Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
He hung her cloak beside his and took her hand.
His thumb moved slowly across her fingers. Then he lifted her hand and kissed the back of it.
Adira smiled softly.
Dravic’s gaze settled on her mouth.
He had intended to sit down. To speak to her about everything Merek had told him and the question Ernach had planted in his head.
Instead, he drew her toward him.
Adira came willingly.
His arm slipped around her waist, bringing her against him, and his mouth settled over hers.
The kiss was slow, almost lazy, nothing like the desperate hunger that had consumed them before. Dravic simply enjoyed her—the softness of her mouth, the way her body relaxed against his, the feel of her hands settling against his chest.
For a little while he did exactly what he had wanted to do since arriving in Thorskaill.
He forgot he was king.
When he finally lifted his head, Adira remained close, smiling up at him.
“Adira.”
Her heart slammed against her ribs. She heard him, not merely a sound this time but her name… Adira.
For one terrifying moment she thought the wonder of it must surely show on her face.
She had never heard her name. Or had she since it sounded oddly familiar to her? And now the first voice she heard speak it… belonged to Dravic. The man she loved.
She lowered her eyes before he could see too much and rested her cheek against his chest, wrapping her arms more firmly around him.
Dravic mistook the gesture for affection and kissed the top of her head.
Adira closed her eyes. Her heart beating so fiercely she wondered if he could feel it.
Adira.
She repeated the sound silently, holding it close. Her name falling from his lips. She wanted him to say it again.
Instead, Dravic took her hand and led her toward the hearth. He settled into one of the chairs and drew her onto his lap, wrapping his arm securely around her.
She rested comfortably against him, her head near his shoulder, and he immediately questioned the wisdom of having her so close.
The bed sat only a few feet away.
It would take little effort to carry her there, strip them both of their clothes and lose himself in her for the rest of the night. The thought alone had him tightening his arms around her.
But then he remembered the grimace she had tried to hide when he placed her on his horse that morning. He had known what caused it. And after spending the entire day riding, she was surely in no condition for what he wanted from her tonight.
Dravic frowned.
He had never before found himself concerned over whether a woman was too sore to bed. But Adira was different. Everything with her was different.
He pressed a kiss to her temple and forced his thoughts away from the bed. He needed something else to occupy them.
Unfortunately, Ernach provided it.
You ask much about your grandda and da, but nothing of your mum.
And when Dravic had said he knew all he needed to know about her, the old man’s response had been simple.
Do you?
The question had irritated him when Ernach asked it. It irritated him even more now.
“Ernach thinks I should be asking questions about my mum.”
Adira’s heart gave a hard beat.
His voice. She heard it.
She kept her head resting against him and her body relaxed, giving no indication that anything had changed.
But she had heard him. Not everything.
Ernach… questions… my mum.
Three pieces of what he had said had reached her clearly.
She wanted more.
Dravic’s fingers moved absently along her arm. “I cannot imagine what he thinks I don’t know.”
This time the words reached her differently. Some remained muffled, almost as if something stood between her and them, but others emerged clearly enough to understand.
“…what he thinks I don’t know.”
Adira’s heart beat faster, but she remained still.
Dravic stared into the fire.
“My mum was Ravina of Northland. She was a princess, the daughter of their king.”
“Mum… Ravina… Northland.” Then— She was a princess… daughter… king.
Adira listened with growing wonder.
He was no longer merely making sounds she struggled to grasp. His words were beginning to have meaning.
“My grandda arranged the marriage between her and my da. It strengthened the alliance with Northland.”
Some escaped her. Others did not.
Grandda… marriage… my da… Northland.
Dravic gave a faint shake of his head. “Those are facts. I know all of them.”
That reached her almost completely.
Adira’s fingers curled slightly against him before she caught herself and relaxed them.
Dravic noticed nothing. His attention remained on the fire and the question that refused to leave him alone.
“But Ernach wasn’t asking if I knew the facts, was he?”
Adira heard only pieces again, but she didn’t care. Every word that reached her was another treasure.
Dravic fell silent for a moment before throwing the question out there. “What does he think I don’t know about her?”
This time she heard him clearly—every word.
Adira’s heart pounded so hard she feared he would feel it. She had heard an entire question. His entire question.