She chewed on her bottom lip, igniting a familiar flare of desire that drove him to momentary distraction. ‘I thought about it,’ she confessed. ‘I wondered if it would be easier that way, to put an ocean between me and you.’ She paused, looking away. ‘And your new bride.’
Alarik’s stomach twisted at the thought.
‘But I couldn’t do it,’ she went on. ‘The truth is, I would rather be here with you than anywhere else in the world. If not as your lover, then as your wrangler.’ She smiled tentatively. ‘As your friend.’
‘I have another suggestion,’ said Alarik.
Her brows lifted. ‘What is it?’
Be my queen.
Easy, Alarik.
One thing at a time. He had just got his wrangler back. He was not about to frighten her off again. ‘Give me a few days. I’m working up to it.’
‘All right.’ She brushed the strands from his forehead, lightly tracing the bruises there. ‘You took a thrashing for me today.’
‘Light work.’
And he meant it. He would walk into the flaming heart of the sun to keep Greta Iversen from pain.A little pummelling and a dozen broken ribs was nothing to cry about. Not while she was safe and warm in his bedchamber.
‘Hardly.’
‘I think we can agree your rescue was far more impressive.’
‘Well, that was mostly Fern.’
He cocked his head. ‘Fern?’
‘I’ve decided that’s her name.’ Her lips curled into a delicious smirk.
Alarik grimaced. This woman and her ludicrous monikers.
‘Why?’
‘Because it suits her.’ She flashed her teeth. ‘It’s short for Raging InFERNo of Death.’
Alarik burst into laughter, his ribs screaming in protest.
‘See,’ she needled. ‘You love it.’
‘Not as much as I love you, Greta Iversen.’
She went utterly still.
Oops. He hadn’t meant for it to come out like that, but the pressure in his chest had suddenly become too much. The words had leaped from him before he could stop them, and anyway, he had been trying to tell her all morning. If not now, when?
His declaration echoed in the silence. It coloured her cheeks, staining them the most alluring shade of pink.
‘Oh,’ she said, quietly. ‘I was not expecting that.’
‘I can’t imagine why,’ he said, throwing the last of his caution to the wind and giving voice to the rest of his adoration before it burned a hole in him. He was in enough discomfort already. ‘You are the most incredible woman I’ve ever known. When I’m with you, I feel like the best version of myself. As a man. As a king. You give me peace, Greta.’He tugged her into the heat of his body, and she slid her hands up his chest, gently toying with the collar of his nightshirt. Listening,blushing, but not quite looking at him. ‘All my life, I have never known peace. And now that I have tasted it, I finally understand it. Now that I have it in my arms, I don’t want to let it go.’ He touched his forehead against hers, their breath mingling. ‘Your soul sings to mine, wildling. I want to listen to its song every day of my life.’
She closed her eyes, a soft, ragged noise catching in the back of her throat.
‘Let me love you, Greta. Let me earn your love in return.’
She brushed her nose against his. ‘Don’t you see?’ she said, skimming his lips with her own. Heat roared through his bloodstream at the barest touch of her mouth. ‘You already have my love. You have my heart and soul.’
