Heart of Fire (36 page)

Jessalyne shivered. Did she fear
their joining? But then she smiled. “Good night, my love.” She hung
over the side of the bed, watching him.

“Sweeting, go to sleep or I will
take the ring back.”

She lay back and pulled the covers
up. “Try it and I’ll toast your fingers, elfling.”

“That’s a fine way to speak to your
betrothed. I can see this marriage will be a labor of love.” He
shifted toward the door so she would not see the grin on his
face.

“Hmmph.” Jessalyne wriggled deeper
under the covers.

“That’s what I thought,” Ertemis
whispered as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It seemed to Jessalyne that she had
only just shut her eyes when the gossamer wings of firstlight flew
in the window. As she stretched, the events of the past few hours
came flooding back. She felt for the ring on her hand. It was still
there. She propped herself up on her elbows and glanced down. So
was Ertemis.

She smiled helplessly at his lanky
form sprawled on the carpet. Strands of glistening black hair
spilled over the folded cloak beneath his head. One hand gripped
the hilt of his sword.

Slipping out of bed, she knelt
beside him and studied his handsome face. She traced the angled
line of his right ear, running her fingertip delicately over the
silver-inked runes.

His hand snaked up and grabbed her
wrist as his eyes came open. “I promise very soon to show you just
how much your touch on that particular part of my body affects me,
but for now it would be best if you did not do that.”

She bit her lip. “Sorry.”

He smiled and winked at her. “I can
think of worse ways to be woken.” He nodded toward Fynna. “If we
were alone, I would not have stopped you.”

She bent to kiss him and he kissed
her back, rolling her on top of him. Her squeals of delight woke
Fynna. She stared down at them sleepily.

“You’re ruining my appetite for
breakfast.” She stuck her little blue tongue out.

“My apologies for Jessalyne’s
indecent behavior this morning.” Ertemis laughed as Jessalyne’s
eyes went wide.

She sat up and thumped his chest
with her fist. “You’re still a barbarian.”

“Too late, you’ve already said yes.
No taking it back now.” He tugged her back down and kissed her
soundly.

Fynna yawned. “Will you two be
rolling around on the carpet all morning?”

Jessalyne wrestled out of Ertemis’s
embrace. “We do have quite a day ahead of us, don’t we?” She turned
to him. “Are you ready to meet your father?”

He stood and shook out his cloak
out. “Perhaps you should be asking if he is ready to meet me. I’m
not the son most men dream of.”

“He will be very proud of you.” She
hoped. “And you needn’t worry, King Maelthorn is a good
man.”

“What about Sryka? She’ll expect you
this morning,” Fynna said.

Jessalyne clenched her jaw. “I have
no desire to spend another moment of time with that woman, but she
cannot find out about Ertemis. I won’t have her ruin our chances at
displacing Erebus.”

“Whatever your normal routine is,
stick to it.” Ertemis tossed his cloak around his shoulders. “I’ll
wait here until you return.”

“You’ll stay here?”

“I have little choice. My cloaking
enchantment doesn’t work well in bright sun. I need shadows at the
least.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I
can.”

“Patience. I have waited this long
to meet him, a few more hours is nothing.”

Fynna shrugged. “Don’t worry. If she
does anything to make Sryka suspicious I’ll break something and
distract the old hag.”

As the girls prepared to go, Ertemis
settled onto Jessalyne’s bed. It creaked but held. He closed his
eyes. Was he thinking of how the meeting with his father might go?
Trying to comprehend that he was the son of the king? She put her
hand on his shoulder and he opened his eyes. “We’re going
now.”

He pressed a kiss to the back of her
hand. “Take the ring off.”

She shook her head in objection.
Fynna responded. “He’s right. Sryka will notice it
immediately.”

“Very well.” Jessalyne slipped it
off her finger and tucked it into the pouch on her waist
sash.

“Keep an eye on her, Fynna.” Ertemis
followed them to the door.

“Yes, your majesty.” Fynna giggled
and did a sloppy curtsy.

Ertemis rolled his eyes. “I’d do
better asking a hungry man to mind a sweet shop. I’m going to bolt
the door so give three rapid knocks when you return and I’ll know
it’s you.”

“Three quick knocks it is.”
Jessalyne squeezed his hand, then she and Fynna slipped out and up
the stairs to face Sryka for what she hoped was the last
time.

