“Our horde,” she amended quietly, those green eyes pinned to me, watching me carefully. “And what better way can I be of service than to help you, my husband, and thedarukkarsthat serve you, that serveus? I’ve done it before. Multiple times, you’ve seen it. I won’t let it get out of hand. Not like last time. You just need to trust me.”
“Mina,” I growled warningly, catching sight of Valavik stepping out of the council’svoliki. We had stopped a stone’s throw away from it and I knew the elders and the warriors I had assigned to the journey were inside as well. Waiting for me.
Mina glanced at Valavik too before she looked back at me.
“Let me do this,” she implored, squeezing my hand. “Lead me inside thatvolikiand I can save you and yourdarukkarsdaysof travel. Days that they can spend with their wives and families instead of wandering around the north, looking for something that might not even be there! Days thatyoucan spend in the horde because this is where you need to be. Days with me.Nightswith me,” she added softly.
“You’re doing it again,rei sarkia,” I growled to her, squeezing her hip when I drew her closer. “And I am not going to be blinded by it again.”
“Doing what?” she asked, innocently enough that I almost believed she didn’t know.
“Can you not see why I believed you were asarkiaat first?” I rasped. “Because everything in me wants to give you what you want! And I cannot risk your safety for that.”
“I will stay back then,” she said. “I will stay with thedarukkarsat the encampment and clear the way. I won’t step towards the Dead Mountain. I won’t go anywhere near it.”
“Then you risk overexerting yourself again. You risk thatpainagain,” I said, shaking my head.
“I don’t care!” she exclaimed. “What’s a little bit of pain if it means that you’ll besafer?”
I stilled, regarding her as her words echoed between us.
She worried formysafety? That was why she was so upset?
She licked her lips and I saw her concernbrightlyright then, reflected in her eyes.
“Pain is fleeting,” she said quietly, aware that Valavik’s eyes were on us. “If I can help you, if I can make the path for you safer, then I will do it. I know my limits now. I felt them out on the plains. I know how far I can go. I’m just asking you to trust me, Wrune.”
Dread settled in my belly. A heavy thing. Because anything that risked her safety would never sit well with me.
Even so, I recognized that she made a reasonable argument. If she cleared the path for us, it would save days, possibly even weeks of travel, depending on the state of the north. It would save us the uncertainty of planning. We could focus solely on executing the plan underneath the Dead Mountain instead of spending time on the journey.
It would be safer for thedarukkars.
It meant we would not be away from the horde for long, at such a precarious time.
“Please,” she whispered. Then she went high on her toes and pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth, then to my jaw, then to my neck. “Hanniva,” she murmured in my ear.
I growled.
Then my shoulders sagged. I caught Valavik’s questioning gaze before I looked back to Mina.
“Very well,” I said, my voice deep and husky and sovokkinghesitant it sounded like I was agreeing to my own torture. “But you will do exactly as I say. And you will have guards with you, as well as the healer close by, in case anything happens.”
My wife seemed to know better than to smile in victory when I was in such a begrudging, irritated mood.
“That sounds very fair,Vorakkar,” she said, her tone practically prim and sullen.
“Get in thevoliki,” I growled, “before I change my mind.”
“Lysi, sailon,” she murmured, using that affectionate name for me, as if she knew I would be softened by it.
As I watched her sway past me, I knew that it had worked.
Chapter Forty-Nine
My nails dug into his chest. His palms were gripping my hips hard enough to bruise but I didn’t care.
That pinching, consuming need was making me mindless as I rocked over Wrune. I didn’t recognize the woman I was with him. Not when we were like this. I was demanding and needful. Selfish even. I ground over his cock, snapping my hips down in a way that had him groaning. I was selfish, focused on the heat building between my thighs, but I wanted to make him feel good too. Because he mademefeel so, so good.
