who would listen that if anything were to harm you, he would call upon his beasts to wreak vengeance. And this, my daughter, is not an idle threat to make. This, Sjofn, is extraordinary.”
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
I said nothing and she moved, uncrossing her legs and shifting to the edge of her seat, she leaned forward, elbows to knees in a casual pose the like I’d never seen her adopt.
And then she kept going. “It is my duty as queen of this land and to service my husband who rules it, but also to be a good wife, to stay quiet, listen and observe,” she said softly then even more softly, she got to the meat of the matter by saying, “I know of Viola.”
I sucked in an audible breath and she nodded.
“I know of her, Sjofn, and I saw your face when The Drakkar ordered she attend the table.”
I couldn’t stop myself from closing my eyes and looking away in an effort to hide what her words were making me feel and the intensity of it.
I opened my eyes and looked back at her when I heard her shift and then I watched her move to stand in front of me, looking down.
“My dear Sjofn,” she whispered, “we women carry many burdens. This is one of them, I’m afraid.”
Then I held my breath as she lifted her hand and tenderly cupped my cheek before she continued.
“I, too, had an arranged marriage and I, too, struggled in the beginning to build my relationship and earn the love of your Father. I was enamored with him on sight, he was the most beautiful man I ever beheld but he was also so full of life, so full of humor, it was immensely appealing,” she unusually shared these juicy morsels and I felt my eyes sting with tears as she went on. “But he was king and could do as he would. That said, even though I understood, his dalliances wounded me and they did so deeply.” She leaned slightly closer and kept whispering. “And thus, my Winter Princess, I learned to do all I could to make it so he would not need such encounters. I did this instead of making it clear they offended me, something your Father disliked.” She leaned back and smiled a smile that almost, but not quite, reached her eyes. “However, he did not dislike my efforts to make him no longer seek these relations and,” she paused, her hand shifting to my jaw, her thumb then sweeping my cheekbone, her smile finally reaching her eyes, “he still doesn’t.”
I stared up at her silent but I felt my lips twitch.
Apparently, Father got it regular.
“Do you understand me, my darling girl?” she asked softly.
I nodded. I understood her. Totally.
Her face went soft and she murmured, “Good.”
Then she dropped her hand and moved to the door while I turned to watch, her sweet, soft touch still tingling on my skin, her smiling eyes burned on my brain.
She stopped at the door and looked at me. “The dressmakers have left the undergarments they have made for you to wear under your Gales gown in your dressing chamber. You may don them now in preparation for the fitting. I will find one of your maidservants to bring the dressmakers to you so you can be done with this chore and get on with whatever other…” she paused with meaning, “pressing matters you intend to see to today.”
Not exactly a subtle hint so it wasn’t lost on me.
It was time to seek out The Drakkar.
Shit.
She waited and she did this with obvious expectation.
So I gave her what she expected.
“Okay, Mother,” I whispered.
She lifted her chin majestically and I decided I had to practice that. The way she did it was way cool.
Then she moved gracefully through the door like she floated on air rather than walked on rug-covered wood and she was gone.
Chapter Sixteen
She Missed You
I stood in my dressing room wearing a pair of skintight, delicate, black silk undies that had an abundance of exquisite lace at the seat of my ass, a black satin, boned corset that tied up the front with a blood red ribbon that pushed up my breasts and a red silk, loose-fitting, camisole-type thing under it that had a short, dense, lace ruffle around the edge, a black ribbon that drew it tight against my flesh and showed serious cleavage.
I had one foot on the lounge because I was connecting the second of a pair of the silkiest, flimsiest, most divine black silk stockings to the back garter that ran from the corset over my booty to the hose.
And I was thinking that the underwear in this world rocked in a big way because not only was all this hot, it was also impossibly comfortable and those silk stockings, even in a parallel universe nowhere near as advanced as mine, were the most extraordinary pieces of hosiery I’d ever touched.
And I was also thinking that any man, especially one who commanded dragons, would dig this underwear.
In a big freaking way.
Yes, that was exactly what I was thinking at the same time wondering how in the hell to find that man and then find the words to apologize to him in order to sort our shit out (and I was thinking the underwear might be useful) when the door opened.
“Hey,” I started to say, turning my head to who I expected to be one of my girls leading in the two dressmakers but instead seeing Frey standing statue-still, hand still on the door handle, eyes aimed at my ass.
I went statue-still too and took him in.
Okay, it was safe to say from the look on his face he definitely liked the underwear.
And it was also safe to say from the panic that seized my innards that I was definitely not ready for him to see me in it.
This was why I put my foot down, whirled and ran across the room to the screen that had my robe thrown over it.
I got there. I even got my hand on the robe. But the silk was soon gone from my hand because Frey got there with me and he jerked it right out of my grasp.
Ho boy.
I turned to face him, eyes wide, breaths coming fast like I’d run a two hundred yard dash and not across a room, my mind reeling for the right words to say to sort our shit out but with one look in his eyes, both heated and enraged, not one word came to mind.
“I think,” he growled, “don’t you, that at the very least I’m entitled to see the woman who is supposed to be my wife without cover.”
I stared up at him, close to panting.
Yep, definitely enraged.
That was when I did the smartest thing I could do.
I retreated.
Quickly.
And Frey advanced just as quickly, invading my space with every backward step I made until I slammed against the wall and he pushed right in, hips to my belly, he pinned me to the wall.
Oh shit.
I had to arch my back to tip my head to look at him which pressed my belly into his hips.
Shit!
“Frey –” I started and his name was breathless but I stopped saying whatever it was that was going to come out of my mouth when I heard gasps from across the room.
And I knew the dressmakers had arrived and I knew Frey heard them too but he didn’t release my eyes and
