Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Not a topic he’d expected to address today. He’d known Viori and Elena had ceased hating each other, but he hadn’t realized his Red had become so fond of the blonde. And she must be fond of the other woman. Otherwise, she would request a harsher penalty.
“She is a soldier in my army,” he explained, “and she disobeyed a direct order from a person of higher rank.”
“I disobey you all the time, yet I get rewarded. As I always say, what’s good for a royal is good for the people.”
“Oh, you always say this?” He grinned. “The problem is, I’m particularly motivated to show you leniency. You and no other.”
“Is it because I look so good naked?” she asked, wiggling against him. “It’s because I look so good naked, isn’t it?”
“That is a reason, yes.” He traced his fingertips along the ridges of her spine, then cupped her backside and groaned. Never in a thousand lifetimes would he get enough of this soft, curvy body. The outrageous things she said. How she challenged him.
“Well? How many other reasons are there?”
“Many.”
“Like how amazing it feels to be inside me?”
“Without question. Nothing compares to you.” Already he wanted her again. He kissed her temple. “Before we explore this topic further—and we will explore it further—I have a query for you.”
She went still, evincing dread. “All right. Ask.”
He gave her temple another kiss, an offer of reassurance. “Why do your trees sometimes bear fruit?”
“Oh. That. I don’t actually know,” she admitted. “Though I kind of suspect you have something to do with it.”
“Me?”
“Well, it’s happened only twice. But both times you were nearby...and I was kind of...happy.”
Micah made her happy? He almost couldn’t process the idea. “All of my life, I’ve dreamed of providing a paradise for my people. Fruit for the taking. Flowers in bloom. And now I can do it, if only I make my queen smile often?” Hope spread through him.
She squirmed again. “I mean, it isn’t impossible. But, um, what happens next? Between us.”
“What do you want to happen next?”
A moment passed in silence before she maneuvered to her stomach and propped her hands on his pectorals, directly over his heart. She peered at him through the fan of her lashes while worrying her bottom lip.
“I think I want to tell you my secret, but I don’t think I should. It might be a betrayal to someone else. So I think I’ll find my children instead and—”
“Our children,” he interjected. What belonged to her belonged to him, and what belonged to him belonged to her. That was how things would be from now on.
She flushed. “Yes. Well. We can all return to your camp and—”
“Our camp.”
She gulped and nodded. “We’ll give this marriage a try. See how things go. Rule over your—our—people. Enjoy the truce with Kaysar and Cookie.”
A try was all he needed. “Let’s hear—” His mind went blank, flashing black before displaying a new, horrifying reality. Another glimpse of the future, courtesy of Fayette.
He jolted as the image of a bloody Viori and the troll king filled his awareness. Only this time, Micah saw what happened before and after her death. Ragdar, beating her with his meaty fists. Her slight form unable to withstand the abuse. When she had no fight left in her, he ripped at her skirt—
“No!” Micah roared, springing upright to attack the male—but he swiped at air, only air. He was panting, in the swamp, on the stone bed, with his wife at his side.
“Micah?” Pallid, Viori went to her knees, crouching beside him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Everything. I’m sorry,” he said, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Should he inform her of the truth or not? Would leaving her in the dark place her in more or less danger? Would she worry when she shouldn’t? What was truth and what was twisted lie?
He slid his hand to his nape and massaged the bunched-up muscles. The right thing? Giving her the truth. “The oracle. Fayette. She keeps pushing an image into my head. It is...not pretty. I’m sorry,” he repeated lamely. No, he shouldn’t tell her what he’d seen. Right now, there was no reason to do so. The oracle must have twisted the image, showing him a false future, nothing more. Micah would never allow Ragdar to gain freedom. Would never allow the troll to near the queen. Would never fear...
Except, the image hit him again and again and again. Relentless. Ruthless. Until he couldn’t distinguish fantasy from reality. Viori, beaten. Broken. Dead. His heart raced faster. Sweat trickled from his temples, and it had nothing to do with spent passions.
Beaten. Broken. Dead.
Beaten, broken, dead.
Beatenbrokendead.
A series of vicious roars cut through the forest, birds taking flight. The awful image vanished in an instant, and Micah snapped into sudden focus.