Page 151 of Bull Moon Rising

“I know what the king decided. What are you going to do now?”

The pain on her face is obvious, and I ache that she’s had her dream torn away from her. If I could give it back to her, I would, and I hate how helpless it makes me feel to realize that no amount of work, no amount of sweat equity I put in, can bring back Aspeth’s most cherished dream.

I can’t fix this for her, and it mucking kills me.

“I don’t know,” Aspeth confesses. There’s a fragile expression on her face. She’s completely lost. “I tried not to think beyond my goal—protecting the hold. That was my entire purpose. But now there’s a new heir and Liatta’s money and I’m not needed or even wanted at Honori. The guild doesn’t want me, either. I…don’t know what to do with myself.”

“You could stay married to me.” I feel like a fool blurting it out. She probably doesn’t want anything to do with me now. Aspeth could do somuch better than a nobody like me. She deserves wealth. Stability. A home of her own. I have none of these things, my life tied to the guild.

But I would love the fuck out of her every day.

She looks up at me with an expression of pure surprise. “You still want me?”

Everything that’s been happening must have truly beat upon her self-esteem if she questions this. I thought I’d made it quite clear how I felt the two dozen times I knotted her in the span of a few days, but perhaps she needs to be told again. “Woman, I’m obsessed with you. I think I’d lose my mind if you left.”

“But it was supposed to be a marriage of convenience,” she tells me, stepping a bit closer. “So you could chaperone me.”

“It’s still convenient for me. It will likely be convenient for me in fifty years, when I’m old and gray and my horns are pitted. It will be convenient for me until the end of time, Aspeth. Do you understand? I need you. I want you with me. And I know it might be hard for you to stay, but…I would love if you tried.” My voice grows suspiciously hoarse. “Please.”

She gazes up at me, quiet.

Then, with an undignified squeal, my aristocratic holder wife flings herself into my arms. She jumps and I automatically wrap myself around her, even as her legs go around my waist. “I love you,” she tells me over and over, peppering my long nose with kisses. “I love you, Hawk. Are you sure?”

“More than sure. You belong with me.” I hold her tightly in my arms, my heart light. “You’re my wife. My love. My everything.”

She slides her arms around my neck and kisses the side of my face. “Let’s go inside. I want to be with you.”

Five hells, I want that, too. But I hesitate, because I need to be certain. “I just don’t want you to have regrets, Aspeth. I know you can do better than me—”

She tugs lightly on my nose ring. “You hush. I wanted someone who loved me for me. Someone who doesn’t care if I talk about Old Prellian glyphs for hours. I don’t care if you have no money.” She laughs, the sound bright. “I don’t, either! I’m not even the heir anymore! I’m…free.” She says the word in a dazed voice, as if not quite believing it, andthen laughs again. “I can do as I like.” She gives me a sly look. “I can dowhoI like.”

“So you can.” I open the door to the dormitory and carry my wife in. The flags and banners still show Magpie’s symbol, but that will all be changed over the next few days, along with the master’s quarters. For now, I’m content to be in the room at the front of the dorm, where I’ve always been.

The moment I open the door, the big orange beast launches itself off the windowsill with a yowl.

“Squeaker!” Aspeth cries with delight. “You’re all right!” She slides out of my grip and runs to her beloved pet, scooping the fat cat into her arms and hugging it tight. She presses enthusiastic kisses to the cat’s head just like she did to me, and ignores the fur flying around her. “I was so worried about you.”

“Gwenna helped me,” I say, feeling a little foolish. “She made sure your cat was taken care of. And contrary to what it might look like, I did brush her.” I wave a hand in the air, swatting at some of the orange fluff drifting past. “It doesn’t do any good.”

Aspeth chuckles. “I know. She’s the woolliest cat ever, but that just makes her special.” She squeezes the cat again, and I feel like I’m interrupting their moment as she scratches the thing’s head and purring fills the room.

“She slept with me every night,” I grumble, watching as my wife sits on the bed with her cat. “Right on your pillow. I woke up with a mouthful of fur every morning.”

“That’s how you know Squeaker approves of you,” Aspeth says happily, and presses another elated kiss atop the cat’s head. “She likes you just as much as I do.”

“I know you love her, so I made sure she was safe. I wouldn’t let anyone touch her.”

Aspeth bows her head over the cat, and then she looks up at me. Tears streak down her face again, and I feel like an arse for making her cry. “I know you wouldn’t. You’re the best of men.”

“I’m not a man. I’m a Taurian.”

She gives a watery giggle and sets the cat down on the bed. “Even better.” She crosses to my side, and her clothes are covered in drifting cathair, but I don’t care. She gazes up at me, her eyes full of emotion, and then slides a hand under the sash across my chest. “My Taurian.”

“Yours,” I agree. “Since the moment I laid eyes upon you.”

And then I lean in and press my muzzle to her mouth.

It’s…vaguely a kiss. Taurian mouths don’t match up with human ones, and it feels awkward even as I try it. But I still want to try. I lift my head and gaze down at Aspeth. She looks wonderstruck, touching her mouth. “Did you just kiss me?”

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