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Valda tilted her head in confusion. “What happened?”

“I slapped her across the face.”

Valda’s eyes widened in disbelief before she threw her head back and guffawed. Maris cringed and moved to cover Valda’s mouth. “We are in the wee hours of the morning. There are guards outside. They can hear us. Control yourself!”

“So, what if they hear us?” Valda said as she pulled Maris’s hands away from her mouth, her shoulders shaking with amusement. “I am pretty damn sure they heard us fucking last night.”

“Valda!” A soft red shade covered Maris’s neck, cheeks, and ears.

“Wow… You look even better when you are embarrassed,” Valda chuckled, her fingertips tickling over the reddened skin of Maris’s face as her amusement ebbed, giving way to something else. “I wonder what other faces you can make?”

Maris stuttered at first, slapping her hand away again. “Can you focus for a moment?”

“I doubt it, Seashell.” A dopey grin returned to Valda’s face, and Maris melted against her. “I do not like you slapping people around. I don’t want Eyphah to like it as I do,” Valda said, teasingly giving Maris’s ass a firm spank, earning a surprised gasp from the other woman.

“Valda!”

“All right. All right. I will behave.” She straightened her back, yet her hands never left Maris’s ass, instead they kneaded the firm flesh, making Maris’s breath hitch. “What did Eyphah do?”

“Talked too much,” Maris shrugged, before scratching her arm.

It was Valda’s turn to roll her eyes. “Completely normal when it comes to that woman. What was she saying?”

Maris bit her lower lip and hesitated to answer, which only made Valda’s good mood slowly slip away.

“Maris?” Valda prodded again, the playfulness gone. “What did she say?”

After some quiet seconds, Maris decided to respond. “She told me you took me as your whore just to have further control over us Sealians.”

How fucking dare she?

Valda stood up and turned to the door. When she was a hair’s breadth away from exiting the room, Maris closed the door and stood before Valda. “Get out of my way, Maris.”

“No, I will not. You are naked and so am I! Plus, you are not going after her!”

“She disrespected you!”

“She disrespected you too.”

“I don’t give a fuck what she thinks about me, but she shouldn’t be talking about you like that! You are her queen, my queen, and she will respect those titles if it is the last thing I do.”

“Valda, stop! I—” Maris stumbled as she pushed Valda away from the door. “Defending my honor with violence and naked is not going to make things better. I already slapped her across the face. Do you think it will make things better if you head out and suck the air out of her lungs as you did to Arwin?”

“That sounds like an excellent idea.” There was a dangerous playfulness in Valda’s tone.

“Valda!”

“She shouldn’t address you as such.”

“We agree.” Maris tutted, grabbed Valda’s arm, and led her away from the door and into the washroom. “I need you to stop being so hot-headed for a couple of hours. I told the people of the settlement I would be answering their questions today.”

“Do you want me there with you?” Valda asked, her tone serious once again.

If Maris needed her there, she would be there in a heartbeat. Anything the other woman needed, Valda would provide. It was written, Valda would take care of Maris’s every need until her final breath. Yet Valda understood the duties her mate must face now. There would be a time where Valda might need to step back and let Maris take her rightful place as the future queen of the Sea Kingdom.

She frowned. It was strange to see Maris, let alone see her as the Queen of the Sea Kingdom. Her chest swelled with pride as she watched Maris stand in the middle of the room, bare and natural, and beautiful just for her to see and feel. Yet, their bond was strong enough for her to know the Sealian was tense, nervous even at what she was to do today. That wouldn’t do. Valda needed to make this conservatory with Maris’s people as smooth as she could.

“Here. Let me bathe you.”