On these thoughts, I reached out and grabbed her hand. “Then why don’t you look elsewhere, maybe to someone who’ll see all that’s you. But not one of Apollo’s men,” I hastened to add. “None of them seem quite ready to settle down…yet. And I think you are.”
“She has great beauty, is gentle, kind, amusing and wise,” Meeta decreed, coming our way and grabbing Loretta’s other hand to pull her out of the chair, her meaning clear.
I let Loretta go as she stood.
“You guys get some rest,” I called as they moved to the door.
Meeta arched her long elegant neck toward me.
Loretta waved.
“And, as usual, thanks for everything,” I finished as they disappeared out the door.
All except Meeta’s head, which she dipped my way before she closed the door.
I got out of my chair and pulled my soft wool robe tighter around me as I walked to the window.
We were at an inn on the nicer spectrum. It was clean, well-decorated and had its own restaurant downstairs. And the rooms had thick rugs on the floors so the cold couldn’t seep through and heavy draperies so the chill couldn’t come through the windows.
Still, I braved it to pull a curtain back and look out at Brunskar.
Yep.
Still creepy.
Totally.
“Maddie, dove, drop the draperies. You’re letting in a draught.”
I dropped the draperies at Apollo’s voice and turned away from the window to see him in my room. No cloak, hair a mess (but in a good way) and hot.
My belly fluttered.
“Hey,” I greeted.
“Come here and say that in my arms,” he returned.
I smiled a small smile and did as he bid, walking to him and putting my arms around him as he did the same to me.
“Hey,” I repeated a lot softer this time.
“Hey,” he replied, also soft, and sweet, and that got a belly flutter too.
He bent his head to touch his mouth to mine.
Usually, this led direct to other things, including me taking his clothes off, him divesting me of my robe, nightgown and panties, and the fun didn’t stop there.
But after he brushed his lips against mine, he lifted them to kiss my nose, let me go and moved to the bed.
I stood where he left me and watched him sit on it. Then I watched him take off his boots.
“Is everything okay?” I asked when he reached both hands back between his shoulders to pull off his sweater.
His eyes came to mine. “We’re in Brunskar,” he told me something I knew and pulled off his sweater.
I ignored him unveiling the wall of his magnificent chest, not to mention the span of his wide shoulders (okay, I didn’t ignore it, but I tried to) and said, “Uh…yeah. We’re in Brunskar.”
“No good can come of a visit to Brunskar,” he muttered, standing and putting his hands to his breeches.
Great.
Now even Apollo was freaking me out about this place.
“Do you want to explain that?” I asked.
His belt undone, his fingers at the buttons of his fly, he looked to me again.
“No, I want your mouth between my legs. Then I want to watch you ride my cock. When we’ve both climaxed and my seed is dripping from inside you, I’ll explain about Brunskar.”
Suddenly, I didn’t give a damn about Brunskar.
I gave less of one when he pulled down his breeches and I saw he was very ready for my mouth to be between his legs.
And I didn’t even remember there was a Brunskar when he got in bed, put his back to the headboard, spread his legs, cocked his knees, and leveled his eyes to me even as he wrapped his big hand around his hard thick cock and started stroking.
Every inch of me started tingling, most specifically my nipples and the area between my legs.
I had a feeling we weren’t going slow and sweet tonight.
And I was looking forward to it.
“Remove your robe and gown before you join me, poppy,” he murmured.
I couldn’t be sure, I didn’t think they recorded those types of things for the books, but I was relatively certain I had my robe and nightgown off in record time.
He liked what he saw and I knew this because his voice was gruff when he ordered, “Crawl up the bed from the bottom.”
Oh God.
Hot.
I didn’t delay and moved to the foot of the bed.
“Slow,” he commanded and I swallowed.
I put my hands to the bed, then my knees and did as ordered, the whole way my eyes to his hand working his cock.
I got to my destination and felt his other hand cup the side of my face. I guessed what that meant and stilled so he could he feed himself to me. I guessed right. Shifting the tip to my lips, his hand at my face slid up into my hair and put gentle pressure on until I took him inside.
His voice was thick when he whispered, “That’s it, dove.”
He was right.
That was it.
Or it was for right then.
I would get a whole lot more later.
* * * * *
Later, I remembered Brunskar because I’d climaxed, so had Apollo, his “seed” was seeping out of me and his hand was smoothing over my hip when he murmured, “Brunskar.”
“Yes?” I prompted when he said no more.
His arms closed around me and he gathered me closer so we were pressed front to front on our sides.
“The Drakkars, save Frey and his two brothers, are a vicious lot, greedy, lascivious and spiteful. Some are even cruel. They like to play and their favorite toys are people.”
Wonderful. More good news about the Drakkars.
Ugh.
“Draven kind of warned me about them,” I shared.
“Good,” he muttered. “I would have done the same but I’ve been struggling with whether or not to take you to the gale. Being here, the feel of the place, which I forgot just how unpleasant it could be, I think not.”
That surprised me and I tipped my head back to look at the firelight playing on the angles of his face.
“Seriously?”
