I told himeverything.
He smiled whenever I laughed and wiped my tears whenever I cried. Then he just held me tight, brushing my hair with his fingers.
After a while, he whispered near my ear, “I have some things for you.”
“Things?” I asked, lifting my face.
“Mmhmm.” He covered me with a blanket and lifted us both off the bed, then carried me into the sitting room. I snuggled beneath the blanket with my legs folded beneath me and watched Aegir place a bag on the sofa. When he untied the lace and pulled it open, I almost yelped.
My beautiful bow, the cry-for-war, and my book—Against the Tide. I hugged the bow against my chest. “You brought them with you,” I breathed. I placed the bow at my side and let the blanket fall on the sofa before rising to my feet. I lifted myself onto my tiptoes and smacked a kiss on Aegir’s cheek. “Thank you…I left them behind because they were very important to me, not because they weren’t.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get the red dress.”
“It’s all right. I don’t need a dress to remind me of the day you claimed me. You knew I was your soulbound then, but not before.”
He held my hands and sat down on the other sofa, pulling me onto his lap, my knees set astride. My hands went to his face and his went around my waist.
“Cordelia, if your scent hadn’t been masked, I would have known who you were to me the night you brought me the towels. I admit that I couldn’t get you out of my head, but I thought that it was only because you were strikingly beautiful. Without a scent and with a clever mind, I suspected you were a Naari spy. I can’t believe I hurt my own soulbound…and I let that son of a bitch hurt you. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not.”
My reply confused him. “You’re not?”
“Well, I simply cannot imagine myself missing the opportunity to call you a merciless brute. And besides, I saw you unclothed when I brought you the towels—I, too, couldn’t get you out of my head.”
“You’re wicked.”
“You’re a brute.”
Aegir poked his fingers along my ribs, causing me to squirm and giggle. But then he grabbed hold of my back and hugged me so tight.
“Falling in love with you was terrifying, you know,” Aegir admitted, loosening his grip so that I could look at him.
“It was?”
“Whenever I fantasised about meeting my soulbound, I always thought that it would be my soul falling first, then my heart and body to follow—not the other way round. But the moment I entered that stable, I—I knew I had fallen.” He grazed my cheek. “I had always wished that I would get to meet my soulbound—not everyone gets to have that, you know. But the second I laid eyes on you that afternoon, my wish changed. I wished for my soulbound to be you. And the most frightening thing was that without your scent, I couldn’t sense how you feltabout me—hell, how you felt about anything. And the thoughts of you hating me, or worse…fearing me…I—”
I traced my thumbs along his jawline.
“I do not fear you one bit, Aegir Hailin. And if you knew the thoughts I had about you, you wouldn’t have needed to worry in the slightest.”
“Oh,” Aegir cooed, interest sparking in his eyes. “What kind of thoughts?”
“Mmm, a queen never tells.”
“Oh, come on,” he said with nothing but mischief. “Then at least tell me one good one.”
My cheeks blushed. “Let’s just say that I thought about you whenever I…you know.”
“Whenever you touched—” he asked, looking down at my spread legs.
“Mmhmm.”
“Show me.”
“What?”
“Show me,” he repeated, biting on his lower lip as he pulled down the strings of my silky nightdress. He reached for my wrist and slowly lowered my right hand all the way down. Then he pulled me close, exploring my breasts with his tongue, teeth, and mouth. I used my free hand to help him pull down his trousers, undershorts and all.
