He startled. “Oh. Prince Jonas, I was telling the princess of the similarities of the forests of Natthaven to Southern . . .”
He winced, words dying, when I dug my fingertips into the meat of his shoulder.
I pinned him in a grin that was more or less a snarl. “You’ve made my wife uncomfortable and have not taken a pause in your tale to take note. Step. Back.”
He twisted his features in horror, murmured a swift apology, and bowed away from the conversation. Others had taken a cue and gave more space for me to face my wife.
A flush darkened the slender bridge of her nose and cheeks. “What are you doing?”
Wine loosened my tongue. “Protecting what is mine.”
“By humiliating me?” Skadi’s brilliant eyes shadowed with a touch of her own darkness.
If she hoped it would deter me, she would be disappointed—her villainy only drew me in more.
“I am not trying to draw you in,” she said, voice a low hiss.
“Did I speak all that out loud?”
She ignored me and set her full lips in a tight line, then leaned in. Gods, she smelled of candied pomes and ripe berries. I tilted my face, yearning to bury my damn nose in her hair.
Skadi sniffed my skin, then nudged me back, brow arched. “How much wine have you had?”
“A bit.”
“Elvish?”
“It’s delicious. Have you ever tried it?”
She let out a groan and took hold of my arm. The way she positioned us, it would look as though the bride had lovingly linked arms with her groom.
Clever, wife.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To our chamber.”
“Excellent choice.” I stumbled through the doorway.
Skadi’s arm went around my waist and I was certain I would be satisfied if her fingers became stitched to my body. “Elvish wine is known to fuel boldness and bravery, but too much and it makes men like you—who already think a great deal of themselves—reckless and stupid.”
True enough, my head was heavy with grand gestures and declarations I planned to speak against her glistening skin tonight.
When we rounded the corner, I shifted and pinned her back to the wall. Skadi drew in a sharp breath. Good hells, I could listen to the sound again and again, preferably with her body beneath mine, her claws leaving marks on my back.
My grip went to her throat, not enough to hurt, merely a way to touch her, hold her. “That fae did not touch you, but I saw your eyes, your reaction. Someone has touched you and not kindly.” I tugged on her bottom lip with my thumb. “I’ll be needing a name.”
“What? Why would I tell you anything? Especially when you don’t even know what you’re doing right now?”
“I know exactly what I am doing.” My eyes felt heavy. I wanted to fall into bed, her arms and legs tangled with mine, and sleep until the next sunset. “If he is still breathing, I would like to change that, Wife.”
Skadi’s eyes widened. Why did I never consider the dangers of vowing with such a beautiful creature?
Silver rings lined the edges of her ears, all the way to the narrow point. Her fingers were much the same. Firelight gleamed over her eyes, and I took a pause to consider the blue. Brighter than a deep sea, but not so pale they looked like a summer sky. They were like sapphires with shattered silver in the center.
She wanted her fire to remain doused, little did she know her husband had plans to fan the flames until we were both set ablaze.
Then my forehead fell to her shoulder.
