Page 244 of Frost and Death
“Pack our bags?” Worry etches across my features.
“We need to go melt the winter in Axidoria too, right?”
I gasp with excitement, drawing my hands over my mouth as he chuckles lightly. I pull him in tightly—eagerly—baffled this day is truly here.
I am finally returning to help my people—ourpeople.
I kiss him. I squirm to escape his hold, desperate to sprint to my chambers to pack my bags. But Jerrick applies a light pressure, giving me pause.
He smirks, patting my thighs.
I move awkwardly as he guides my legs to wrap around his lower back.
His hands drift under my backside, and he squeezes it before pushing our weight to help himself get enough momentum to stand.
I lock my legs tight as my butt loses the comfort of solid ground. But I know I am safe in my husband’s arms, especially when Jerrick keeps his hands on my ass. I lean in, brushing kisses across his cheek.
“As much as my conscience tells me to pack our bags and head out, I can’t help but think it might be in our best interests to leave tomorrow,” he whispers seductively as he squeezes my ass and we exit the throne room.
I bite my lip as it curves into a smile at his promise.
“Oh?” I ask, leaning into his ear and nibbling the lobe in response to his touch.
He groans before whispering, “Tonight, I am in desperate need of exploring every inch of your body.”
Thrill creeps down my spine at his declaration, and I can’t help myself as I lean in once more with lust pouring into my next words. “Tomorrow, it is.”
Epilogue
Happy Again
One Year Later
Jerrick
My boots are caked in mud from my trek to the front of my home from the stables. Approaching the entrance, I diligently drag each footstep, hoping to remove as much mud as possible prior to stepping over the threshold. If I leave tracks throughout the castle, my wife will scold me.
My wife.
Her eyes, her smile, and her sweet scent linger in the air.
Fuck, two weeks away on business for Axidoria was long enough. I left to inspect the progress of the revised borders and trade routes we had created a year afterNikolaj, the fucking bastard, tried to invade our lands.
I grind my teeth in irritation at the memory of that day, the countless number of men I slaughtered without a second thought because they were dividing themselves amongst Yadir and my home, trying to create as much carnage as possible in their wake.
They all deserve to be stuck and trapped in Letum’s Oblivion.
Since then, Axidoria and Palaena have made strides on uniting. Of course, there were complaints from the other kingdoms, angered our marriage had increased our lands and resources. But we grouped together, calling a meeting of all six kingdoms, and revamped the kingdom’s borders to showcase five instead of six.
I remember the group breaking for a meal during the day, and I was earnestly trying to find a solution for each of them. It was enraging how no one was willing to offer new ideas aside from their own selfish desires to protect their borders.
My fists remained tight knuckled that entire morning through early afternoon, and my magic sensed my frustration.
A humming, buzzing suggestion cooed and tried to lure me into touching someone, any one of them, to persuade them.
But Tove was quick to catch on to my struggles that day, taking my hand and squeezing it twice before a little spark of her own magic distracted mine. It caught me off guard, and my cunning Frostbite only smiled as if it was our own secret to share.
And indeed, it was.
