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“Six wonderful andagonizingmonths.”

She pushed off his suit jacket, then pulled at his top, popping several buttons to see his flesh. In the moonlight runes and tattoos stood out against his pale skin. “Besides, you didn’t leave me wanting.”

He kissed her neck, and she tilted her head back to give him more room. “No, I didn’t.” He reached around her back and tugged at the dress’s fastens. It began to loosen so she ducked out of his grasp.

She walked backward toward the suite, leaving him looking confused. “Just, wait here a moment.”

“Fine.” He pulled his tunic over his head and dropped it next to his jacket.

She hurried through the room, grabbed her bag and dashed into the bathing chambers. Tearing the bag open, she rifled through it trying to remember what she had in there. It was a travel bag she had prepacked for a quick getaway, not for a wedding night. She pulled out a pair of plain white undergarments and a matching bralette. It paled in comparison to the racy red number he’d put her in their first night back together. She wanted something just as beautiful.

Sighing, she dropped the bag on the floor and started to pull the pins from her hair. It fell free from the braids and waved to her waist in thick black tresses. Checking herself in the small round mirror, she grabbed a balm for her lips and spread it over them. It was all she had. Without a fancy night dress, she only had one choice. She pushed the sleeves of the wedding gown off her shoulders, shimmied out of it, and let her undergarments drop to the floor with it.

With her fingers curled around the door handle, she took a few deep breaths. She wasn’t nervous, it wasn’t like this would be their first time, but it would be their first time as husband and wife in this life. A pleasurable trill tickled her stomach, and she pulled open the door. Hel waited on the sofa with his arms resting on the back of it, not a stitch of clothing on. His heated gaze started at her eyes and slowly trailed down.

“I didn’t have a nightgown I thought was pretty enough for tonight.” She pushed her long hair behind herself revealing her nakedness to him fully.

“I prefer you in nothing. No need to hide some of my favorite parts, Mrs. Black.” He curled his finger, beckoning her forward.

She sauntered to him and lowered onto his lap. Bare skin on bare skin. His warm hands slowly pressed into her waist and was about to take her breast into his mouth, but she lifted his face.

“I have a few rules now that we’re officially married again.”

He smiled, bringing out his irresistible dimple. “Rules?”

“You will never lie to me, nor I to you.”

“Agreed.”

“If something is bothering you, tell me. If you suspect something, say it. I never want there to be secrets between us, or a chance of one of us being deceived again. You trust me and I trust you.”

“No secrets.” His hands moved to her ass, and he lightly dug his fingertips into her flesh. “So, I must tell you then...”

Her heart seemed to skip a beat waiting for him to finish that sentence.

“Rumors in the underrealm made Synick believe that our immortalities were given to others. If it’s true it would be people they care for. When I killed Pricilla’s dragon heir with Soulender, I might have destroyed one of ours…”

Her breath caught. “But you don’t know for sure.”

“No. But my gut tells me it’s true.”

Valeen bit her lower lip. That would mean one of them wouldn’t be able to become immortal again. The thought made her sick and she forced it away. “I don’t want to worry about that tonight but thank you for telling me.”

He buried his face between her breasts for a moment, drawing a giggle from her. “Are there any other rules I need to be aware of?”

“Only one.” She slowly pushed her hips forward, a little more and he’d be inside her. “That even if one of us is angry at the other, we’ll always be quick to forgive.”

“I promise.”

“Do you have anything you’d like to add?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and his mouth swept over her skin, taking his time on the more sensitive areas.“You already know my rule, that you’re mine, only mine. And I am yours.”

HEL

He woketo the most beautiful sight there was in any realm—his wife naked, with her hair a mess, draped around her. It was too warm for a blanket, and he thanked the All Mother for that.

His fingers trailed along her spine, and he brushed her hair aside. This moment of blissful peace wouldn’t last so he wanted to enjoy it.