,” her voice whispered inside his mind. “I’ll destroy the threat before it can destroy me.”
She stabbed him, piercing his lung.
Neve bellowed—the water rising above his nose. He sucked in a breath but only swallowed water and blood. Choking, heconvulsed, eyes bulging as he stared up at the woman who was supposed to be his lover but was his executioner instead.
The world wavered, and he tried to hang on.
I’m sorry.
His vision tunneled, and the darkness smothered him once again.
Neve lurched upward.
Hands pressed him backward, and he fought.
