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CHAPTER ONE

S olarius Starstorm’s wedding was perfect.

It was small and quiet, exactly how he would’ve preferred it, and the sun was already making its descent across the western sky, leaving ribbons of sapphire between stretches of gray clouds.

He bristled against the stiff gust of wind that came in off the coast, carrying the scent of the sea, where the waves capped in frothy white peaks.

Bouquets of white roses, frosted red berries, and green ferns topped with stardust shivered in the frigid breeze, while bundles of carved driftwood were aglow with faerie fire, spitting flames into the coming night to make certain everyone attending stayed warm.

He hadn’t expected it to be quite so cold, but someone had demanded they marry on a beach even though it was nearly the damn Winter Solstice.

Unfortunately, that was exactly where Solarius found himself now.

On a beach, his new boots sunk into blush-pink sand, while tiny snowflakes tumbled down from the early evening sky like pieces of forgotten lace.

Again, it was a pretty fucking perfect wedding, save for one minor detail.

His bride.

Lady Narissa Seaborne was not the female Solarius wanted to marry.

In fact, if he’d gotten his way, he would have remained a bachelor for the rest of his days, because it never failed that any time he found himself romantically involved with a female, he always ended up with a broken heart.

Sure, he’d shattered plenty of hearts along the way, but at least he was up-front in the matter.

Before he warmed any beds or found himself between the thighs of a willing female, he made sure each of them knew he would be gone before dawn.

He never stayed long, waiting until they were gently dozing in his arms before making his stealthy escape.

But the two times he’d wanted more, the two times he’d been almost desperate to claim one female for the rest of his life, he’d had his heart ripped from his chest.

Gutted.

Smashed.

Stomped upon as though it were muck during a summer rainstorm.

And Narissa Seaborne just so happened to be one of the two who had ruined him.

But it was fine.

Nothing a bottle of spiced whiskey and mindless sex with a needy female wouldn’t fix.

He supposed if it had been anyone else standing across from him, he might have been a little keener on the idea of marriage.

Especially since he had no say in the matter.

If only his eldest brother had seen fit to match him up with a darling wife whose charm and demeanor were practically confectionary.

She would have a sugarplum smile and bake sweetly decadent desserts, and perhaps most importantly, she would enjoy his company both in and out of the bedroom.

But alas, Ariesian had chosen to curse him with the one female in all of Aeramere who absolutely hated him.

And Narissa, stars bless her, was neither sweet nor enjoyable.

She was an ocean made of fire.

Tumultuous and dangerous.

Instead of worrying about whether he’d gain too much weight by eating whatever tasty little treats she made, he was more concerned with whether or not she planned on poisoning him tonight.

As he’d most recently learned, she was rather adept and quite skilled in the art of potions and herbs.

And now, as he stared down into her eyes that reminded him of frostbitten seas, he wondered what the fuck he did wrong.

She was the one who destroyed the beautiful thing between them, she was the one who wrecked him, who drove a dagger of cold iron right into his heart.

Yet somehow, she had the nerve, the absolute audacity, to act as though it was all his fault.

Solarius scoffed.

He wasn’t the one who had been caught tangled in satin sheets with someone else.

Even as the unbidden thought stole into his mind, the even more unwanted memory came with it, and he gritted his teeth.

He blinked, shoving it away, back into the dark depths of his tortured soul where it belonged.

Steadying himself, he took a breath, hating the way his lungs seized the moment his gaze landed on her again.

Stars, she was fucking beautiful.

Her wedding gown reminded him of crushed aquamarine, it glittered and sparkled in the rise of hazy moonlight.

The sleeves were long and sheer, ballooning down her arms before tapering at her delicate wrists.

It cut low, swooping across her bosom, embellished with swirls and incandescent gems.

Tiny snowflakes clung to her lashes and her long, golden waves.

She’d pinned half of her hair back, and woven pale pink flowers into the tresses and twisted plaits.

Despite the frosty temperature, she still looked kissed by the sun, her cheeks rosy and sea swept.

Gold rings, some of them studded with turquoise stones, adorned her thumbs and fingers, though one finger in particular remained bare.

He supposed he’d have to remedy that at some point, but if she didn’t force the issue or seem too bothered to go without one, then he was in no hurry to make such a bold claim.

Everyone who was anyone in Aeramere knew he was getting married, anyway.

A ring on Narissa’s finger wouldn’t change anything.

But then she smiled up at him, and it was so radiant, so positively arresting that for a moment, he forgot himself.

Her tempting scent of exotic florals, sandalwood, and the sea lured him, beckoned him.

Solarius almost reached for her.

