Page 166 of A Bond so Fierce and Fragile

As she stared at… Loche.

Lessia slowly moved her gaze between them.

She stared at him like… Merrick did her.

“Oh, shit,” Lessia mumbled. “No way.”

She waited for a jolt of jealousy to hit her and send her spiraling like it had back on Raine’s island, when Iviry tried to make Merrick dance with her. But it never came. Not even a nudge of pain could be found within her. There was only surprise, an element of amusement, and maybe… if she was truthful, a little bit of relief.

“What is happening?” Loche demanded again when Lessia realized she was also staring at him.

Merrick pulled her closer, and she could sense him getting ready to steer her away when Iviry’s strangled response came.

“Y-you’re my mate.”

“I… What?” Loche tried to keep Lessia’s eyes, but Merrick had already begun turning them back to Loche’s ship, and she only had time to shoot him an apologetic grimace before his eyes were ripped from hers.

Bursts of laughter still shook Merrick’s shoulders a couple of times as they left Iviry and Loche on their own, since the soldier who had come with his regent must have read the situation and hurried after them, and Lessia let out a shocked giggle herself as she met Merrick’s eyes.

“That was…”

“Strange.” Merrick finished her sentence. “But knowing Iviry… it kind of makes sense.”

She was about to respond with something even more childish than what she’d told Frelina about Iviry when she caught herself.

Lessia didn’t know her.

Maybe she was a wonderful person.

Merrick laughed again, clearly sensing the wrangling emotions within her.

“No, you didn’t read her wrong.” He steered her toward the dance floor she’d been watching all night as he spoke. “Ivirycan be mean and shallow and rude, and she enjoys being the center of attention. But she is also loyal and brave and fiercely protective of those she cares about. She rose very quickly in the ranks amongst the Rantzier troops because of it, becoming the first female commander when she was merely a century old.”

Lessia threw a glance over her shoulder.

Neither Iviry nor Loche appeared to have moved a muscle.

“Why did she end up on Raine’s island, then?” she asked as she turned forward again.

“Because she believes everyone has a right to life.” Merrick’s eyes moved between hers. “She caught some of her soldiers forcing a group of half-Fae children to beat each other to death for sport, and… well, it didn’t end well for them. Rioner found out what she did, so she fled.”

So… she was a kind person.

Lessia was about to scold herself for the thoughts she’d had about the Fae when Merrick brushed his lips over hers. “No need for you to feel guilty. I kind of enjoyed seeing you jealous,” he murmured against her mouth. “Come. I want to dance.”

Lessia scoffed playfully even while allowing him to shift her into his arms as he backed her toward the music. “Why? You hate dancing.”

“Because we can.” Merrick’s eyes went serious for a second before he blinked and pressed her against his chest, where his heart beat a steady rhythm that heated her blood as she listened to it.

They weren’t even really near the dance floor. Their slow movements, the ones she’d fallen for so hard on Raine’s island, shifted them closer to the side of the ship, keeping them within earshot of the music but away from the crowd.

Resting her cheek against his chest, she let him steer her in a small circle, let his hands and heart be the only things she focused on while her eyes swept over the group ahead, wherefirelight, from the small lanterns placed across the ship and railing, brightened smiling faces.

Her friends still danced there, and she was glad to see almost all the Faelings joining in, Kalia even dancing with a human man who didn’t seem to know whether he should be enthralled or terrified by the white-haired beauty in his arms.

When Lessia finally looked away and lifted her face to his, Merrick bent down and kissed her.

His lips were soft, warm, moving lazily with hers.