Page 15 of Royal Ransom

“Goddess, Tally. I swear I can feel your soul. It’s as beautiful as the rest of you...”

I felt peaceful in his arms, my blood humming with serenity. When he was inside me, the Winter in my blood thawed. I wasn’t Olwen; I was just Tally. The Tally he’d given up everything to protect. I had to trap a contented sigh in my throat. How had I forgotten the most important lesson I’d learned since meeting him? Maverick wasn’t Jonathan. He was an ass sometimes, sure. He had a temper. The truth was that Mav had enough issues to stock a library’s resource section.

But he was also one of the most selfless men I’d ever met. The only thing deeper than his well of courage was his loyalty to those he felt responsible for. He liked to pretend he was an irredeemable bastard, but I’d never met someone with a softer heart underneath it all. Comparing Maverick to my ex was like trying to compare Zorro to Ghostface. Just because they dressed in black and wore masks didn’t make them the same character.

Still, there were so many questions flying through my head.What did this all mean? Were these feelings real or just the byproduct of a ritual? I didn’t think so, but the doubt still nagged at me in quiet moments. I didn’t want to force him into something he didn’t want. We hadn’t defined what we were outside our sham marriage. I was always too scared to ask. But I needed to know almost as badly as I needed to breathe.

“Mav...”

“Of course I love you,”he thought back, almost sounding offended.“I didn’t think that was even a question at this point.”I was shocked and it must have shown on my face, because he continued.“I don’t say it because I try to live it.”

Because we’d both learned the hard way that talk was cheap, that sex was only fun when there was a little feeling in it. The nights with Jonathan checked every physical box but felt utterly soulless by the end, leaving me feeling dirty afterwards. I’d felt more loved from my first kiss with Maverick than I had in years of marriage to Jonathan. There wasn’t an agenda behind Mav’s smile. There was no betrayal lurking around every corner. When this man decided something, he stuck with it. He’d lay his life on the line for me whether we were platonic or intimate. Jonathan didn’t enter any scenario with motives half as pure as that.

“I could do with hearing it out loud every now and then,” I said finally, my voice coming out as a strained whisper.

His eyes twinkled with good humor as he leaned close, his lips hovering over mine. I let out a shuddering exhale, and my breath plumed. The temperature had plummeted; my control of Winter slipping in my distraction.

“I mean, youareabout to be Queen of Winter. I know you’re not letting that bitch get away with kidnap, torture, and murder. If you’re making it an order, I’ll say it as often as you want.”

My lips twitched. “Just tell me you have an authority kink, Mav. It’ll be less embarrassing than calling me Your Highness.”

“I thought that was obvious too. I mean, I’ve said you coulduse the handcuffs—”

I slapped a hand over his mouth before he could spill more sordid details of our sex life. No one in the precinct had superhearing, but I didn’t want a single soul to know what we got up to in the bedroom. That was my business, and no one else’s.

“Hush. What’s up with the surprise telepathy?”

“Not sure. Possibly a combination of my blood magic and your winter power. There are no hard-and-fast rules when unstable magics fuse.” He thought for a second. “What number am I thinking of?”

I laughed even as I listened hard. I heard nothing this time.

“I think you need to send the thought to me,” I told him. “Touching seems to help.”

I locked my other arm around his neck, pulling myself closer until he was seated on the chair and I knelt between his knees. Our gazes locked. His eyes widened for a split second. Even I was surprised by my boldness, but something in me needed to be closer to him. Then his arms came around my waist, lifting me onto his lap.

“I was scared you were home when Wren arrived. When I felt my wards fail...”

It felt like a lead weight dragged my stomach into my toes. There’d been one hideous stretch where he’d been certain I was dead.

“I’m glad you’re safe,”his voice rattled in my brain, even as his mouth stayed still.

I closed the remaining distance between us. We embraced, Maverick running his hands up my back. One hand fisted in my hair, the other pressed desperately against the small of my back.

I heard another thought come my way. My laugh sent a buzzing sensation through both our bodies. “Eleven. You’re thinking of the number eleven.”

“How many minutes I was absolutely certain that I lost you,”he said without missing a beat. “Hard number to forget.”

There was so much left unsaid, but neither of us was willing to break the silence.

“I love you,” I whispered.

There. It was out. I’d finally wrapped my lips around those impossible-to-utter syllables.

Maverick tipped my chin up, molding his lips to mine with enough heat to melt me into my socks. I sagged a little, grateful he had a hand braced to catch me.

“I love you too.”

Chapter Ten

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