Page 78 of Night Meets the Elf Queen (The Elf Queen #4)

VALEEN

T he disorientation of teleporting faded away and Valeen blinked, taking in the new surroundings.

The air was balmy and warm, and smelled salty like the sea.

The dew of it settled on her skin, curling a stray white lock of hair around her face.

Crickets chirped and the sound of waves crashing somewhere nearby brought a smile to her lips.

The stars twinkled above, and she looked up trying to get a read on where they were.

He’d blindfolded her once again before this.

If they were still in Adalon, she wasn’t sure where.

The dense vegetation with vines swinging from palm tree to palm tree, ferns, and colorful exotic blooms were out of place for Palenor.

At the edge of a cliff stood a cerulean-blue manor with white shutters and carefully tended florals around the base of the three-story building. “Where are we?”

They’d rode winged Night and Starborn back to the castle and let them into the pasture with the others before they appeared here.

“It’s an island off Palenor’s southeast shore. The Isle of Mist.”

She wasn’t aware of any islands in the area. “Does someone live here?”

“It’s an inn. There’s a small village of elves here.” He pointed down the roadway under a tunnel of sweeping trees. “About a fifteen-minute walk that way. By boat it would take a few hours or so to reach the shores of East Palenor.”

Tugging her hand, they walked through the front entrance.

Warm wood planks lined the inside from top to bottom.

Potted green plants greeted them and an inviting smell of roasting meat.

A few patrons sat at the round tables taking up the left side of the room.

Directly ahead was a set of wide stairs and to the right a desk with a young elf behind it.

Her big chestnut eyes widened, taking in both of them.

“Hello, can I help you?” she asked in a small voice.

“You can. We’d like the suite on the third floor, please,” Hel said.

“The suite is reserved for Mr. Westover tonight, but?—”

“The suite is reserved for me, take us there.” His voice took on an entrancing tone, the poor girl had no chance of fighting.

“Of course it is, right this way.”

She led them up the two sets of stairs and pushed a large silver key into the lock. A moment later she whisked into the room, making sure it was clear and then bowed her head and curtsied. “If you need room service or meals brought up all you have to do is ask.”

“Thank you,” Valeen said. The young elf left and Valeen ran her hand along the back of the tan leather chair. “I hope Mr. Westover doesn’t come barging into our room at midnight.”

Hel set her bag of personal items on the entry table. “That would be a regrettable choice for Mr. Westover if he does.”

The suite had a charming set of turquoise couches and white painted walls with seashell decor throughout the room. An archway led to the large bed covered in crisp white linens with fresh lavender flower petals spread over the top.

In a few strides she pushed through the doors to the balcony.

The moonlight shone brightly off the crested white waves rolling against the black sand beach below.

“Wow, it’s beautiful. It reminds me of home with the black sand.

” She turned, leaning her low back against the railing and folded her arms. “How long have you planned this?”

He rubbed his chin feigning deep thought, “If I’m being truthful, this has been on my mind since you woke me up.”

She laughed and gripped the railing behind her. “Even though you were angry with me?”

His eyes smoldered as he prowled toward her. “Mmhmm. Even if you thought you were his then, you were mine.” He took her face, and closing his eyes, pressed his forehead to hers. His shoulders lost some of their tenseness, as if a weight that had long fought against him lifted.

“We belong together. We always have,” she breathed, gripping the front of his suit coat. She had to hold onto something; tonight, he made her feel particularly heady.

He softly kissed her cheek, then worked along her jaw, and finally her mouth.

At first it was gentle, almost chaste, then her tongue swept against his, and he gripped her a little harder, the kiss intensifying.

His deft fingers slid down her neck to her shoulders and along the fabric hem of her neckline.

“Wait,” Valeen pulled back and pressed her fingertips to his mouth. “I want to freshen up.”

He chuckled and curled a lock of her hair around his finger. “You look divine as you are now. Not even a hair out of place.” He leaned in and kissed her again. His urgency was hard to resist. “Do you remember our first night together?” he asked between kisses.

