Page 45 of Heart Cradle
“You don’t have to look so surprised,” she said finally, arching a brow. “I didn’t agree to sell my soul. Just a little magical interdimensional public ceremony.”
That pulled a breathy laugh from him. “I’m not surprised,” he murmured. “I’m… humbled.”
Maeve blinked. “Okay, that’s dramatic.”
“I’m being serious,” answered Eiran.
“I know, and that’s the problem. I’m not used to you being serious, it’s unsettling.”
“Then brace yourself,” Eiran said, looking to his family. “Because this moment is important.”
“Is that your idea of reassurance?” Maeve asked.
“No,” he said with mock gravity. “That was foreplay.”
She groaned, tugging her hand back with an eye-roll. “Stop talking. You were doing better with the dignified silence.”
He laughed, standing again and offering her his hand. “Come with me.”
Fenric’s voice from the other end of the room interrupted them. “Wait until she finds out about Xelaini.”
The laughter that followed came from Calen, Soren and Fenric, all three were grinning like tree cats who’d found the honey. Maeve froze, mid-smirk, and turned to Eiran, her mate bond thundering. “Who the fuck is Xelaini?”
Eiran groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Oh, for the love of… ”
“With that,” Orilan said smoothly. “I’m going to retire.”
“You’re not going to explain?” Maeve called after him.
Orilan merely smiled. “Lady Nolenne, please come to see me after breakfast. I have a proposition.”
Maeve watched him sweep out of the room, cloak billowing behind him. Nolenne, usually composed and razor-sharp looked absolutely shellshocked. “Did he say proposition?” She muttered to herself, eyes wide. “I don’t like that. I don’t like that at all.”
Maeve glanced at Eiran. “Should I be worried?” He said nothing. “Oh, now you want dignified silence,” Maeve said.
Eiran’s grin was slow and wicked. “I find it’s the best response when I’m about to kiss someone.”
Chapter Nineteen - The Name That Bites
The moment the dining room doors closed behind them, the noise fell away. Laughter and voices faded, replaced by the quiet tap of Maeve’s boots on polished stone. Eiran’s heart still hadn’t settled and now she walked beside him, her hand brushing close enough to touch, her scent coiling around him like a spell he never wanted broken. She was his, gods help him, she was really his.
Maeve tilted her head, a sly smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “So I will ask again,” she said lightly, with a deadly edge, “who the fuck is Xelaini?”
He arched a brow. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” she said, her tone all innocence and mischief. “Just curious. Lover? Wife? Secret concubine you’ve stashed in a tower somewhere?”
Eiran barked a laugh, loud and full from the chest. He slowed, letting it roll out, then bent slightly at the waist as it overtook him. “Oh, love,” he gasped between chuckles. “Xel’s going to love that.”
Maeve narrowed her eyes. “So you do keep a concubine.”
“She’s my dragon.” Eiran said straightening.
Maeve stopped mid-step. “Your what?”
“My dragon,” he repeated, still grinning as he raked a hand through his hair. “Her name’s Xelaini. She’s been mine, well I have been hers actually since I was five.”
“They’re real and you were gifted one?” she asked.
