Page 16 of Ink Sworn (Greatdrakes #3 | The Fae Universe #24)

V alentine polished the silver hand one more time, double-checking the dragon design he had engraved in the palm. It was the same one that was painted on her door, but it was in a different position.

"It looks a little like an ouroboros," Reeve had commented earlier that day.

He had been keeping Valentine company—not his idea—and had been there when he had received Yelena's letter.

He had told Reeve that he was going to see her that night, and his youngest brother's sage advice had been, "Don't fuck it up again, and don't be clueless like Apollo was, when it comes to what's right in front of you. "

Valentine was going to do his best. He had spent two frustrating days making himself miserable. He had wanted to give Yelena space after their spat, but he was contemplating going to her when the letter had arrived.

Valentine carefully wrapped the silver hand and sigil designs in a length of scarlet silk that he had found while wandering the markets. Wood was scarce in the mountains, and the dark, bloody shade of scarlet had called to him.

"You can't do any more work on it without her," Valentine murmured to himself.

He was strangely anxious all of a sudden.

He didn't want to fight with Yelena, not about her visions or anything else.

If she hated the hand, then at least he could convince himself that he had tried to make amends before going home.

After their last fight, Valentine had considered going back to England. He couldn't leave because his dragon had thrashed and raged about it. It didn't want to leave, knowing that Midir had plans to attack Taranis again.

Valentine had too many unanswered questions where Yelena was concerned, and he had never been able to walk away from a mystery.

Cradling the hand as if it were a newborn, Valentine headed to Yelena's tower.

He hadn't noticed the checkpoints in the wards the last time he had raged all the way to her door.

This time, he could feel the intricate web of them.

They were unlike any he had created before, and he immediately wanted to ask her about them.

She mustn't have been too angry with him because the wards parted for him like gossamer curtains. He had no doubt that if she wanted to keep him out, the wards would have flayed him apart.

Valentine frowned the more he came across. He knew there were lords like Afon who didn't like her, but she wouldn't have made such wards if she felt safe from them.

Did Taranis know about them? Valentine hated the thought that she had to protect herself from assholes in her own home. It was just one more mystery in the pile of mysteries.

Valentine took a shaky breath and straightened his clothes before lifting his hand and knocking on her door.

Yelena opened it, and his heart did a dangerous double-beat.

Her hair had been braided into a crown, and she was wearing black pants and a wrap shirt similar to his own in a silky dark purple.

She wasn't wearing shoes, and her nails were painted the same purple.

Valentine hadn't realized he had been staring at her like an idiot until Yelena's lips quirked into a smile.

"You can come in, Valentine, I'm not going to bite," she teased.

"That's a shame," he replied and stepped into her chambers.

Yelena laughed softly. "The servants shouldn't be too much longer with food. Thank you for coming."

"Thank you for inviting me. It stopped me from charging up here and being an ass again just to get your attention," he said and looked around the room. The piles of books had changed places, and pieces of paper were scattered over her large desk.

"I'm rather tired of us fighting, Valentine. Is there something I can do to fix that?" she asked, straight to the point. "Or do you need to yell at me some more?"

Valentine's throat tightened, and he forced himself to swallow. "You don't need to do anything. In fact, I have made you something as my way of apologizing."

"Apologizing for what part?" Yelena asked, raising a brow.

Valentine sighed. "All of it. I'm not good at apologies. I think actions speak louder than words anyway, so this is... Here."

He held out the bundle of silk to her, and Yelena took it.

"Is this the mysterious project you have been working on since you rescued us?" She carried the bundle over to her desk and set it down.

"It's been a good way to keep the dragon and my magic busy." Valentine followed her carefully, not wanting to crowd her, but needing to see what she thought of the gift. "I got it as far as I could without your help."

"Now, you have me intrigued," she said and began to unwrap the silk. When the hand was finally revealed, she exhaled a soft, " Oh ." She rested her good hand on her chest, and nervous sweat trickled down Valentine's spine. "It's so beautiful. You really made this? For me?"

