Chapter 28
I know Matthias is a man, a king, but Gods, sometimes I wish he were my little boy again.
The child with the big green eyes and the sweetest smile.
The child who’d listen! I’m aware he’s had more than one dalliance, but he turns his nose at every potential bride I find.
I think you may be right, that the misguided fool is still holding out for her.
I hope not. I couldn’t abide that sullen child.
— LETTER FROM QUEEN ISBETH TO HER COUSIN
‘Matthias!’ My voice echoed unanswered down the dim corridors.
I blew out a long breath, a half-smile at the corner of my mouth.
A thrill quivered through my veins, drowning out the stubborn voice insisting he’d still been the one to abandon me.
Still the only one to strike a blow to my heart.
He may have been those things, but he was also the only one to coax my scowl into a smile, to force my heart to hammer like an anvil against my ribs.
The one to keep me tossing and turning all night as I recalled the heat of his kiss.
I passed a maid, her head hung low, and was about to ask her if she’d seen the king when I heard the unmistakable hushed tone of Asher.
‘But are you sure he can be trusted? Completely, wholeheartedly, without one single doubt in that over-trusting mind of yours, trusted?’
Matthias sighed. I slid into the shadows, still unable to make them out in the gloom.
‘Yes, Ash. And not just because he’s my brother.’
I pressed myself further into the wall.
‘You saw how he fought for us. I trust him as much as I trust you or any of my guards.’
‘Matthias.’ Asher’s tone darkened. ‘Don’t look at me that way. He’s said… things.’
‘Things?’
‘Criticisms. Not only of your reign, but you, personally.’
Matthias laughed. ‘He’s my brother, Ash. My brother. That’s what family do. Skye’ll speak her mind when she needs to, and as for my wife…’
They both snorted, and I bristled.
‘I wonder if I’ve ever once earned her respect in all the time I’ve known her.’
I twisted my fingers into the coarse wool of my dress. That’s what he believed I thought of him? Surely he knew how much I admired him? A gap hollowed in my chest. Had I ever told him how much he meant to me?
It was always too much to expect the wolf to behave for long. He opened his mouth, ignoring my wide-eyed attempts to hush him, and yawned… loudly. The voices silenced.
‘Speaking of your wife…’
‘Sorrow?’
I raised my chin and threw my shoulders back, and, clutching the damned wolf tighter than usual, left the shadows. Matthias moved out of his own shadow. His eyes twinkled in the amber glow of the fading oil lamps. My heart spiked as he approached.
‘Is everything all right? Do you need something?’
I stared into the corner, where I made out the barest hints of Asher’s wide smile. Why yes, Matthias. I do need something after all. I need you. Your mouth searing my skin, your body pressed against mine, your…
Only, how could I say that with the damn captain grinning like a fool? All the bravado that led me to seek him out faded.
‘I…’ My voice faltered as his brow crinkled and he stepped closer. The barest hint of his lavender reaching me. ‘I…’
‘Well.’ I jumped as Asher moved out of the gloom, slapping Matthias on the shoulder. ‘We have a really early start. I’m turning in.’ He arched a brow as he passed. ‘Good night, you two.’
I took a settling breath, raised my hand and wiggled my fingers at the captain. Oh Gods. I swallowed. Get a bloody grip, Sorrow. I turned to Matthias, his eyes concerned.
He rubbed the back of his neck, before closing the distance between us.
Heaving in a breath, I opened my mouth, but found for once, my words failed me.
Matthias reached out, his hand slipping down my loose braid.
Green eyes met mine as he tilted that Gods-given face.
I snaked my hands around his neck. His brow arched, broad hands slipped around my waist, and I squirmed against the heat his touch sparked.
‘There was something,’ I said as I swept my hands down his shoulders, noting every firm dip and rise.
Matthias exhaled slowly, his nose tracing down my cheek. ‘Hmmm.’
Gods, my toes curled at the gravel in his tone.
‘What was it my wife…’
I arched my back as he laid a soft kiss to the skin beneath my ear.
‘My beautiful, breathtaking…’
His teeth scraped a torturous path down my throat, and I gasped.
‘Stunning wife would be wanting at this rather late hour?’
A whimper escaped my lips as he pressed a lingering kiss to the hollow of my neck. By Evella, I’d never be capable of speech if he kept on like this.
I ran my hand down his chest, revelling in his moan as my fingers skimmed the soft skin under his shirt. The swell of his arousal pressed into my hips as his mouth tracked a lazy path further down my chest. My fingers traced the line of his trousers slowly, slowly…
‘Oh, excuse me, your highnesses… I… I am sorry.’