He’d carefully removed her dress, his fingers trembled touching her bare skin, even his breath had been uneven. “Mmhmm. You were nervous.”

“I was fucking terrified.” His laugh sent a pleasant chill down her body. “You made me wait so long I was afraid I’d finish fast and leave you wanting, then you’d regret marrying me.”

She laughed. “Six months isn’t so long.”

“Six wonderful and agonizing months.”

She pushed off his suit jacket, then pulled at his top, popping several buttons to see his flesh. In the moonlight runes and tattoos stood out against his pale skin. “Besides, you didn’t leave me wanting.”

He kissed her neck, and she tilted her head back to give him more room. “No, I didn’t.” He reached around her back and tugged at the dress’s fastens. It began to loosen so she ducked out of his grasp.

She walked backward toward the suite, leaving him looking confused. “Just, wait here a moment.”

“Fine.” He pulled his tunic over his head and dropped it next to his jacket.

She hurried through the room, grabbed her bag and dashed into the bathing chambers.

Tearing the bag open, she rifled through it trying to remember what she had in there.

It was a travel bag she had prepacked for a quick getaway, not for a wedding night.

She pulled out a pair of plain white undergarments and a matching bralette.

It paled in comparison to the racy red number he’d put her in their first night back together. She wanted something just as beautiful.

Sighing, she dropped the bag on the floor and started to pull the pins from her hair.

It fell free from the braids and waved to her waist in thick black tresses.

Checking herself in the small round mirror, she grabbed a balm for her lips and spread it over them.

It was all she had. Without a fancy night dress, she only had one choice.

She pushed the sleeves of the wedding gown off her shoulders, shimmied out of it, and let her undergarments drop to the floor with it.

With her fingers curled around the door handle, she took a few deep breaths.

She wasn’t nervous, it wasn’t like this would be their first time, but it would be their first time as husband and wife in this life.

A pleasurable trill tickled her stomach, and she pulled open the door.

Hel waited on the sofa with his arms resting on the back of it, not a stitch of clothing on.

His heated gaze started at her eyes and slowly trailed down.

“I didn’t have a nightgown I thought was pretty enough for tonight.” She pushed her long hair behind herself revealing her nakedness to him fully.

“I prefer you in nothing. No need to hide some of my favorite parts, Mrs. Black.” He curled his finger, beckoning her forward.

She sauntered to him and lowered onto his lap. Bare skin on bare skin. His warm hands slowly pressed into her waist and was about to take her breast into his mouth, but she lifted his face.

“I have a few rules now that we’re officially married again.”

He smiled, bringing out his irresistible dimple. “Rules?”

“You will never lie to me, nor I to you.”

“Agreed.”

“If something is bothering you, tell me. If you suspect something, say it. I never want there to be secrets between us, or a chance of one of us being deceived again. You trust me and I trust you.”

“No secrets.” His hands moved to her ass, and he lightly dug his fingertips into her flesh. “So, I must tell you then...”

Her heart seemed to skip a beat waiting for him to finish that sentence.

“Rumors in the underrealm made Synick believe that our immortalities were given to others. If it’s true it would be people they care for. When I killed Pricilla’s dragon heir with Soulender, I might have destroyed one of ours…”

Her breath caught. “But you don’t know for sure.”

“No. But my gut tells me it’s true.”

Valeen bit her lower lip. That would mean one of them wouldn’t be able to become immortal again. The thought made her sick and she forced it away. “I don’t want to worry about that tonight but thank you for telling me.”

He buried his face between her breasts for a moment, drawing a giggle from her. “Are there any other rules I need to be aware of?”

“Only one.” She slowly pushed her hips forward, a little more and he’d be inside her. “That even if one of us is angry at the other, we’ll always be quick to forgive.”

“I promise.”

“Do you have anything you’d like to add?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and his mouth swept over her skin, taking his time on the more sensitive areas. “You already know my rule, that you’re mine, only mine. And I am yours.”

