“For me?” I asked, my eyes going wide. “I can’t eat all that.”
“And for me,” he added. “Go eat,rei sarkia. I’ll be there shortly.”
I found it didn’t bother me when he called mesarkiaanymore. Strangely, I could hear the way his voice lowered as he said it, as if it were…a soft name now.
Which reminded me about what I’d learned that morning.
“All right,setovan,” I murmured, rising from my place beside the bath. I heard a sharp huff leave his nostrils as I strode away, sinking down at the low table, on the cushions that lined the carpet.
A moment later, I heard thewhooshof water as he stood. I couldn’t help but look over at him as I dragged a bowl of broth to my lips. He was looking at me, his cock swaying, as he stepped from the tub and snagged furs to dry off with. Water droplets slid down his wide chest and I traced one until it dipped underneath the furs, disappearing from view.
“Setovan?” he growled softly. I sipped more broth from the bowl, my spine straightening when he hung the furs on the rack that attached to the fire basin, leaving him very, very nude. I swallowed when he approached, my eyes dipping to his rapidly rising cock.
“Sailon?” I asked him when I thought my tongue would work again. “Hukri told me what it meant. You didn’t think you’d get away with that for long, did you?”
When his mouth curled in a brief grin, my mind temporarily went blank. I’d never actually seen apropersmile from him and the sight was…dizzying. It made my heart speed to an alarming rate.
“I got away with it for a little while,” he informed me, then dropped next to me on the cushion, his naked, warm thigh pressing into my own. “I think it was worth it, even though I risked your ire. Are you angry with me for it?”
“No,” I said truthfully. When I spied his cock bob out of the corner of my eye, my cheeks went hot, and I sipped more broth. Then asked, “Aren’t you going to dress?”
“Why bother?” he rasped, leaning close to me as he reached for the heaping plate of smoky, fragrant, herby meat. His hand met the small of my back, his touch unexpected and oddly comforting. “I expect no interruptions this night from my horde. And you will soon be undressed and lying across our freshly cleaned furs as I drink from between your thighs.”
I gasped, heat pooling so suddenly with his words because I could picture it so easily. And Iwantedit so much.
His touch on the small of my back rose, tracing my spine through my thin dress. “I’ve been a very patient male all day and I think I deserve my treat.”
When our gazes locked, I felt his hand curl around the back of my neck. He brought me forward, his head ducking and—
My stomach growled.
Wrune paused. His eyes flashed and instead of the deep, scalp-tingling kiss I’d expected, he brushed a chaste one across my lips and leaned back.
“Eat,reiMorakkari,” he murmured, his expression unreadable. “You’ll need your strength.”
That sounded like both a threat and a promise.
In response, I found anticipation curling in my belly, wicked and hot and needful.
But I ignored it for now, plucking off a piece of tender meat from the plate Wrune offered to me. The taste reminded me of something I’d had before and I instantly knew what it was.
“Is this…is this meat from the same beast you gave my village?” I asked softly. It had an earthy taste to it, one that was so familiar to me.
“Well, not thesamebeast,” he murmured. I huffed out a small breath, shaking my head. It seemed my husband could be playful when he wished to be. “Butlysi. It isbveri. A large pack animal. It grazes during the warm season towards the southlands but when the frost comes, it heads north.”
“Where it’s colder during the frost?” I asked, curious.
“The one I sent to your village was already skinned and processed but abveritypically has thick, long, dense fur. We use their fur during the cold season because it insulates best. It is too hot for this season but you will see it eventually.”
I hadn’t thought much about the future.Ourfuture. I couldn’t think past the Dead Mountain or the fog for now because nothing seemed certain. But Wrune didn’t seem to have those same hesitations.
“For the frost, we may be in the northlands,” he added. My breath hitched, my eyes going wide at the prospect of returninghome. “What would you think of that,rei Morakkari? If I claimed that territory for the frost?”
He was askingme?
Swallowing, I told him honestly, “I have no idea what goes into decisions like that. You’re the horde king. You know your horde. And Hukri has told me many times that you will always do what is right for them. If you think the northlands will be best, then what is to stop you from making that choice?”
“With time,Morakkari, you will be making choices that affect the horde too.”
