His mind shifted as he mulled over that piece of news. A “consulting agency” run by Rune and Carling would have almost limitless possibilities. It could be useful to contract out some things to an agency that was not officially connected to the Wyr demesne. And it would be very useful to have access to Rune’s particular talents again, to . . . talk things over with him from time to time.
They might never be what they once were, but they could be something else, something new. And who the hell knew? Maybe it would even be something better. Something without him being the lord and Rune his servant. Something that was more simply and equitably friendship.
“Let’s talk about it later,” Rune told him. “We’re still working on definitions.”
He nodded and clapped Rune on the shoulder. The other man gave him a crooked smile.
Just then Graydon walked up, his hands in his pockets. Dragos watched from lowered eyelids as Pia threw her arms around the big man, who hugged her back.
Graydon told him, “It might not look like it at the moment, but we’re actually pretty organized. The Elves are taking us in groups of ten to wait at the crossover passage. We’re ready to go whenever they are.”
“Calondir said he would be out momentarily.” Speaking of which, Dragos turned to Pia. “I need to talk to you.”
Rune gave him a nod, then he, Carling and Graydon backed away. Eva made as if to join them. “Don’t go far,” Pia said to her.
Eva smiled. “I won’t. Just gonna hang a little out of the way.”
Dragos waited until the bodyguard captain had stepped several feet away. Then he considered Pia’s upturned face. It was impossible for him to feel more for her than he already did. She had been through so much last year, and the thought of anything else happening to her made him more than a little crazy. He laid the tips of his fingers along the gorgeous, slender curve of her neck.
He said, I want to see you in that harem outfit again, bells and all.
Her eyes lit up, and a grin played around the corners of her mouth. I wouldn’t mind seeing you in that sheikh outfit again either. The half-bared chest is a good look on you.
She looked so mischievous he had to smile, even as he clenched with the desire to kiss her senseless. He flashed to an image of bending her back over his arm as he ravished her mouth, and he could tell by her heavy-lidded expression that she had caught the drift of his thoughts.
He stroked along the delicate curve of her collarbone, relishing the satin softness of her skin. His callused fingers were so rough in comparison he made sure his touch was light and careful so that he did not mark her.
Then his smile faded, and as he grew serious, so did she. He said, I want you to stay here when we cross over.
She pursed her luscious lips as she studied his face thoughtfully. I’m not going to do that, Dragos.
His autocratic side fought to take control. He battered it into submission. I really want you to change your mind, he told her. The gods only know what we’re going to find on the other side of that crossover passage, but whether it happens directly on the other side or some distance away, we’re going to see more bloodshed. It’s going to get ugly and dangerous, and while you have many strengths that we have only just begun to explore, you are not a creature of war.
She nodded slowly. That’s true, I’m not. But even though I do know things are going to get ugly, I’m still not going to stay behind.
He pushed air out of his bared teeth as frustration clawed at him. He growled, “This decision does not make sense to me. You are going to hate it.”
“That’s also true,” she said quietly. “I will. But you would not stay behind while I crossed over to an Other land, would you?”
He glared at her. “The two scenarios do not compare.”
She rubbed the back of her neck. “In a way they don’t, but in a way they do too.” She gave him a level look and said in an even softer tone of voice that nevertheless held an edge of inflexible steel. “As Eva said, you’re Powerful as shit and older than dirt, but I will not stay behind when there may be any risk to you. That’s not going to happen, Dragos. I’m pretty easygoing most of the time, and there aren’t very many lines I feel the need to draw, but this is one of them. I know you’re going to be in the thick of things, and I will be on hand if you need healing. I may also get involved if any of the sentinels are critically injured, or if there is anything I can do for Beluviel. She was kind, and that matters a lot to me. Other than that, I have no grand agenda nor do I have an ax to grind. I will be sensible, and I will keep my guards around me, and I am going. End of discussion.”
“End of discussion?” he said, staring at her. He was fairly certain he had never heard anyone say such a thing to him before.
One corner of her mouth lifted. “Yup.”
He bent over her until they were nose to nose. “Do not think for one minute that I have forgotten how you ordered me out of the room earlier,” he whispered.
“Actually I had kind of forgotten about that.” Her gaze widened. “I did, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did.” He slid his own hand to the back of her neck, gripping her gently. “Do you know what I thought?”
She shook her head, staring at him mesmerized. “Huh-uh.”
He growled, “I thought it was sexy as hell.”
Her lovely, triangular features lit up. Surreptitiously she slipped her fingers into the edge of his black fatigues at his waist, and she tugged at the material gently. “I don’t suppose we could put off this whole war thing until we got ten or twelve hours in the sack, could we? We could send a note to Gaeleval and ask him to take a day off.”
Invisible fire danced along his skin. He bent to brush her lips with his. “If we had any chance of that succeeding, I would be all for it.”
“It’s been much too long,” she whimpered.
He swallowed the tiny sound she made as the fire reached his brain. Before Pia, he had gone centuries between taking lovers, and he had never felt the lack. The women meant nothing. He had never remembered their names, and now he couldn’t remember their faces.
He mouthed against her pouting lips, “We still haven’t added manacles to any of the bedrooms. That’s going to be the first thing we take care of when we get back home.”
“Yeah, okay,” she muttered, as her body trembled. He slipped an arm around her waist, holding her against him. Her head fell back and she looked at him with glazed, unfocused eyes. “Dragos?”
“Yes,” he murmured. They were surrounded by people, but there was nobody else, anywhere, nobody at all.
“We’re going to get married, right?”
He would have smiled at how dazed she looked, except he knew exactly how she felt. What they generated together was blinding. She was not only the most precious person in the universe to him, but she was also the most powerful. “I can’t believe you framed that as a question.”
She tried to scowl at him. “I was using the question as a conversation starter.”
He licked at her lower lip. “And?”
She didn’t sound like she could breathe right. “And I wanted to know if we were going to go on a honeymoon too. We haven’t even gone on a date yet.”
He lifted his head. Actually, he hadn’t thought much beyond the big diamond ring and a lavish public display where the whole world watched as he claimed her. “Of course we are going on a honeymoon,” he said. “What kind do you want?”
She heaved a big sigh. “No bodyguards,” she said dreamily. “No urgent business calls, and no sentinels. No housecleaners or staff of any kind—and certainly that means no Stanford, even though he’ll claim to be heartbroken, of course. If you think he wouldn’t dream of intruding on our honeymoon, think again. He would insist that I need a dresser, and I’m not talking about a piece of furniture.”