It would’ve been so easy to wrap one arm around her waist and drag her flush against him, but instead he shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels, away from her.

Something cold plunged straight into his chest.

Regret.

Anguish.

He couldn’t be sure.

He was too distracted by her glossy lips.

They were painted a pearly pink color and when they curved, all he could focus on was imagining how they would taste.

Like strawberry cream candy.

Or maybe fizzy fruit wine.

But then she spoke, and her words knocked him right back into the reality he didn’t want to endure.

“I would rather drown in a tidal wave of my own making, my lungs filling with the salt of the sea, than ever have to take you as my husband.”

Ah…

there she is.

Such a naughty midnight siren.

“Poetic.” Solarius grinned and flashed her a wink.

Her pale green eyes, lined with kohl and dusted with gold, expanded in a silent challenge, and he rose to greet it.

“I would rather watch the moon burn into oblivion and fall from the sky than ever be forced to marry you.”

Narissa’s smile turned venomous, and the rosy hue of her cheeks deepened.

“Charming.”

A male coughed loudly, clearing his throat, and Solarius glanced over his shoulder, barely sparing his brother a glance.

What else was to be expected?

He’d been forced into a marriage with a lady who was all silk and flower petals around everyone else, but who was daggers and poison to him.

Ariesian simply arched a severe brow, his expression one of blatant displeasure.

Solarius’s brother was not amused.

He folded his arms over his chest, his scowl deepening.

“You’re supposed to be saying your vows.”

Right.

Vows.

Those pesky affirmations of eternal devotion and adoration.

It was a good thing the fae could fucking lie.

Narissa huffed out a breath, the winter chill in the air causing it to mist before her.

Slivers of moonlight slanted through the wispy clouds and dainty flakes, highlighting half of her in its ethereal glow.

She tucked one golden wave of hair behind her ear, drawing Solarius’s gaze to where silvery blue tattoos of waves graced the pointed tip, illuminated by the light of the moon.

He’d never noticed it before, how those tiny tattoos seemed to glow when showered in the affection of moonlight, and it was something he found oddly curious considering lunar magic just so happened to be his specialty.

Solarius wondered what other parts of her glimmered in the midnight hours.

“I, Narissa Seaborne…” Her tone was lulling and dreamy, and something about it made his blood hum in approval.

He quite enjoyed it when she sounded like a siren of the sea.

“Take you, Solarius Starstorm, as my…husband.”

Her vows were simple.

Plain.

But he didn’t miss the catch in the back of her throat, the jumping of her pulse, or the tremble in her voice.

He stole another haphazard glance around the small outdoor space, and the cluster of people watching them blurred together in a shift of messy colors.

He hooked a finger into the collar of his shirt and tugged, loosening his tie, until he caught the knowing eyes of his sister, Novalise.

She sat in the front row, one hand curled around the arm of her husband, Lord Asher Firebane, the other folded neatly in her lap.

Her smile was soft and when she dipped her chin just slightly, a tumble of lavender hair fell over her shoulders.

Novalise nodded once, a gentle nudge of encouragement.

Right.

He could do this.

More than that, he had to, as Ariesian had given him no other option.

Solarius’s gaze slid back to Narissa and suddenly it was just her.

Only her.

Those frosty ocean eyes focused intently on him, but they weren’t hardened with resentment, they were clear and soulful, and if he lingered too long in their depths, he would drown.

An icy breeze skated in over the cresting waves, loosing a golden curl so it whipped across Narissa’s face.

Before Solarius could stop himself, he reached out and captured the silky strand, tucking it gently behind the tip of her ear.

The back of his knuckles barely grazed her cheek and Narissa shivered, her teeth grazing her glossy bottom lip.

Solarius tracked the movement.

Forcing himself to look away from her lush lips and back into her mesmerizing eyes, he spoke.

“I, Solarius Starstorm Celestine, take you, Narissa Seaborne…” He swallowed around the lump of some unrecognizable emotion.

“As my wife.”

There would be no explosion of magic over their heads when they sealed their destiny with a kiss.

There would be no magnificent display of fate, of shimmering moonlight and sparkling tides.

Their union was simply a means to an end, a burden forced upon them both to strengthen their respective houses before the apparent war looming on the horizon.

If Solarius had his way, he’d stop it before it ever reached Aeramere’s shores.

But with the attack during Novalise and Asher’s wedding last autumn, he feared it was already here.

Well, it was best to make it official.

At least now Ariesian could focus on marrying off the rest of their siblings and leave him alone.

Solarius leaned down to kiss Narissa and validate their marriage, expecting a featherlight brush of the lips and nothing more, when the minx turned at the last moment and gave him her cheek instead.