He looked down at me. “I do not like the idea of my dove being toyed with.”
God, that was sweet.
“Ilsa,” I whispered, telling him I knew what he was talking about.
He nodded. “That will be fodder, I’m certain. But they don’t need it.”
“I’ll be okay,” I assured him, though I wasn’t exactly assured myself. That said, I knew I would be okay in the end.
Because he’d make me that way.
This realization pretty much rocked my world but I couldn’t give into that feeling when Apollo kept talking.
“I don’t want you just to be okay. I want you to feel safe and that will not be safe.”
“Honey,” I slid my hand up his chest to curl it around his neck, “I’ve endured far worse than mean people.”
“Yes, you have,” he agreed. “But that does not mean you need to continue to do it.”
“What I’m saying is, that kind of thing doesn’t faze me. And the Ilsa thing, it’s not like I haven’t had practice dealing with that too.”
He made no reply.
I pressed closer. “Does it occur to you that I don’t want you to go into what Draven called a den of vipers alone either?”
He sounded surprised when he asked, “You seek to protect me?”
“Well, you’re a big guy who can look out for himself. But still. Unpleasant situations are a lot easier to deal with for anyone when they have someone at their back. Or in this case, on their arm.”
At that, his hand slid up to my neck, then into my hair and he pressed my face in his throat while his other arm gave me a squeeze and I felt his lips at the top of my hair.
“I take it that means I’m going,” I guessed.
“I have still to decide.”
I sighed
Then I pulled out the big guns.
“If you don’t let me go, I can’t wear one of my kickass gowns. I’ve been looking forward to wearing one of those gowns since I saw them in Vasterhague. And with us at war, if we’re not at some gale where intrigues are happening and conspirators are conniving, where am I going to wear my gowns?”
He chuckled, taking the pressure off my head so I could tip it back. The instant I did, he moved in and gave me a sweet deep kiss with tongues.
When he was done, slightly breathless and tucked very close, I asked, “So, am I going?”
“I wouldn’t wish to deprive you of your chance to wear your,” he paused, “kickass gown.”
“Awesome,” I whispered and he wrapped both arms around me even as I felt his body move with his silent laughter.
When he was done, he whispered, “Sleep, dove.”
“Okay, baby.”
At that, I got another squeeze and closed my eyes.
Minutes later, I slept.
* * * * *
I felt the bed move and my eyes fluttered open.
This was because Apollo was joining me which made me groggily wonder why he hadn’t been with me. He never left me, except to feed fuel on the fire.
I had no idea what time it was. I just knew I’d been dead asleep. I also knew his body seemed strangely cold when it moved into mine, colder than it would be just leaving the covers. And last, I knew he had something on his mind and I also knew what that was with the way he moved into me. That was to say, shifting me to my back, covering me and rocking his hips until my legs opened and they fell through.
“Baby?” I called, sounding sleepy and confused because I was both.
His hand found mine and guided it between us, straight to his hard cock.
Yep. I knew what was on his mind.
“Baby,” I whispered.
“Guide me inside, poppy,” he whispered back and I did what he asked.
Once I’d positioned the tip, he took over, sliding slowly in the rest of the way.
My neck arched as he filled me and I wrapped myself around him.
His lips went to the skin under my ear; he moved his hips and started stroking.
My lips went to his ear and I asked, “Is everything okay?”
“It is now,” he answered.
I didn’t think he meant it was because he was making love to me.
But I didn’t get to ask him to clarify.
His hand came to my face, tilted it his way and he kissed me, slow, sweet, wet and deep.
I kissed him back the same way.
And the same way, he made love to me, building the burn, taking his time, then taking us both there.
I gasped my climax into his mouth.
He groaned his into mine.
When we both came down, he rolled us to our sides but kept one of my legs hitched over his hip so he had an easier reach to stroke my ass.
“Sleep, Maddie,” he urged.
I’d just come. It was sweet but it was hard. And I was wrapped around Apollo and he was stroking my ass.
So he didn’t have to urge me to sleep because seconds after he did, I was there.
Chapter Nineteen
Intrigue Always Has Consequences
“You look like a princess!” Élan cried.
I turned from the mirror to Élan, who had come into my room and was gazing up at me like I’d gazed up at Cinderella at Disney World when I was seven, the one and only time my father took us on a family vacation. A vacation that didn’t go well because Dad was the only person in the world who could find the most magical place on earth annoying and didn’t mind sharing it, all day. This made me meeting Cinderella pretty much the only good part of it (save the Matterhorn and Space Mountain, both of which I’d loved).
Shoving that memory aside, I decided instead to let flow over me how freaking great it felt to have Élan staring at me like I walked right of a movie.
But it must be said, even by me, she was right. I totally looked like a fairy princess, or, at least one who lived in a country covered in ice.
I gave her dazzled eyes a smile then looked beyond her to see Chris had come in with her. He, on the other hand, didn’t look dazzled. He looked startled and was hanging back. That was unusual behavior for him. If not as effervescent as his sister, he wasn’t detached. And I’d never seen him startled by anything.
