“From all the sex, of course.”
“—I end my night laying at your side, thanking the gods that you came to the wall all those months ago and stole my heart.”
My chest fills with warmth, tears glazing my eyes. I inch closer to him, and his hand finds my calf. He runs it idly over my skin, eyes drinking me in. When I speak, my voice comes out quiet. “What do we do after?”
His eyes sparkle with mischief as he reaches forward, grasping me beneath my hips and hoisting me into his lap. Water splashes over the side of the tub at the movement. “I think you know what we do after,” he says, a teasing growl in his voice.
I lean closer to him, bracing my hands on the rim of the tub as I rock my hips over his. Once. Twice. I feel him stiffen against me. “Is tonight any different, then?”
He brings his lips to mine in a soft brush of a kiss. “Tonight is only a little different, for I must be gentle with you.”
I quirk my brow. “Why is that?”
He gives me a shy smile. “Well, we’ve just begun to suspect you might be carrying my child.”
I freeze, my body going still. “Your child? How do you know I even want children?”
Heat flushes his cheeks. His voice is hesitant as he asks, “Do you?”
I allow myself to ponder it before pulling my shoulders into a shrug. “Maybe someday. Not right now.”
His expression regains its previous mischievous humor. “Well, we have hundreds and thousands of years to decide about children. If that isn’t part of your one-year plan, then I suppose I don’t need to be gentle with you after all.” He grips my waist tight, then nips playfully at my neck. I squeal, but his bites dissolve into kisses, his lips trailing my collarbone.
Passion returns to my core. I tip my head to the side to allow him to nuzzle closer. My hips begin to rock again, and I bring one hand to his chest. I feel every hard muscle beneath my palm as I trail my hand down his torso, reaching his lower stomach.
“Are you sure you even want to?” he whispers against my neck, a hint of jest in his tone. “I mean, we’ve been doing it twice a night for a year now.”
I pull back and look at him, my lips stretching into a grin. “Twice a night?”
“Ok, you’re right. Most nights it’s thrice. And that does not include what we do on the furniture.” His face contorts with a pretend grimace. “But aren’t your hips beginning to ache? Besides, at this rate, you’re sure to be with child far sooner than you’re ready.”
I bring both hands to his shoulders. “Shut up and kiss me.”
“Whatever you say, my dearest mate. My wife.”
Again, I’m taken aback. “Wife?”
“Yes, mywife. Have you already forgotten our wedding? I seem to recall you being owed one when you were named my Chosen.”
“That was a term of the treaty,remember? And we broke the treaty.”
“Ah, but I am still a man of honor. I wasn’t going to defile your human side too long without trapping you beneath the bonds of wedlock.”
I roll my eyes. “How romantic.”
“It was romantic. After all that business with the bomb, we settled down in our new palace, enjoyed a very human wedding, and even exchanged human wedding rings. You wore a hideous human dress which you glamoured from some poor, unsuspecting dressmaker. That was a night where we made lovefourtimes, if I remember right.”
“Four? My, my, I think we have a record to break.”
“Surely, we’ve broken it at least once this year.”
I lean in close, planting a kiss at the corner of his jaw. “Nope.”
“Well, the night grows late. We should get started trying to break it.”
I place a kiss on the other side of his jaw, then pull back just enough to meet his eyes. “Aspen?”
“Yes?”