HEL

He woke to the most beautiful sight there was in any realm—his wife naked, with her hair a mess, draped around her. It was too warm for a blanket, and he thanked the All Mother for that.

His fingers trailed along her spine, and he brushed her hair aside. This moment of blissful peace wouldn’t last so he wanted to enjoy it.

She let out a small grunt and turned on her side away from him. “Grumpy this morning? I must not have done my duty last night, though I was convinced I had when you screamed like a wild cat.”

Lifting her head, she groaned and shoved him. “I did not sound like a wild cat.” Then she rolled into him, wrapping her bare thigh around his hip. “I just woke up. I’m not grumpy.”

“You’ve never been a morning person.”

“Goddess of night, remember?”

He smiled, brushing stray hair off her cheek. She had a soft pink to her skin today. Her hand suddenly clamped around his hardened length and he sucked in a sharp breath. “Fuck,” he murmured. Her slow movement along his tender flesh and a mischievous grin brought on a shudder. “Valeen.”

They were soon a tangle of limbs, damp with sweat. Watching her come apart gave him a high he couldn’t get enough of, so he kept going until she cried out again and again. He couldn’t get enough of her, nor she him.

Scheming and war and troubles faded away. The outside world could wait while for one small moment it was just them, in love, mated and married once again. It was almost more special than the first time, at least it rivaled it.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever craved you so much,” she said in the late afternoon, sitting on the kitchen countertop in only his tunic.

There was something about her in his clothes that made him almost feral.

The apple crunched loudly between her teeth, and she leaned back on her hands and smiled at him.

“I always want you but since the ceremony it’s all I can think about. ”

He smiled, knowing the feeling, and pulled the scones he’d made out of the oven and set them on the stovetop. The smell of them filled the air making his mouth water. “It’s quite the pull, isn’t it?”

In a couple strides, he had his hands on her thighs and dragged her to the edge.

The loose shirt fell to the side revealing her shoulder.

He leaned in for a kiss then paused—the lily mark on her arm…

“Your mate mark is different. There is a second flower on it. And it’s darker, and more pronounced.

” The second flower was smaller on a stem to the right.

She glanced down at it then her fingertips ran over his and he shuddered at her touch. “So is yours. Mine was pulsing during the ceremony and while we consummated ,” she said the last word with a giggle. He loved her shy laughter.

“Interesting.” He’d felt it too. “It makes sense it would change since we are reborn and renewed.”

He snapped his fingers, and a scone appeared in his hand. He brought it to her mouth, and she bit into it. She moaned in delight and rolled her eyes back. He chuckled. “Good?”

“So good. I don’t know what you do to make them taste better than anyone else. It’s all the same ingredients.”

“But it’s made by the god of magic’s hand. It’s magic, love, that’s the secret. I will it to taste divine.”

She took it from his hand and devoured another bite. “You should bake more.”

“When I don’t have heads to roll, hearts to rip out, and a castle to build you, I will.” The sound of the sea crashed, and the warm salt air fluttered in from the open windows. “Will you walk the beach with me?”

The sand was soft and squishy on his bare feet.

They spent the day laughing and finding shells.

The waves rolled over his ankles, but he didn’t go in far.

He was content to watch her swim from the shore.

There were too many times he’d been forced to drown in it for training with Synick that he just couldn’t enjoy swimming. And she knew that.

She dove underwater and came back up with a large white conch shell.

“Look what I found,” she said, grinning with almost childlike excitement.

Even if he didn’t care much for shells, it made him happy because she was.

She rushed out of the water and set it in his hand.

There was a pink iridescent shine to it.

“We’ll keep it as a souvenir from our second honeymoon.”

He couldn’t remember a time in this life where he’d ever been this content.

If she asked him to run away and give up their lives as gods, he would.

He’d give up his revenge, he’d give it all up for her.

Only the sad reality was eventually they’d be found.

Assassins would come. Her life would always be in danger.

So, for now, he’d cherish this day and tomorrow it was war.