Shocked gasps and murmurs of disquiet swelled, reverberating through him like a slap across the face.

The slight was unfathomable.

Narissa had publicly humiliated him, and the sting of shame crawled up the back of his neck.

The stars could die and give way to an eternal night before he ever let her get away with such an insult.

Solarius grabbed her then, anchoring one hand to the small of her back while the other fastened to her hip.

He hauled her close, crushing all breath of space between them, and her back bowed as she arched away from him in silent protest.

For a second, he thought she’d be rigid in his arms or try to shove him back.

But she felt the same as she did all those years before, supple and pliant, like her body had been crafted to mold perfectly against his own.

An angry line furrowed across her brow, causing the corner of his mouth to curve.

He leaned in close until it was almost scandalous in nature, then trailed his lips over her ear all the way to the delicately pointed tip where those tiny incandescent wave tattoos glowed only for him.

“Tell me, Rissa love,” he whispered, his mouth feathering kisses where pretty pearls pierced her ears.

She shivered in his arms, and the breathy little sound she made was enough to send him to his knees.

Her eyes fluttered closed and he held her tighter, enjoying the way she melted into him.

Her scent overwhelmed him.

Tempted him.

Damned him.

“Where else do you shine beneath the moonlight? Is it only your ears?”

Her eyes flew open.

His gaze dipped intentionally to the curve of her breasts, then returned to her face.

“Or do you have glowing tattoos elsewhere as well?”

Her scowl deepened and her sun-kissed cheeks blushed the most beautiful shade of ruby he’d ever seen.

“ That ,” Narissa hissed through a clenched jaw, adjusting her hair so it covered her ears, “is none of your business, my lord.”

“It is now.” Solarius flashed her a wolfish grin.

“Everything about you is my business, wife .”

He had every intention of dropping her, of letting her go so she fell onto her cute little ass in the sand with all of their family watching.

Because more than anything, he wanted her to feel a similar burn of mortification.

But Ariesian must have sensed his intentions, because he was by Narissa’s side with lightning speed, snaring her by the elbow as soon as Solarius let go.

She wobbled and tipped to one side, her heels sinking into the sand, arms flailing in an effort to keep her balance.

Narissa yelped but Ariesian kept her upright, his seething death glare fixated on Solarius.

He told himself he didn’t care if his eldest brother was furious with him, if he’d acted like a sulking child, if his conduct was hardly becoming of a lord of Aeramere.

His own wife had refused to kiss him after they recited their vows, which would only serve to spark rumors and half-truths.

It was bad enough all of society knew he and Narissa were on less than amicable terms, but now her blatant denial of him would only incite speculation about their obviously unhappy marriage and dredge up the failings of their past courtship.

Both of which he preferred to avoid completely.

Solarius returned his hands to his pockets and rolled his neck, sparing Narissa one more long look.

She was flushed with the stain of embarrassment, her brow was pinched, and the pale green of her eyes simmered like a blazing ocean.

Behind her, the sea frothed with rage and the waves lashed the shore.

She was furious.

Good, it was easier to have Narissa pissed off and loathing him with every fiber of her being than it was to see her despondent and melancholy.

Ariesian’s scowl of disappointment bored into Solarius, and he caved beneath the pressure of his upbringing.

Grinding his teeth until they were sure to turn to dust, Solarius offered his arm to escort Narissa into the ballroom of House Azurvend, where they would have to dance and pretend to actually like one another for the remainder of the evening.

Surprisingly enough, she accepted his proffered arm, hooking her hand into the crook of his elbow.

Her smile was pure radiance, though a bit tight at the corners.

It never faltered, not even as they passed a cluster of females whose obnoxiously loud whispers were barely disguised behind their gloved hands.

“Just so we’re clear, my lord.” Narissa’s velvety siren-like voice floated up to him, and again he found his gaze drawn to her mouth.

“I will never forgive you.”

His lips quirked.

“For what? Nearly dropping you on your bottom in the sand on our wedding day?”

“No.” She drew up short, her eyes a volatile storm of emotions he couldn’t even begin to place.

Her bottom lip quivered, but she held her ground and dropped his arm.

“For stealing from me the one thing I never should have given you in the first place.”

Solarius stared at her, then opened his mouth to demand an explanation, because he knew for a fact he’d not taken anything from her.

But Narissa was already stalking up the sea-worn path to where House Azurvend stood luminous against a backdrop of turquoise waters, darkening sapphire skies, and frosted snowflakes, leaving him alone in his own damning misery.

Stars above, he needed a drink.

Preferably one not laced with poison by his darling new wife.