“We’ve slept beside each other for weeks. You can come up onto the bed.”
A beat passes.
“Are you inviting me into your bed, Mayah?” His gravelly voice is sinfully low, and it sends a rush of warmth pulsing through my core.
“To sleep! I’m inviting you into my bed tosleep. Nothing else.”
“Noted,” he says with a chuckle. The mattress dips as he settles beside me, and I hate the rush of contentment that warms my chest.
My body wants to be near him—wants him close.
It’s because we’ve spent so much time together. I’ve grown accustomed to his presence, to sleeping in his arms. But I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t want to—
“Mayah,” Zev murmurs. “Stop thinking. Go to sleep.”
“Stay on your side,” I warn, keeping my back to him. Exhaustion tugs at my eyelids, and the soft mattress cradles me—a luxury I’ve nearly forgotten after weeks of sleeping on cold, hard earth.
I fall asleep before he replies.
A crack of thunder jolts me awake. The bed beside me is empty but still warm. A thin sliver of light slices through the room, illuminating Zev’s broad silhouette, partially concealed by the door. He’s speaking to someone in the hall. His words are muffled, but he soundspissed.
Another boom of thunder echoes, and I yelp, barely managing to suppress the sound. Zev must hear anyway because he glances back at me for a heartbeat, before exchanging a few more heated words, his voice tight with unbridled anger.
A bolt of lightning flashes, brightening the room for half a second, but it’s enough to set my heart ablaze. My breath escapes in short pants. My lungs constrict.
I gasp weakly. I can’t get enough air.
He slams the door shut. His hands crackle with residual energy when he returns to bed. Zev doesn’t ask, doesn’t hesitate, just pulls me against his chest—he knows it’s what I need.
“I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “No one angers me like my half-brother. He came to ‘take liberties’ with you. I knew the guards wouldn’t be able to stop him.”
“Will he come back?” I ask, the words muffled against his chest.
“No.” He sounds certain. “And tomorrow you’ll move to my chambers.Ourchambers. You’ll be safe.” He runs a large hand down my back. “Sleep now, Mayah. We have a big day tomorrow.”
Right. I should sleep.
Tomorrow, I will be someone’s wife.
Tomorrow, my life changes forever.
But all I can hear is the thunder in my chest.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
It’smyweddingday,and I’m alone.
Zev was gone before I woke, but I expected nothing different.
Now, no fewer than eleven handmaids crowd around me, fussing and fastening, yet their presence does nothing to ease the loneliness.
The hollow in my stomach has a different name—I know it well.
Since we were children, Sura and I had imagined our weddings—grand and opulent andperfect. I’d swear my groom would be a dashing prince from some far-off land, while she swore it’d be Tumaas.
I always gave in to her, and Tumaas would stand awkwardly at our makeshift snow altar as Sura walked me down the aisle. I’d always imagined it would be the happiest day of my life.
But the dreams of children are often unanswered.
