He shook his head. He turned to regard me, a wry smile on his lips that didn’t quite belong. “Nothing.” When I shivered against him, he asked, “Are you cold? We should head back to the keep.”

“Can we stay a little while longer?” I asked quietly, not ready to leave. Not ready to leave the solid press of his body next to mine. It was peaceful here. Even if we weren’t talking about peaceful things. I still wasn’t ready to give him up.

“Yes, of course,” he answered.

As I studied him, I realized he was nothing like how I’d imagined him to be. He could be biting and cold. His temper could run hot, while the ice in his eyes could freeze me in place. But the male I’d come to know this last week was gentle with me. Infinitely passionate. Exceedingly patient.

That wasn’t to say we hadn’t argued this week. Because we certainly had. Just a few days ago, he’d griped at me because I’d pushed into his office, wanting to help him with the lore accounts since Maazin had, effectively, fled the keep. He’d said it was his responsibility to see the accounts investigated, when I’d only wanted to help. I’d called him stubborn. He’d called me maddening. We’d glared at one another over a mound of parchment.

And then we’d nearly torn the stacks to shreds as we’d jumped on one another, clothes flying, clasps flinging themselves across the floor. Our argument had ended in gasping moans and deep groans, with the pleasurable stretch of his seal rooting into place inside me and with his lips at my breast.

Afterward, I’d been too boneless and sated to even care about the lore accounts. Maybe that had been his intention all along.

I wondered which version of Azur was the truest form of my husband. And why there had been such a great discrepancy between them to begin with.

I knew it had something to do with my father. Whether he’d taken money from the Kylorr that he couldn’t repay or pissed off the wrong noble, I wasn’t certain. Now, knowing that his father was on the Uranian Federation Council, I wondered if that had anything to do with why Azur had married me. My father belonged to the United Alliance. The Kylorr had been defending the Pe’ji in the last war. My father would have been their enemy.

What I was certain about was that Azur wouldn’t tell me. I’d hinted. I’d pressed. His eyes would narrow like he knew what I was doing, and I got no further with him.

“Are you ready for tomorrow night?” Azur asked me softly.

“I’m ready,” I told him, not wanting him to know that I was actually very nervous. Nervous and excited. About meeting his brothers. About meeting the nobles of Laras, old family friends of House Kaalium, with deeper ties to this land than I could fathom.

Then again, I’d held off loan collectors who were probably five times as terrifying as any noble on Laras. I could handle it. I knew it.

His brothers, on the other hand…

“Kalia wasn’t exactly my biggest fan when I came to Krynn,” I said softly. “I wonder if your brothers will feel the same.”

“You can handle my brothers, wife,” he told me. “For the most part, they’re more charming than I am.”

I laughed at his obvious tease. Because I’d seen Azur charm the surliest of Kylorrs throughout the last week in the village.

“And what about Kythel?” I asked. Perhaps the brother I was most anxious about meeting was Azur’s twin. He’d said they were close. I wanted to make a good impression since I’d obviously failed with both Azur and Kalia upon meeting them.

“Kythel…” Azur huffed, long and slow. “Kythel will see what you are to me. He will understand. They all will.”

My brow furrowed.

“You have nothing to fear,” he said, his hand lazily dragging across my shoulder. “And if you wish to leave early, we can sneak upstairs to our rooms and let the nobles smoke through the House’s supply of lore in our wake.”

Our rooms, he’d said.

My heart fluttered at that, a dangerous thing.

“I like that plan,” I told him, leaning down for a kiss. “Very much.”

Chapter 37

Gemma

“Azur,” I moaned, my eyelids fluttering wildly, pushing at his shoulders. “You’ll leave a mark!”

In response, he drank even deeper, and I felt my clit tingle, a warning.

He wants to leave one, I knew just as my orgasm crested, blinding and fast. I clutched on to him, my legs shaking, biting my lip to stifle my loud cries because I could already hear the music funneling throughout the keep.

Guests were arriving. The lore harvest ball was underway, and here I was, hidden in a dark alcove on the second floor of the keep, with my husband’s fangs deep in my neck.

When he was finished, he pulled away, licking his lips. I was flushed, panting, staring at him with a half-lidded gaze. There was an odd scent drifting in the air, one that smelled strangely like cinnamon but spicier. One that made me feel dizzy, that made my heart speed and the muscles in my thighs quiver.

Azur had been leading me down the stairs, his hand presumptuous and wandering over the dress he’d purchased for me. The most beautiful thing I’d ever worn. The Hindras clothier was truly skilled to craft such a work of art. The material was human-blood red and light as air, skimming close to the curves of my body. Yet it was sturdy enough to hold the silver metal that had been hand sewed into it, metal that had been shaped into delicate swirls and curving lines in the bodice and sweeping down toward my hips.

The neckline was low, showing the expanse of my upper chest, the valley of my breasts, and the line of my neck. Ludayn had swept my hair up in a soft, braided bun, pinning it back with silver pins encrusted in ruby-like gems. The final touch was the headband of silver flowers—which resembled starwood blooms—that she had been eager for me to wear.

I’d felt a thrill go through me when Azur had first seen me. He’d stilled, his nostrils flaring, those fiery eyes roving. A low, unconscious growl had reverberated up his throat before he’d swallowed it down. That sound had made my toes curl in my silk slippers, and I’d just narrowly managed to dodge his lunge for me, laughing breathlessly because I hadn’t wanted us to be late.

And I’d known that if my husband had gotten his hands on me, we would’ve been very late indeed.

He’d behaved until the second floor.

Now he peered down at his bite with a smirk that nearly made me whimper.

“Perfect,” he purred, his hand cupping my cheek. “You’re beautiful, wife.”

My throat burned. I’d never heard that before. Not once in my entire life. It was my sisters who other people had called beautiful.

But the way Azur was looking at me…I knew he meant it. He truly meant it.

I wasn’t very good at accepting compliments, but I smiled at him, managing to hold back my tears. “Thank you. You’re very handsome tonight too.”

My husband, however, had likely heard compliments his entire life from females who’d clamored over one another to reach him. Azur was dressed finely in a black structured vest that molded to him and black pants. The material of both was strong like leather but held the supple softness of suede. Similar metal work was sewn into his vest, though the accents highlighted the breadth of his shoulders and the width of his chest. He wore his gauntlets, gleaming and freshly polished. A dagger—the same one we’d used at our marriage ceremony and to cut our hands again the night of the moon winds—was sheathed at his hip.

His shoulder-length black hair was left down and unbound, completing his roguish look.

If we’d met at a ball like this, in another place, I’d likely have been unable to keep my eyes off him.

To think that he was my husband, that he was mine…it was hard to wrap my head around. Once, I’d been terrified of him. I’d recoiled at the sight of him, frozen in place, fearful of what my fate with him might be.