Page 9 of Nidev and Lyric

“Yes. Did you have a crush on him too?”

The snap of her brows together brought his grin that he held back. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Imply I’m a slut,” she snipped. “You’re the only King I had a crush on. I learned my lesson with youverywell.”

“Did you,” he mildly said, putting both arms on the back of the couch. Her gaze lowered to his chest, and he suddenly wished it was bare to receive such a look.

“And what about you? When are you marrying?”

“When I find a wife. My perfect match.”

She gave a rude snort. “I highly doubt she exists.”

He chuckled, pinching the bridge of his nose as he watched her. “Ouch, I guess.”

She leaned back and crossed her legs, and his mind got busy mapping out the shape of her ass where it met the leather. He was suddenly in a memory at the pool, with her storming off after he’d reprimanded her for something. He’d intentionally removed his eyes from her furious exit, but that one-piece swimsuit buried between her ass cheeks was clear as day in that second. As he allowed himself to stare at it in the memory, he realized. She hadthemostvoluptuousass.

“It really kind of irks me,” she decided, crossing her arms over her chest, oblivious to the jut she forced on the satin mounds. “How are you supposed to marry a woman with your level of dick-tation to your job? No woman will put up with that.”

“Dictation?”

“Dick slash tation. Your commitment to being Captain Hard ass about everything you put your mind to.”

“You think I can’t be dedicated to my job and obsessed over my wife at the same time?”

Mmm, he loved knocking her on her knees. She finally rolled her eyes, throwing an arm at him. “I guess you could, anal as you are. Which is one of the strengths I borrowed from you toget over that silly crush and squash all the emotions wanting to define my every step. And once I was free of that, I was able to become. Do you have prospects for a wife? Or are you using your standard tried and truly dumb methods. Orrrrrr, did you and the Kings build some kind ofsomethingto locate her.”

“One of the Marsh Kings is working with King Thakx on a program that would allow us to find a perfect match,” he said, grinning at how much her feisty side aroused him.

She gave him a ‘These dumb ass fools’head shake. “Y’all justdon’tlearn.”

“I’m trying to marry last,” he said, giving her a little more rope to play with.

“You don’twantto marry?” She seemed to forget he was reading her every expression three dimensionally, thankfully. Right now, she’d just told him exactly what he wanted to know. She wanted time. Hopefully, time to seduce him.

“Not at all,” he said.

“Then why are you?” she demanded incredulous.

“Because I agreed and I’m the leader.”

She leaned her body to the right now with more head shaking, like her brain didn’t know how to unpack this level of stupidity. “Well, I can tell you that love doesn’t like to be strategized,” she informed with a quick finger point. “It doesn’t want to be penned into the calendar or entered into an equation.” A second finger joined the first. “Andnobodywants a man that needs reminders, they want a man that can’t forget,” she finished with a third finger.

He didn’t hold back his smile. “Duly noted, Miss Lyric.”

“Duly noted,” she muttered. “Have you ever even been on asingledate?”

“Maybe I have other plans in mind.”

She quirked her brow, managing to be both curious and accusing. “Like?”

“Well, these marriages are supposed to be unlocking my gifts. But this bat bite has already done that. What exactly will this marriage be for besides adding more casualties for the war coming?”

“But you agreed to marry you said.”

“Not everybody defines marriage the same.”

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