Page 110 of Consort's Glory
You know,she said, sounding sated and a little smug, for a couple of first-timers, I think we did pretty good. Maybe could have gone a little longer, but that just means we can start again sooner, right?
It was all he could do to huff a laugh against the hot skin of her reddened, well-bitten throat. We need more practice.
He felt the shiver that ran through her; could feelthe desire that triggered it. The euphoria of making love with her melded with the joy of their bond, crystal clear and strong, to make his eyes prickle with unshed tears.
Margot reached up to cradle the side of his head. You okay, baby?
Yes, he answered. Even his inner voice was thick with tears. I’m just happy.
A rush of tenderness and pure adoration coursed through the bond to fill every empty, yearning place inside him. I’m happy too. More than happy. This is so much more than I could ever… You don’t understand what this means to me. A few days ago I thought I’d be lucky if I got to live. Now I’m here.
He placed a reverent kiss against a livid bite mark. With me?
With you. Always.
There was nothing in the world he wouldn’t do for her. Nothing. Theodore hugged her close, gratefulness a flame in his chest, and let time pass at a leisurely crawl.
Elves were proprietary by nature. He knew from the moment their whisper-thin bond snapped into being that Margot was his, but more than that, Theodore’s furious determination to have her was born from gratitude. If not for the cool brush of her mind against his, her even-keeled compassion that flowed endlessly through him, he would have destroyed himself and his family.
Rage at the injustice that was his father’s crimes; rage at the loss of a woman who died so brutally for him before he could know her; rage at being shackled to a people who, through their sickly fear, had put the wheels of tragedy in motion; the guilt and horror of seeing his sister’s and Sam’s memories of that bloody day — all of it made for a poison that coursed through him for ten long years.
All of the intensity and focus he honed into becoming the sovereign once lived in that rage. It didn’t matter how much Winnie and Delilah loved him. It didn’t matter that Sam held him when he suffered under the psychic weight of too many clamoring minds before he learned to shield himself. It didn’t matter that Valen thought he could channel that anger into martial skill. It didn’t matter that Andy lavished affection on him, that Kaz needed Theodore to be there for him as they grappled with their father’s legacy, that he was enormously lucky to be alive.
His fury was a raw, living thing. It had no outlet, no recourse, no conduit. It would have consumed him — might have pushed him into the same madness that claimed his father — if not for the woman in his arms.
A psychic lancing. An infection excised from his heart. His healer, doing what she was born for: Taking the pain from him with a soft touch of her mind until it simply bled away into nothing.
It seemed almost cruel to him now, thinking about her own suffering. If only the bond were stronger. He might have been able to help her in return, to offer her the same comfort she offered him when he was at his lowest. Horror about what her family did to her in a misguided attempt to protect her remained a hot stone in his throat.
Abruptly, he asked, Can you reverse the sigilwork on your ears?
Margot’s thoughts were sleepy, surprised. Huh? Maybe. Why?
Theodore skimmed his palm up her belly in a soothing stroke. Just wondering. I want you to have the option now that you don’t have to hide.
Now fully awake, she petted his arm, her conflicting feelings a pulse in the bond. “I’m not sure I want to. I’ve never even seen them before.” Margot paused. “Are we going to tell everyone I’m a half-b— halfling?”
Using his hand on her jaw, Theodore gently turned her head so he could meet her eyes when he answered, “I had no intention of hiding it, but it’s up to you, darling. What do you want to do?”
Margot moved to disentangle herself from him. Although his first instinct was to keep her close, to continue all that luscious, necessary skin contact, he understood her need for space.
Grabbing one of his — their — pillows to clutch to her chest, she turned and tucked her legs underneath her. “I didn’t really think about it,” Margot quietly admitted. Her eyes lingered on his naked chest and lower. A hungry pulsing in the bond told him they were not yet done practicing. “I’ve been distracted.”
The muscles of his stomach tightened under her scrutiny, but he kept himself from being derailed with sheer force of will. “It’s up to you, darling.”
“Do you think I should, though?”
He hesitated, not wanting to push her one way or the other. Running a hand through his mussed, slightly sweaty hair, he answered, “I think it would be good to have the sovereign’s consort be openly witch and elf, but I never want you to do something that makes you uncomfortable. I know how you’ve carried this secret for so long. Expecting you to come out and tell the world right away isn’t fair.”
Margot chewed her swollen lower lip, her eyes downcast. “I just… I don’t mind it for me, but I don’t know who my mother is. What if she gave me up because she was ashamed of me?”
Hot fury threatened to make him see red. Voice dropping into a growl, he told her, “Darling, that’s her problem, not yours. Besides, if she’s so ashamed, she will never see the need to associate with you, will she? No one will be able to magically divine who you’re related to. This doesn’t mean you have to interact with her, or even know her name.” He flicked his wrist, his lip curling. “Besides, you’ll outrank her.”
When she met his eyes, her expression was bruised. “But what if I want to know her?”
Smothering the desire to tear the world apart for putting that look in her eyes, he promised, “Then we’ll do whatever it takes to track her down. Either way it’s your call.”
Margot was quiet for a moment, her lower lip caught between her teeth, before she blinked hard and set aside the pillow. Crawling back to him, she curled her arms around his waist and hid her face against his chest. Theodore hugged her hard. Her trust was a gift too precious for words.
