Page 25 of Heart of Fire (Royal Ice Dragons #3)

HANNA

The next day, I leaned over Dare’s shoulder as he scrawled a note to Kaelan. “You aren’t going to tell him you married me, are you?”

“No.”

The two of us were sitting by the glowing embers of the fire as the last of the sun’s rays faded. The air around us smelled fresh, full of pine and a tender breeze. We’d found a space to camp up against the edge of a small mountain, and our bubble of magic had given us warm shelter for now. My stomach was full.

I felt happy and content and in the mood to antagonize my second husband.

“Are you afraid of Kaelan’s reaction?” I gave him a mock-sympathetic look.

“Of course.” He raised his brows at me as if I were an idiot. “I’ve seen him pop people’s heads off their necks for turning to look at you too long.”

“He’s not that bad,” I chided.

He paused, his pen hovering over the page. Then he shook his head and returned to his note.

Even though I had provided this way for us to communicate, he hadn’t thanked me yet. I was sure he would get around to expressing his appreciation at any moment.

Kae , we’ve moved on from the mining village . Hanna left things rather messy .

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not the one with the messy traitorous ex-lover.”

He winced. “Let’s not say lover .”

“Let’s,” I disagreed. “Though, I guess I’d want to pretend I had better judgment too, in your place.”

He scoffed and leaned back, resting the book on his chest as he wove his fingers behind his head. The collar of his shirt was undone, revealing the hard planes of his chest, and his hair was mussed around his angular face. He looked as relaxed as I’d ever seen Dare.

“I’d like a do-over on our wedding one day,” I mused, nestling my head on his shoulder.

“I’d like a do-over where I run away,” he said.

I turned my head to bite his shoulder. He grinned as my teeth scraped his skin playfully, then winced as I bit down harder. He hooked a finger inside my mouth as if he were trying to escape the bite of a wild animal. “Ow! You know I didn’t mean it.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t say mean things to me and pretend it’s flirting,” I chided him gently.

Someday, I was going to bite him and claim him. Someday, he was going to deserve it.

He rubbed his shoulder.

I pushed his tunic aside to get a look at his broad, hard shoulder; I’d barely left teeth marks. “You’re being a baby.”

“And you’re being a spoiled princess,” he said, landing a smack on my ass.

The next thing I knew, the two of us were rolling across the ground, fighting each other to be on top. Dare was strong, but he let me have a fighting chance, and I couldn’t help giggling until I finally collapsed under him. He nipped my throat, not hard, just to show me that he could.

His eyes lit with desire as he studied me, and my giggling faded, replaced with a warm glow of need.

The wind rustled, then blew a page over in the book. It was already covered in finely-written, bold and demanding cursive.

Dare sighed. “Is Kaelan cock-blocking me from a thousand miles away?”

“As far as he knows, there’s no cock to be blocking,” I reminded him.

He rolled off me and sat up. I sat up too, regretfully. I rubbed my wrists to ease the tension from having him pin me down, but I certainly hadn’t minded the pressure.

“You could tell him,” he pointed out.

“I know, but I’m enjoying your suffering.”

“Because you know Kaelan will kill me, or he’ll just take it as another excuse to tie you to something and ‘punish’ you while you orgasm a dozen times?” He rolled his eyes.

“Because I know Kae wants you as part of us. You’re meant to be our family, Dare.”

His face became unreadable when I said family . “Did you have that conversation with him?”

“I don’t need to.”

“So, no assurance I won’t be murdered.” He spoke lightly, but I could tell he was troubled. Risking trouble with Kaelan must be especially hard when he had just been rejected by his own people.

Kaelan, Thorne, and I were all he had left.

Poor bastard. No wonder he was anxious.

“Kaelan would have to go through me first,” I reminded him firmly, leaning over to kiss him. “We’ll find the right time to tell him about it. You’ll see, he’ll take it well.”

“The right time, to be clear, involves a clear exit path,” he said.

I shook my head as he picked up the book. He held out one arm, inviting me in. I leaned against his side as his arm closed around me so the two of us could read Kaelan’s message together.

D it was already making its way through me, pinning me to the bed with drowsiness. I tried to peel myself up from the bed, but it seemed impossible. I made it to my elbow, only to collapse down again as if anchored to the bed.

Dare fluffed a pillow, then wedged it under my head. When he lifted my head, I turned to try to bite him, but my teeth scraped feebly against his palm. His smug amusement should’ve been enough justification for a spontaneous divorce. “Sleep well.”

“I hate you,” I said, fighting my way up from my sleep. Unsuccessfully.

The last thing I saw was Dare’s handsome, wicked smile.