Here goes nothing.
I stab at the streak, and when I lift the spear, a fish wriggles on the end. It’s only the size of my palm but I don’t even care, and I don’t feel nearly as bad about killing the thing as I probably should because I did it!
I cannot contain my smile as I carefully pick my way between slick stones back to shore, past the two Unseelie gawking at me and my fish, heading straight for the dwelling we shared.
Climbing the ladder with one hand is tricky, but somehow, I manage, and when I finally step into the entryway, Maddox is sitting up on the edge of the bed, his hair a complete disaster and his brow furrowed as he glances around.
I’ve never seen him look so adorable or so appealing.
His gaze snaps to mine and then falls to the fish still flailing on the spear. I might not know how to cut out its guts or remove its bones, but it’s a gift of sustenance all the same.
I thrust the spear toward him. “I come bearing gifts.”
A slow smile unfurls across lips I spent most of the night memorizing. “Careful, Nia Quill. It is inadvisable to offer an unmated Unseelie male a gift of sustenance. He is likely to get the wrong idea.”
Why is he back to using my surname? Is he having second thoughts?
No.
I refuse to let my mind play tricks on me. Unless Maddox says he’s having second thoughts, I’ll assume the best. “I know exactly what it means.”
The smile slips from his face. “You killed a fish for me?”
“It’s still wriggling around so I’m not sure it’s actually dead?—"
He catches my waist, pulls me, the spear, and the dying fish toward him, and slams his lips onto mine. The spear and fishclatter to the ground, which probably isn’t ideal, but I’m too busy being consumed by this beautiful, ridiculous man to care.
“I believe you’re meant to give me something if you accept my courtship,” I murmur against his lips.
This makes him frown, as I knew it would.
“I have nothing,” he says.
I run my hand along the hard ridge at the front of his trousers. “Really? I can think of something.”
“My Nia is an insatiable female.”
My Nia.
Here I didn’t think I could fall any harder.
It appears I was wrong.
Leaving the haven of our small dwelling with Maddox is infinitely worse than it was when I crawled out this morning. Unlike a few hours ago,everyoneis watching us.
Well, not us. Him. Not that I blame them. I can’t take my eyes off the man either. After we made love a fourth time, he cooked the tiny fish, insisted on giving me half, and then dragged me into the shower for a fifth.
If anyone is insatiable, it’s Maddox.
The women’s smiles turn to glowers as their gazes fall to where he clutches my hand. Murmurs and whispers follow in our wake like a heavy shadow.
His expression slowly darkens until he’s scowling back. It’s strange to see him doing anything but smiling. Whatever is being said must be terrible to warrant such a fearsome look from the most jovial man I’ve ever met.
My curiosity eventually wins out, and I squeeze his elbow, bringing him to a halt in front of a small tent. He inclines his head toward me, the gray light shining off the black earrings that climb his earlobes.
“What are they saying?” I whisper.
His jaw works, the muscles pulsing. “They are wondering why you do not bear my mark.”
