Page 16 of Of Scale and Blood

I grinned and willingly scratched the ridge above her eye. She closed her eyes, bliss rumbling through her thoughts. After I’d repeated the process for Kaia, I carefully made my way through all the new drakkons—who were all very careful not to move while I was doing so to prevent an accidental squashing—then headed through to one of two internal entrances that led deeper into the mountain. After hanging the makeshift harness over a fingerlike outcrop of rock to save the effort of carrying it back up with me again, I strapped on my sword, then headed on through Damon’s blood-created shield. Its magic danced lightly across my skin, a tingling sensation that, when compared to the acid cloud, was positively pleasant.

I hitched the pack and quiver into a more comfortable position on my shoulders, then heard a soft click. As light spun around me, I turned sharply, my hand raised and fire burning across my fingertips—and almost immediately lowered it. The man standing in front of me was neither a threat nor a stranger.

He was my husband.

Damon rose and walked toward me, and I couldn’t help but be reminded once again of the elusive high-forest wildcat I’d once been lucky enough to see when I was kid. He, like that cat, moved in a manner that was sheer grace and restrained power combined.

He was also a magnificent-looking man.

The gentle glow of the light tube he carried made his closely shaven head gleam like newly oiled blackwood while highlighting the sharp but very pleasing planes of his face. His leather jacket was undone, and his undershirt loose at the neck, and while it wasn’t open enough to provide anything more than teasing glimpses of his muscular chest and stomach, my imagination was well up to the task. No imagination was necessary when it came to the impressive mound of his crotch, however. His leather pants almost lovingly emphasized its size while also highlighting the lean strength of his legs. I knew well enough the power of those legs. Knew they were more than capable of holding my weight against a wall as he sheathed himself within me again and again....

Desire stirred through me, a heat that was echoed in his lovely blue eyes. No matter what else happened in this marriage of ours, physical attraction was never going to be a problem.

“What brings you to this tunnel, husband?” I asked, amusement teasing my lips.

“The conclusion that if my wife will not come to me, I should come to her.”

His voice reminded me of a good mead—deep, rich, and so very... stimulating? Arousing?—and the inner trembling deepened. “To be honest, I’d rather my husband comeinme than to me, but to each their own.”

He laughed and caught my hand, his fingers warm and strong against my own as he dragged me into his arms. Our kiss was long and deep, an exploration of desire and a heady declaration of what was to come. Of what we both wanted.

“Wife,” he said eventually, “you stink of drakkon.”

I grinned and pulled away from him. His erection, I couldn’t help but notice, was positively fierce. “Then perhaps we need to hasten our journey back to Esan so I can bathe and present myself to my husband in a more suitable manner.”

“I suspect the husband doesn’t really care which way you come, as long as you do come.” He made a “give me” motion at my pack and the quiver.

“Ah, such thoughtfulness will be the end of me.” I slipped them off and handed them to him, then started down the tunnel. “Anything interesting happen while I was gone?”

He fell in to step beside me. “There’s been sightings of renewed Mareritten activity. A patrol was attacked yesterday morning.”

The Mareritt were a warrior race who lived in the vast subarctic wilderness beyond the Blue Steel Mountains, the long range that unevenly divided our shared continent. Mareritten itself was a land so harsh that for nine months of the year its people lived in expansive underground cities that drew on volcanic heat to survive their long winters. In years past, they’d used the short, three-month window of summer to attack both us and Zephrine in an effort to gain control over our mineral and pastorally rich lands, but this year had seen a strange absence of them. While there were some who believed they’d finally accepted the futility of attacking either fortress, I feared they were building up to something big—an opinion shared by both my father and mother.

“Any injuries?” I asked, managing to keep my voice even. I’d seen the roster and knew it had been Kele’s team out yesterday. Though if she had been injured, my father would surely have said something when I’d scribed him.

“A broken leg—the result of a fall off a small cliff—but other than that, no. And before you ask, Kele is fine. But the patrols out today apparently saw further signs of movement.”

“But not the Mareritt themselves?”

“No.” He glanced at me, a hint of... anticipation?... in his blue eyes. It suggested he’d welcome the resumption of hostilities between us and Mareritten and that, for some reason, sat oddly on the man I knew. Of course, it could also be said that I really didn’t know him in any real way beyond the physical. “I believe the lull we’ve experienced might well be over.”

I hoped he was wrong—even if I didn’t think he was—more because the last thing we needed was being attacked on two fronts. “Was it a full host that attacked yesterday?”

He shook his head. “Only six rather than the usual thirteen, from all accounts.”

That in itself was an oddity, given the Mareritt didn’t, from what we knew of them, like even numbers. They considered them bad luck. “And the tracks they discovered?”

“Suggested several hosts had moved through.”

“To where? Do we know?”

“They skimmed the edges of the marshlands, then followed the Igna River inland.”

The scouts would have stopped at the river, because crossing it meant getting too deep into Mareritten territory. “Have they just been sighted near Esan? Or has Zephrine seen an increase in their patrols as well?”

“My father still sails toward Kriton. I doubt an update will be sent to your father until he reaches Zephrine.”

Kriton was the closest port to Zephrine, but a good day’s ride from the fortress itself. I glanced briefly at him, eyebrow raised at the slight edge in his voice. “And yet he obviously sent you one?”

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