Page 11

Chapter Ten

Having lunch with Salem wasn’t on my bingo card for today, but here the fuck we are. Milana watches him as he eats each bite of cheesecake like it’s the best thing he’s ever tasted. He’s licking his lips and putting on a massive show, and I’m regretting asking him for anything. I should have just gone and told Astrid my damn self, but I didn’t want to leave Milana even for a moment.

I don’t like her eyes on any other male right now, but the look of undisguised confusion in her eyes instead of any kind of lust has me contained. She appears like she’d rather strangle him than fuck him.

“So, you going to tell me why you were locked up in your mate’s dungeons in the first place?” Salem asks, smirking.

“No,” I reply, and he laughs, his wide shoulders shaking.

I turn to Milana. “How’s your food?”

“Amazing,” she replies, offering me a small smile. “Is the chicken good?”

I nod, and she beams. One thing I’ve noticed about her is that she’s used to taking care of people. I didn’t expect her to go out and get me clothes or even feed me, but she did those things automatically. I don’t know if it’s because she was the only child and a daughter or if it’s just her nature, but from now on, I’m going to be the one taking care of her.

She is going to come first, no matter what, in more ways than one.

Salem tilts his head to the side, his face a mask of concentration. He then rolls his eyes and laughs to himself.

Okaaay then.

“My brothers,” he comments, his lip twitching. He shakes his head and then looks at me. “Does your mate know that you fucked the Witch Queen?”

The gasp from beside me is a clear indication that, no, she did not know that, nor did I want her to.

“We both have pasts that no longer matter now that we’ve found each other,” I grit between clenched teeth.

“Tell that to Reef,” Milana sasses, tapping her nails on the wooden table.

“Reef left alive and uninjured,” I reply, covering her hand with mine and interlacing our fingers. “Which is more than he deserves for touching what’s mine .”

Salem nods his head. “Good luck to anyone who has even looked at my future mate.” An evil glint flickers in his light green eyes. “I’m going to kill them all.”

Milana clears her throat and takes another bite of her pasta. “Well, good luck to whoever she is then.” The way she eats and her manners are all so impeccable. It’s like she’s been trained to be the perfect wife or be married right into a royal family, which I suppose she was going to be.

We’re a lot more relaxed in Chaos, though. At our last family dinner, Kai threw a piece of bread at Axe’s head, resulting in a massive food fight. After that, we all went to the lake and jumped in to wash off.

“Astrid needs to tell me who she is so I can go and find her,” Salem murmurs, running his fingers across his chin. “Or maybe Laurel can tell me. As my new sister-in-law, she can’t say no, right?”

“Does everyone know Astrid then?” Milana asks, and I can’t place her tone.

Salem shrugs, licking the last of his cheesecake from his fork. “This life is nothing but a game of power. You want to know who you’re up against. Rave and Astrid are key players.” He pauses and lifts off his chair a little to stare out the window. “And there’s my mark. Be right back, going to do some killing.” He disappears into thin air, and Milana and I share a look.

“Let’s get out of here before he gets back,” she blurts out, and I grin, standing up and offering her my hand.

We walk back to the cabin, hand in hand. This feels like the first vacation I’ve taken in the fates only know how long, and I think it’s just what we both needed.

“How long do you want to stay here?” I ask her as we sit on the couch together. “Do you feel comfortable coming back with me to Chaos?”

She bites her lower lip and tucks her blonde hair behind her ear. “Can we wait a few days? I think I want to get to know you more before we go back to your kingdom.”

“Okay.” I nod slowly. “We can do that. I want you to feel safe, and maybe you could learn to love it in Chaos with me. Or hell, I could go wherever you are.”

She’s about to reply when I turn my head only to see Salem leaning up against the door, arms crossed and his leg lifted. “Nice place you got here.”

“What the fuck,” I growl, standing up and moving in front of Milana. “How did you find us?”

He smirks and throws me a bag of gold. “Bane said to give you this.”

And then he’s gone.

“Crazy bastard,” I mutter but grin at the coins in my hand. Considering all my belongings, including my gold, are back at home, this is going to help us survive our next few days. “Okay, I’m going to go and get some things to make dinner for us tonight.”

Blue eyes widen in surprise. “You cook?”

“I grew up with a single, hardworking mother who wasn’t always home,” I say, shrugging. Sitting back beside her, I put the gold down and cup her face. “What do you feel like eating, love?”

“Surprise me.” She grins, planting a soft kiss on my lips.

“Okay, you relax. Do you need me to get anything else?”

She shakes her head. I kiss her this time, my tongue delving into her mouth. She moans and runs her fingers through my hair before letting me go. My lips brush her forehead.

I think she has a thing for my curls. My mother used to always say, the curls get the girls, when I was growing up, and the thought makes me laugh.

“I’ll be back,” I call out to her.

It’s time to show my mate a taste of what the rest of her life will be like.