Before I could make anything of it, my eyes went to Apollo, who had brought the children in. But when I looked at him, my heart stopped.
He didn’t look dazzled either.
No.
Instead, he looked like he very much liked the dress. So much, he looked like he’d very much like to rip it off me. He had control and this control kept him across the room. But there wasn’t much of it. I could see it in his face, something I’d seen before, that hunger, that heat. It was so strong, it communicated itself to me. I felt it sear through me and everything melted but him and that heat.
That need.
This was heightened significantly by the way he looked. Thick hair swept back. Dark brown trousers tucked into shined boots, and his dark brown cloak lined in almost-black brown fur.
But his forest green shirt had a high collar, and this time he was wearing a neck cloth.
If you’d asked me five months ago if I thought that look was hot, I would have said, hell no.
But believe me, it wasn’t hot. It was freaking hot.
Bella broke into our scorching staring contest by ordering, “Say good-bye to your father and Miss Maddie. They’re away to the gale.”
“I can’t wait until Frey Drakkar takes me to my first gale,” Élan breathed and I tore my gaze from Apollo and looked down at her. “I’m going to wear that exact dress.”
“I’ll save it for you, honey bunch,” I promised.
“Hurrah!” she cried.
Thus commenced Élan dashing forward to give me a quick hug, Chris approaching his father getting a squeeze on the side of the neck and then Chris turned to me to dip his chin.
But he didn’t approach.
Again, odd. We rarely got physical but he did get close to give my hand a squeeze when we had the occasion to say goodnight.
Bella, Loretta and Meeta, however, did approach.
Meeta did it to me, bringing with her my bronze velvet cloak.
Loretta also did it to me, carrying my satin evening bag.
Bella did it to the kids, huddling them and herding them out as Élan waved and cried, “Don’t forget to dance!”
Oh shit.
There was going to be dancing?
Oh shit!
Of course there was going to be dancing. It was a ball.
The problem was, I didn’t know how to dance.
Crap.
I couldn’t think on that, the kids were leaving so I called, “Sleep tight!”
“We will,” Élan called back before she disappeared.
Chris said nothing.
Again, odd.
My mind was turned from Chris this time as Meeta arranged the cloak on my shoulders then Loretta moved in and gave me my bag.
I bent in to kiss Loretta’s cheek and turned to Meeta.
When I did, smiling, I looked into her eyes. At what I saw there, the smile froze on my face and I stilled.
“Enjoy your evening, Miss Maddie,” she murmured.
But she didn’t mean that.
She meant, Be careful and stay safe.
How I knew this, I didn’t know. I just knew her eyes were troubled, even alarmed, and that freaked me way the hell out.
“Madeleine, our sleigh is waiting,” Apollo cut into these thoughts and I looked to him to see he had his hand extended to me.
“Remember everything…eh…vree…thing. We want to hear it all on your return,” Loretta ordered, coming forward to fuss with the folds of my cloak as I moved to Apollo.
I had a feeling from Apollo’s earlier look that I wasn’t going to be having girlie time “on my return.”
I was coming to love my girls. But from that lo
ok, I was good to wait until the morning.
I didn’t share this with Loretta.
I told her, “I’ll remember, honey, promise.”
I got close to Apollo and he took my hand, lifted it and curved it around the inside of his elbow. Without delay, he moved us to the door.
Right before we went through it, I looked over my shoulder at Meeta.
She was watching me with a weird intensity that was unsettling, her expression clouded. Then, she strangely lifted up a hand, only a slim forefinger extended, and touched the tip of it between her eyes.
I didn’t know what that meant. I just knew it meant something.
I obviously couldn’t ask and I couldn’t think on it either. Apollo was moving swiftly and I had to think about keeping up with him and not tripping.
Before I knew it, we were in one of his sleighs with the furs over our laps and he’d snapped the reins. The chill air bit at my cheeks and through the heavy (but not as heavy as fur) velvet cloak. I shivered for more than one reason as my eyes lifted to the torchlit castle.
Apollo must have felt it for he curved an arm around me and tucked me close to his side.
That felt better.
He then dipped his head and murmured into the top of my hair, “Your beauty tonight is unsurpassed.”
That warmed me all the way through to the point where my toes curled in my beaded velvet slippers.
Because I knew what he meant and what he meant meant the world.
I looked exactly like his dead wife. But tonight, I knew I looked better.
It might be greedy and wrong to love that, but I had to admit, I did.
Then again, even I was stunned at how awesome I looked.
I had help and not just Loretta and Meeta’s awesome skills with hair and makeup.
There was no other way to describe it, my gown was sublime. A dark green velvet that skimmed my figure to the bottom of my hips and flared out into a full skirt. The velvet led up to a strapless bodice but this was covered in a fabulous topaz lace which melted down my torso, disappearing at my hips.
The lace formed a Sabrina neckline and dipped a little at the back, which was kind of backless. The kind of part was that the velvet came only to the small of my back and up my sides, but that extraordinary lace covered my skin, providing an elegant, peekaboo back done up the middle with lace covered buttons.