Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Longing nearly choked me.
“Your blood could turn blue, like mine,” he continued. “If it does, you’ll be tied to the dome. This will be your home.”
“Your greatest prize,” I said, a lump in my throat. His entire kingdom. His family.
“Nei. I prize you most.” He grazed his thumbs over my cheeks. “You’ll have kraken armies devoted to your protection for the rest of your life.” His expression darkened. “But once the mark is given, it can’t be returned, no matter what happens at convergence. Know that.”
The warning should have frightened me. If we didn’t find another way to kill Jokull, and the rune claimed Sebastian’s heart, I’d be bonded to a man with no emotions.
Gaze fierce on me, he asked, “Do you still wish to proceed, Brona?”
Sebastian was worth any risk.
I jutted my chin. “Ja. I want this. I want us.”
The walls pulsed again, harder, faster, as if trying to find a new heartbeat after outgrowing the first.
He smiled slowly. “Then that is what I shall give you.”
With his gaze hot on mine, he withdrew a dagger and cut a line across his palm. Not even a flinch. Then he handed the hilt to me. Taking a deep breath, I cut a slash against my own palm.
Blood welled. His blue. Mine red.
Then we clasped hands, the contact wrenched a gasp from me. The burn. It hurt at first, but then… then it was good. So, so, so good.
His power surged into me, an undertow beneath my fire. It crashed through me like waves as sweat beaded along his forehead.
My inhalations turned shallow, strength and weakness flowing into me in opposing currents. I didn’t fight it. Whatever he needed, I gladly gave. Whatever he gave, I eagerly received.
With my next inhale, I felt him. In my head. In my blood. My bones. I sensed him, as if an invisible rope tethered us together. I knew what weighed on him. The worry threaded through his resolve. But I also basked in his desire for me. A frothing, churning tide with depths I could explore for centuries without ever reaching the bottom.
My dragon roared, smokewings flapping.
His kraken made no sound, but it writhed, wrapping its tentacles around the dragon. Not in battle but need. Two puzzle pieces together at last. Then there was only Sebastian and me, and the light, and our clutched hands.
“You are mine,” he rasped so sharply I felt his possessiveness in every cell of my body. Felt it burrow deeper as he dragged his hand from my grasp and flattened his palm against my chest, as if he needed to feel my heart beat.
My skin heated under and around his hand, and we both went still.
He canted his head, as though trying to work through a mystery. “You are branding my print into you?”
“My dragon,” I rasped. My dragon was accepting his claim and ensuring there was a visual mark.
Wonder filled his eyes. “My queen. Now. Always.”
“My king.” Throwing my arms around him, I demanded, “Kiss me.”
Chapter
Twenty-One
When a kraken tells you to run, it’s already too late.
–An Incomplete Guide to Kraken Survival
Sebastian devoured my mouth, a starved man who’d discovered a banquet. I ravished him right back. We were husband and wife, now bonded, always and forever, whatever may come.
There in the cave, our cave, with the dome light flashing in time to our racing heartbeats, he tossed me onto the bed and gave me his body. I gave him mine. And oh, the things he did to mine. Pleasures I had never known. When I screamed his name, my voice echoed through the cave. It could have echoed across the dome, but I wouldn’t have cared. Let the whole underwater kingdom hear. Torrent after torrent of ecstasy crashed into me.
When I collapsed atop him hours later, I vibrated with sublime satisfaction.
Ragged breaths sawed between my lips. A fine sheen of sweat covered me. And to my immense delight, he fared no better.
“You exhausted me, woman.” His words sounded as if they’d been dragged over sandpaper. He kept his arms banded around me, ensuring I remained draped over him.
My smile spread so wide it hurt. I crossed my arms over his chest and rested my chin in the center. “Don’t worry, my precious. You might not have a dancer’s stamina, but you make up for it in other ways.”
He barked out a laugh, and I couldn’t help but giggle. That amusement tapered to quiet curiosity, and he frowned. “What is this…cozy feeling?” His volume grew softer. “Why are my eyelids so heavy? Muscles melting…”
I watched, amazed, as the man who claimed he couldn’t sleep drifted off, his lids sliding down. And staying down. As his head lolled to the side and his breathing evened out.
My smile only widened. Utterly content, I traced my fingers over his face. The face of my husband and firebrand. We had one day and one more night before the convergence. Absolutely enough time to save his heart, and mine, and crush Jokull.