It was her turn to prop up on an elbow before lifting a hand. She traced the muscles on his abdomen, still a little mesmerized at the feel of bare flesh beneath her fingers. For a long time, it was just this. Him letting her explore at her own pace in the quiet. Muscles flexing beneath her touch and sharp inhales of restraint.
“Why did you make me queen?” she asked, breaking the comfortable silence as she mapped out the veins on his forearm.
There was no hesitation in his answer when he said, “Because you’re so much more than arrows.”
She nodded, no more words exchanged between them as she brushed her fingertips along his temple, his lips, down his chest, and through the fine hair below his navel. She couldn’t do more, not now, and he didn’t ask for it.
But when she gingerly lay down with her head on his chest and her palm on his stomach, the way his arm curled around her and held her there told her she’d given him more than enough tonight.
Chapter 38
Razik
The smell of ale and too many bodies assaulted him as soon as he pulled open the door to the tavern by the docks. While he’d brought Kailia here when he had items to procure, she didn’t know this was the main tavern the Cadre frequented. They were always watched and scrutinized. But here, in a tavern off the beaten path by the docks, it was easier to go about unnoticed, which made it easier to actually unwind. They had to be mindful of their surroundings, but when everyone in the room was trying to be overlooked, it helped. It was also the best place to hear rumors and gossip first. More than once they’d discovered leads simply by listening to the chatter in taverns like this one.
Of course, when he brought Lia here, it was at the beginning of the day, not the end of the day, when even Avonleyans were finding their way to their beds.
It had been a long day with Kailia suddenly queen in ever regard. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to his uncle about putting him in the middle of things by making him cast a vote. A head’s up on the matter would have been nice from either his uncle or Cethin. Instead, he’d been as blindsided as Kailia had been. If they’d been discussing the matter for two godsdamn days,either of the males could have told him. Mostly, though, he was upset with his uncle. What was he supposed to do? Bring up his concerns in front of everyone at the table? Not that he had concerns. Maybe not concerns big enough to stop what had happened today, but his uncle hadn’t thought it might be a good idea to ask himbeforeputting him on the spot in front of the king and all his advisors?
Whatever.
It was done now. There was nothing he could do to change it. The rest of the day had been spent with Kailia as usual, which meant he’d had to sit through the remainder of the advisory meeting and then spend time in Cethin’s presence. He could tell the king was trying to ease her into her new responsibilities, and Razik was more than a little ready to be done with the day when they retired early for the night.
Except now he had this fucking meet up with Bram.
A quick scan of the room found the male wasn’t here yet, so Razik ordered a mug of ale and found a table in the back. The ale was nearly gone when Bram finally showed up.
“Sorry about that. The streets are busy tonight,” the male said, signaling a server for two more mugs.
Razik didn’t reply. Small and mundane talk was not something he ever partook in.
“Right. Guess, I’ll get to the point,” Bram muttered after the ales were delivered. He slid one across the table to Razik. “I bought a small estate.”
Razik gripped the handle of his mug. “If you had me meet you here to celebrate that, we’re going to have a problem.”
“I didn’t ask you to meet me here to celebrate that, you dick,” Bram retorted, taking a drink. “I’m telling you that because I need you to know I no longer reside in the Cadre barracks when I tell you I’m going to ask Wren to live at my place with me.”
Even knowing the conversation was going to be about Wren, the dragon in his soul still lifted its head with a snarl. Or the snarl was his because Bram leaned away, watching him with a dubious look.
“Males usually retire from the Cadre when they’re ready for a family,” Razik said tightly.
“I’m not looking to retire. I worked too hard to earn my spot on the Cadre to retire from it a handful of years later,” Bram replied.
“Then you don’t need to be sniffing around Wren.”
The look morphed into a glare, his light green eyes seeming to darken. He leaned forward, the sleeves of his tunic pulling up to reveal pieces of the ink that ran along his arms as he pointed a finger at Razik. “Fuck you, Greybane. I’ve been nothing but respectful to Wren, and I sure as fuck have been around more than you lately.”
“You were stationed beyond the Nightmist Mountains a few weeks ago,” Razik retorted.
“And you were in Everfall for a few days, leaving her behind.”
“I still fail to see your point in asking me here,” Razik gritted out.
“I already told you: I’m going to ask Wren to live with me,” Bram said, eyeing him as though he was looking for a hidden catch.
“What does that have to do with me?”
The male sat back in his chair, clearly exasperated. “Fuck, Greybane. What doesn’t it have to do with you? She’s your Source. She stays with you often enough, and you’re more than a little protective of her. For a while there, if I even looked at her, I had to worry about your godsdamn dragon fire.”