We broke apart, gasping, breaths heavy as Pablo whined from the corner. A maid – the same maid I’d passed earlier, stood smirking at us.
Matthias grabbed my hand. ‘You’re excused.’ An unusual hint of annoyance tinged his tone as Matthias tugged me towards his rooms.
We barely made it around the corner before I gasped as he shoved me against the wall.
Eyes hooded, chest hitching, his mouth slammed into mine.
There was no room for gentleness. This was greed, hunger.
Years of pain and holding back reaching a crescendo.
Every missed opportunity, denied touch, all those nights we could have lain entwined among twisted sheets finally demanding our due.
We crashed, smiles, teeth and gasps as his hands searched my body. The heat spread through me wilder than the fires of Trespia. I couldn’t take this. I needed him. I’d always needed him. It took all my effort to push him away.
‘Your rooms,’ I said through heavy breaths.
He smiled, nodding, as my fingers slid into his hair, pushing the unruly locks out of his eyes before it promptly fell back. He pressed another hard kiss to my bruised mouth and, gripping my hand, dragged me towards his rooms.
After a few steps, I realised Pablo wasn’t by my side. I halted and turned, ready to call him.
‘Leave him.’ Matthias reached around me, his hands on my hip, his mouth landing on my neck. ‘For his sake, leave him.’
I turned into the kiss and we collided with the wood of his door.
My trembling fingers sought out the buttons of his shirt while he fumbled with the door handle.
He cursed under his breath as his hand slipped, before, with our hearts pounding, the door flew open.
We fell through, his dark chuckle warming my jaw, and—
‘Hey!’
We spun apart, chests heaving, clothes askew, meeting the wide-eyed stare of a grinning Ifan. He swayed in the centre of Matthias’s entrance lounge.
‘What the fuck?’ I asked as the reek of alcohol – a lot of alcohol – hit me.
Ifan smiled widely, the sight cooling the heat of my body.
‘Evella hates me,’ Matthias mumbled under his breath as I spotted a short table, laden with a variety of foods.
‘Oh.’ Ifan belched. Matthias ran his hand down his face, while his brother brandished a bottle of something pungent in one hand, and what appeared to be a sandwich in the other. ‘I am… I am so… sorry… Sorrio, Sorrow.’
Matthias groaned as his brother flashed a rather creepy smile. I shook my head. No. Ifan wasn’t going to ruin this for us.
‘Out,’ I hissed.
‘But.’ He lurched suddenly, almost losing his footing and waving the damned sandwich in the air. ‘I made him a sandwich, Sorrow. A. Sandwich.’
‘I don’t care if you made him a five-course feast. Out.’
Whatever Ifan had used as the filling slopped onto the floor next to him.
‘Just,’ he said, crouching and attempting to scoop it up and return it to the bread. ‘Just wanted to say sorry.’
I turned on Matthias, my heart sinking at the expression on his face. I knew that look. His jaw worked as an apology shone in his eyes. Pablo dived between his legs, lunged at Ifan, grabbing the sandwich. Matthias closed his eyes as Ifan attempted to stand, brows furrowed at his now empty hand.
‘Really?’
My husband’s gaze swung between me and his brother, before he let out a frustrated groan.
‘Listen,’ he grabbed my shoulders as I crossed my arms, ‘I can’t leave him like this.’
I set my jaw. Was he truly going to choose his brother over me? He leaned in close.
‘You go to your rooms, wait for me. I can’t leave him like this, Sorrow, I can’t.’
My shoulders slumped.
‘I’ll be ten minutes. Twenty tops.’ He moved forward, his thumb tracing over my bottom lip.
‘Let me make sure he’s settled. I’ll pop him on the chaise longue with a blanket and then’ – he pressed a lingering kiss to my lips, my core sparking once more – ‘then we can finish this. We’ve got all night, Sorrow. ’
He flashed that smile again. I rolled my eyes as Ifan searched under a chair for the lost sandwich.
‘Fine, but don’t be too long or I’ll just go to sleep.’
A fire burned, spreading low as Matthias lay a final kiss to my lips.
‘I know we’re supposed to rest,’ he said before yet another kiss seared my mouth. Ifan crashed into the table, and I groaned. ‘But you won’t be getting much sleep tonight. Ten. Minutes.’
Licking his maw, Pablo fell under my hand. I huffed out a breath, giving Matthias a glance over my shoulder and left his chambers, a damn sight cooler than I’d entered them.