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Merrick

“ Q ueen Reyla?” Lord Briscalar called out from the sitting room. “Are you awake? It’s past seven, and while I know you occasionally enjoy sleeping late, I wondered if you were awake and had a moment to talk.”

Reyla looked up at me, her cheeks pink and her eyes no longer full of sorrow. I would do nothing to replace her lost love. Her memories of him were to be treasured as much as the flower I’d preserved in crystal. I hoped she’d think of me in the same way one day.

Would she cry when I was gone?

I hated feeling like it was already over. We had four weeks. That was enough time to end this, wasn’t it? She was the one. I knew this in my heart.

And that was only one of the many reasons why I loved her.

I just… If only she could…

“I’m awake,” Reyla said with a raised voice. “We’ll be out in a moment.” She slid off my lap and hurried into her bathing area, closing the door but not before glancing my way. “Don’t leave me, Merrick. Please.”

Never.

Farris hopped off the bed and stretched out his front paws before padding toward the door to the sitting area. I got up and let him out, closing the door again. I climbed back onto the bed and waited. Until this woman kicked me out, there was no place I’d rather be than sitting on her bed, eager for her to join me.

Reyla returned to the room with cleansed teeth and brushed hair. It spilled around her shoulders and tumbled down her back in a sunset shot through with moonlight. She stunned me all over again by her beauty. The heart sees what the heart needs, and for me, it was this precious woman.

My wildfire climbed on top of me, spreading her legs around my thighs. This hitched her nightgown up enough I couldn’t look away, though she wasn’t revealing everything. Such soft skin. Creamy with a scattering of freckles. I wanted to touch every one of them, map them out in my mind. Connect them with kisses.

My heart thundered and my cock jerked upward, seeking her like I always would. I stroked her thighs, my mind blurring until I could only see her.

“None of that,” she said with the sweetest smile as my hands eased across my chest. “We don’t have time, I’m afraid.” She shook her finger in my face. “No more climbing from your window to mine, either, if you please. What if you fell?”

“That could be bad.”

Her face pinched. “You could get hurt.”

I held her face, making her meet my eyes. “I will not allow that to happen.” And because I hated seeing her worried, I pushed for a lopsided smile. “If I started to fall, I’d flit, which means you’d save me once more.”

“I’m glad you can flit easier than me.”

And I adored her pout.

“I don’t like you risking yourself,” she said.

“I risk myself every time I take in a breath, but I know what you’re saying. I won’t do it if you promise not to do it either.”

“What if I want to climb into your window and sneak across your room to join you in bed?”

“Is that what you were doing that night?”

She nodded.

Fuck, this woman could slice my heart wide open with only a few words. I’d willingly rip it from my chest and hand it to her if I thought she’d take it. Claim it forever. “I’ll welcome you into my room and bed at any time and in any way, but I’d rather you flitted to me or walked down the hall. Join me when you’re ready.”

She was my mate. The symbols on my wrist, Lorant’s, and hers proved it. If only…

“Soon, Merrick. It’s going to be soon.”

“I’ll be waiting.” I glided my palms up and down her sides, and her nightgown rode up even further. She was going to kill me with her unintentional tease, and I’d die with her on my mind.

“My queen?” Lord Briscalar called out again. “Do you need me to send your ladies in to assist you with dressing?”

I grinned. “I’ll help you dress if you’d like. Undress too.”

She smirked. “I’m sure you will.” Her voice lifted. “I can handle it.”

“Very well,” the lord said. “Would you like me to send for your breakfast, then, my queen? We can talk while you eat.”

“Yes, order enough for two. ”

A long pause followed. “Are you…” he croaked. “ Eating for two?”

I snorted. “I wish.”

She shook her head and pressed her face into my neck, kissing my overheated skin. “You.”

“Yes, me,” I drawled.

“Not yet,” she called out to the lord. “You’ll be the first to know.”

“The second, because I’ll be the first,” I said simply.

“We need to ask who told him I couldn’t meet you in the tower room.” Reyla slid off my lap and strode toward the closet. Her confidence made it impossible to look away.

“You meet someone else there, not me .”

“No, it’s you.” She tugged open the door, sorting through outfits and dresses, pausing on a deep green gown. She pulled it free and held it up, studying it. “You’re the same to me.”

There went my heart, crushed all over again.

“This dress?” she asked.

“I approve.” I leaned back on her pillows, the weight of my gaze centered solely on her.

Her gaze shot to me, and the teasing lilt in her voice coasted across my bones. “You would like this one. The color matches your eyes.”

“You should always strive to match them.” My grin broke wider across my face. “I like that you think of them often.”

She snorted, a sharp, sweet thing, and shook her head. “You're dangerously approaching arrogance, Merrick.”

“I didn’t hear a denial.”

“I’m not always trying to match your eye color, but it's good to know you enjoy admiring yourself.”

“I admire you . And you should know by now that I’ll never stop. ”

Her laughter trickled through me like the first rain after a drought. It settled something within me. She didn’t realize the power she held over me. Or maybe she did, and that made her dangerous in the most intoxicating way.

“Close your eyes. I'm going to change.”

I slid off the bed and turned to face the window, trying not to notice her muted reflection in the glassy surface.

“No peeking.”

“You wound me, Wildfire. When have I ever tried to peek?”

“Don’t make me start keeping a list.”

The sound of fabric rustling filled the silence. I caught her tossing her nightgown onto the bed out of the corner of my eye, and I stopped breathing. By the fates. She was naked behind me. It wasn’t enough to know it; I wanted to see every bare part of her. What I wouldn’t give for her to turn to me on her own, no longer mourning.

Yet she deserved more than a man who could not offer her a complete person. That was why I’d never pushed her for everything.

More rustling told me she was tugging the dress over her head.

She cleared her throat. “You can turn now.”

I pivoted quickly, too quickly, and my breath left me in a rush. She stood with her back to me, the gown mostly in place, open in the back to reveal soft skin that gleamed in the pale morning light.

“Would you fasten me?” she asked over her shoulder.

The curve of her spine was both sensual and vulnerable. A feral, possessiveness streak shot through me. My hands twitched with the need to touch her, and I crossed to her without a word.

I skimmed my fingertips along the exposed line of her spine, and when her breath caught, I fell apart. The fastening of every button deserved its own kiss, my lips grazing up her back with each press of my fingers. Every shiver she released sparked fire beneath my skin. I buttoned the last with aching slowness, adding a kiss to the nape of her neck.

I turned her to face me, my body begging me to pull her close. Instead, I cupped her jaw and kissed her mouth. She tilted into me, and time folded in on itself.

It was all I could do to not pull her down onto the bed, to show her how thoroughly she owned every piece of my soul. But she wasn’t ready, and I would never rush her. She’d been hurt, and parts of her heart belonged to the man who came before. Loving her, truly loving her, meant loving all of her, even the parts still tied to ghosts.

I broke the kiss, resting my forehead against hers. I didn't— couldn't —speak. If I did, the words would shatter under the weight of what I felt for this woman alone.

“You look perfect.” My statement was both everything and woefully insufficient.

Her lips curved. “You look perfect too.”

This woman…

I’d surrender every piece of myself if it meant claiming even a fraction of her heart.