“By the gods, Shadow King,” Tadhg groused. “I said rest, not a full-body snog. Put her down, will ye?”
Put me down?
Cian pulled back his mouth, and that was when I realized I was no longer standing.
Sometime during that intense kiss, I’d either climbed or been lifted. Either way, my legs were now wrapped around the Shadow King’s waist, and his long fingers cupped my bottom, holding me steady.
Apparently, he was much,muchstronger than his lean frame suggested.
I couldn’t remember ever being picked up. My mother had more than insinuated a few times that I’d been born too heavy and had only become a bigger and bigger problem for her since.
So there were no words…
No words to describe the sensation of being held like this. Kissed like this.
But I tried.
“That was…” I breathed out a lot of embarrassment and St. Ailbe conditioning to admit, “That was really nice. I liked it so much. My belly is tingling.”
His sea-blue gaze had darkened, and his eyes lingered on my lips.
But he set me down as Tadhg instructed, his face an ethereal being’s promise of things to come.
“Alright, Sadie, it’s time to go home.”
Tadhg’s larger hand once again enveloped mine, and the Shadow King waved with one tilt of his wrist before the Mountain King escorted me back to the side of the palace with the interior door to my room.
Home.
I’d only been here a few hours, but somehow the word already felt right, even though questions continued to percolate in my throat. I shot him several nervous glances.
Until Tadhg said, “Is there anything else you’re wanting to ask me, Strawberry?”
His regular accent was back. Smooth and easy-going, with an ever-present tint of amusement.
“Did you have…” I tried to figure out a judicious way to put it. “…more than two parents growing up?”
“No, I did not,” he answered. “I had a father and a mother. Then just a father after my mother passed.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
He let out a heavy sigh. “Me, too.”
The silence came again. Much more awkward this time.
But the blurting disease made me ask, “Was that strange for you? Watching me kiss the Shadow King?”
This time, Tadhg turned his head to regard me, amusement glinting in his hazel eyes. “Are you asking if I was jealous?”
“Ye-yes, I—I guess I am,” I stammered.
He tilted his head. “Relieved, actually. That I wasn’t.”
My brows drew together in surprise.
“Historically, Mountain Kings aren’t great at sharing,” he went on, voice quieter now. “We’re a peaceful kingdom, but nearly every war in our history started because one of my predecessors couldn’t let go.”
He looked away. “And my da… Let’s just say my mam had stopped loving him by the time Brigid was born. But she stayed. Somewhat out of duty. But mostly out of fear.”