Valentine nodded. "Yes. I...I thought about the story of Nuada and his silver hand and how your magic might be changed from losing yours. Ah, these sketches under it, they are some of the designs I have been working on."

He spread out the sheaves of paper in front of her.

"I would have to tattoo it over your wrist, and then the magic will help bond the hand so it will be able to work as a real one would.

I need your help perfecting them because your magic needs to be threaded through the sigil to flow properly through the silver.

You always make my spells work better anyway. "

Valentine froze as Yelena pulled him into a hug. His nose was flooded with her scent, and the hot press of her body up against him made him dizzy. It didn't stop him from putting his arms around her.

"Thank you, Valentine. I've never seen anything so lovely," she said, her words warm against his neck.

I have , he thought, and breathed in the scent of her hair.

"It seemed like a fair deal to make you a new hand after costing you your last one," he said, his long fingers stroking the length of her spine.

He usually hated hugs that lasted longer than ten seconds, but he didn't have the compulsion to let someone go for the first time in his life.

Something about Yelena's energy wasn't intrusive like everyone else's was.

"I know you think I didn't trust you after my vision, but the opposite is true," Yelena whispered.

"I went willingly into that trap because I knew you would come for me.

I had to trust that you didn't hate me as much as it seemed, and that it wouldn't matter how angry you were, that you would find Avallach and me. "

Valentine's hand stilled on her back. It was like the knife that had been lodged in his chest for weeks was finally pulled all the way out. He buried his face into her neck and dragged her up against him.

"Thank you for telling me. I thought that you didn't trust me at all, and that I would hand everyone over to Midir. I jumped to the worst possible conclusion, like always," he said.

Gods, she smelled so good he wanted to just breathe and breathe and breathe.

"You are one of the only people I have ever trusted. Please, let's not fight anymore unless it's about magic. Then I imagine we will fight and argue quite a bit," she replied, her hand tracing his lower back.

He fought the urge to arch like a cat against the light caress. His dragon surged to the surface, and she halted the touch, sensing the change in him.

"Why do you always smell so good? I can smell the wild on you, dragon," he growled. He dragged his teeth up her soft neck, making her whimper.

"I only smell power on you," she whispered. "Magic is seeping out around you, making the air taste of spice and stone."

Valentine's tongue brushed against the flickering pulse of her jaw, the taste of her making him hard. He needed to step away, to take his hands off her. He had almost lost her before he knew what he had, and now he couldn't let her go. "Tell me to stop."

"I don't want you to stop," Yelena said, scraping her teeth against the scar she’d made on his throat. "I want to break you apart and see what's inside."

Valentine's fingers tightened in the weave of her braid, and he pulled her head back so he could stare into her brilliant diamond eyes.

"Only if you show me what's inside of you, Yelena Caelan. How is it that a dragon, a creature of pure fire, can create ice like you do? How could you freeze your body and not die?"

Yelena's eyes turned silvery white with magic. She laughed, and it wasn't the tinkling bright sound Valentine had heard from her before. It was husky and deep, and it slithered over his skin, making his hands on her tighten.

"You are going to have to earn some of those answers, sorcerer," she purred.

Valentine would have crawled through broken glass at that moment if she had asked him to. "Careful, baby girl. I can't resist solving mysteries."

Yelena laughed, soft and mocking. "You couldn't solve me if you had a thousand years to try."

She moved so fast Valentine didn't have time to react before she had him pinned against the wall, her hand around his throat.

It was his turn to laugh. "You're going to have to work harder than that to scare me, baby girl. I'm into this. But I warn you, don't push me much harder, unless you're ready for the consequences. My control is hanging by a thread right now."

"I know. I can smell the beast below the surface," she said, and rubbed her face against his chest. "It's okay, my dark one. I'll fix my magic, and then, we will see what you really are in there."

A growl of frustration rippled through Valentine, and he knocked her hand away from his neck before twisting her about, face-first against the wall. He gripped her forearms and pressed them to the stone above her head.

His dragon was riding him, and he couldn't care about being polite. He ground his body up against hers, unashamed of his hard dick rubbing against her soft ass.

Yelena laughed in breathless, mocking delight. "Do it if you dare."