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“Yes.”

Her feet slid to the floor, heels clacking quietly. She stood and adjusted her hair, straightening the curls against her chest. “What did you say?”

“That I’d take it into consideration. You don’t want to marry me, do you?” It wasn’t that the match wasn’t a good one, but War always thought he’d marry for love. He didn’t even entirely trust her, and that wasn’t a quality he expected in a wife. There had to be trust.

He was foolish to not make her leave the first time. A dark cool night, steam wisped around him in a hot bath. She’d attended several meetings with her father, and stayed at his manor a handful of times but they’d never even shared a chaste kiss; they’d stolen glances, touches here and there but War hadn’t been with anyone in a couple years and when the dragon princess entered his chambers wearing nothing, he couldn’t resist.

She lifted her shoulder and hurried to the window, drawing the curtain aside to peer out. “I haven’t thought about it. I’ll tell him you haven’t deflowered me, and that everything has been perfectly proper aside from one little kiss.” She turned with a wicked grin. “It was probably his nosy advisor. He saw us kiss goodbye in the orchards last time.”

So, she didn’t want to marry him. Good to know. “And if he still wants the match?”

“Obviously he wants the match.” Varlett dropped the curtains. “You’re the god of war. He may be king of his territory, but you rule over all Ryvengaard, and have strong footholds in Runevale and the rest of the realms. I know you’re friends, but my father will use that to secure his position. What better way to do that than with me?” Her heels tapped as she made her way back over to him. She bent down at the hips, caressed the side of his face, and then kissed him once more, softer this time. “Would it be terrible to have me as a wife?”

He pondered the thought of it for a moment. “No.” It wasn’t a lie.

She smiled. “I think you and I could be great, War,” she licked his earlobe, sending a shiver through his body, “but I’ll handle my father for now. And tonight, when I come to you, and make you feel like you could float to the stars, we’ll talk more.” She pulled away and blew him a kiss before she walked out the door.

War tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair. He knew this was a risk and yet he allowed her to seduce him the first time, knowing exactly how her father would react if he found out.

A knockon his door jerked him out of that time. With a groan, Thane closed the book and rubbed his temples. Gods above, how could this be real? His skin crawled and heated thinking about her lips on his, and her body pressed against him. Had he been engaged to her? He couldn’t remember.

Another knock, more urgent. He shoved up from his desk and mulled over them being lovers then thought about the forest when she’d shoved her hand through his torso and nearly killed him.Wench.

He pulled the door open, coming face to face with the dragon witch. The same golden curls, curvy body, and beautiful face as the young dragon princess who seduced him over and over. But her cheekbones were sharper, and her eyes told of the hard times that had passed between then and now. Varlett was over two thousand years old. At this point, he didn’t know her at all.

He clenched his fists at his sides and looked at her with new understanding. Hel wasn’t the only one who felt betrayed back then. “Varlett.”

“Hello, High King,” she said, twirling one of her curls around her finger. His mind flashed to them naked, bodies moving together on that armchair with her moans filling the room, and his face flushed with heat again.

She tilted her head slightly, eyes inspecting him as if she could see into his thoughts. “You remember me now, don’t you? I can see it in your face.”In a flash, her hand wrapped around his throat and squeezed. She pressed in closer, whispered in his ear, “And from that blush you must remember that way I sucked you real good.”

He shoved her in the chest, sending her stumbling back into the wall. “Don’t touch me.” The thought of them ever being together made him physically sick. In this life he’d only been with Layala, had waited many years for her. Gods, he believed she was all he ever knew, and that memory of Varlett ruined that.

She cackled and slowly shook her head. “And you remembered I like it rough too, I see. The noble, sweet Thane has a delicious dark side and not just on the battlefield.”

“Get out of my castle. You’re not welcome here.”

“That’s not what you used to say.”

Magic tingled through his body, and the floorboards creaked from an invisible pressure. “Get. Out.”

“I came to warn you there’s a demon running loose on your grounds. I could help if you’ll ask nicely.” She clicked her long black talons together. “Lots of screaming and people dying.”

Cursing under his breath, he resigned to deal with her later. The past, her drama, would have to wait, because the present needed him, needed Thane the Elf King not War. He hurried across the hall into his bedroom to grab his weapons. Without looking back, he felt Varlett’s presence behind him. “I saw Hel and Layala together. You should be worried. And maybe you should stop being such a gentleman and stick that cock of yours where it belongs before she forgets how much she loves you. And I don’t mean in me.”

How did she even know he and Layala weren’t sleeping together? He whirled around on her. Thane clenched his teeth and snatched up his sword off his dresser. “Stay out of my business.”

“It was easy to get the little gnome to talk and that creature knowseverything. You should keep a better eye on her.”

“What did you do?”

“I bribed her with food and a little truth serum. She’s fine.”

Thane slipped his weapons holster on and looked her over. The dragon princess he once knew was long gone. “You almost killed me. You took Tenebris’s side, and I don’t know if I want to know how you and Hel ended up together.”

“I could have ripped out your heart or tore through your vital organs, but I didn’t, did I? I missed everything important. I knew you’d heal, and as far as me and Hel go, well, it should be easy to figure out when you consider your betrayal against both of us.”

It couldn’t be true. There was no accepting that until he knew for sure… but then again he would do anything for Layala.