* * *

Three raps in quick succession woke
Ertemis and his hand instinctively sought the hilt of his sword. He
shook himself awake. He could not remember falling asleep but
Jessalyne’s small bed was more comfortable than he’d imagined. If
only she’d been in it, too. Three taps on the door. He slid the
bolt back and let Jessalyne in.

“Where’s Fynna?”

“She always stays later. Sryka
invents a myriad of unnecessary chores for her to do. It makes me
mad but there’s little I can do about it.”

“Sryka didn’t suspect
anything?”

“No. I’m sure of it.” Jessalyne
fished in the little pouch hanging at her waist.

“Good.” Happiness filled him as she
slipped the ring back onto her finger.

“Are you ready to meet the
king?”

Ertemis shrugged and held his hands
out. “I’m not sure battle leathers are the most appropriate outfit
but it’s all I have.”

“I’m glad you mentioned that. I had
completely forgotten.” She went to the wardrobe and took something
out.

Ertemis narrowed his eyes at the
sight of a man’s shirt in her hands. “Who does that belong
to?”

“Do you like it?” She shook the
shirt out for him to see.

“Do I like the fact that you have an
expensive man’s tunic in your wardrobe? No, I don’t. It looks like
it belongs to the prince.”

“It belongs to a prince. You. I
bought it for you as a present but with all the excitement last
night, I forgot I had it.”

His jaw hung slack as he sat on the
bed. “You bought that for me?”

Nodding, she grinned hopefully. “Do
you like it?”

Save his mother’s bestowal of his
Feyre, no one had ever given him a gift. “When…when did you buy
it?”

“My first day here. Fynna took me
into the city so I could buy a few things. I saw this in a window
and thought of you. It was foolish, I guess. I didn’t know if I
would ever see you again, but...” Her voice trailed off and she
twisted the toe of her slipper into the carpet.

“Come here.”

She walked over clutching the shirt
in front of her.

He pulled her near, his hands
cradling her forearms. “I was wretched to you. I barely
acknowledged our parting, and yet you bought this for me that same
day?” He bent his head, ashamed by the memory of his actions. He
didn’t deserve her.

She tossed the shirt on the bed and
wrapped her arms around him. His forehead pressed against her
ribcage.

“You’re too good for me.” Their
closeness muffled his words, but not the pain in his soul. How
would he ever be the man she was worthy of?

“Hush now. We were both cross with
one another.” She kissed the top of his head and petted his hair.
“You still haven’t told me if you like it.”

He looked up then. “It’s the finest
thing anyone has ever given me. I will put it on right now.” He
pulled her onto his lap. “Well, maybe not right now.”

She gasped as his warm mouth nibbled
the tender spot beneath her ear and closing her eyes, arched into
his embrace. He trailed hot kisses trailed lower, down her neck and
across her collarbone until he reached the soft rise of her
breasts. He paused to take her in. She opened her eyes.

“You’re the most beautiful woman
I’ve ever known.” He took her hand in his and kissed the delicate
skin on the inside of her wrist. “The only woman I ever want next
to me.” He worked his way down to her arm, nibbling her
skin.

Jessalyne wove the fingers of her
free hand into his hair. “You think I’m beautiful?”

“You know I do.” He traced a finger
down the path his lips had taken, starting at her jaw line. “But
I’ll tell you more often.”

Her eyes shuttered and goose flesh
rose on her arm where his fingers played. She shivered. “Perhaps
you should undress.”

His eyes widened. “I’ll tell you
you’re beautiful every day if that’s what it gets me.”

She playfully pushed him away. “I
meant so you could put your new shirt on. You do still want to meet
your father, don’t you?”

“Aye.” He tugged off his leather
breastplate and made a show of being disappointed. “I thought my
attentions were finally getting to you.”

She sat up and fanned herself. “I
enjoy your attentions very much. Too much, perhaps. My thoughts
have gotten quite wicked.”

He laughed as he removed his worn
tunic. “Now that’s my saucy wench.”

Her eyes fixed on his bared chest
and a sigh escaped her.

“You like what you see?” He raised
his eyebrows.

She nodded slightly and her cheeks
went scarlet. The sight made him lightheaded with pride and
wanting. He took her hand and placed it against his bare skin. “Can
you feel my heart thumping? You do that to me.”

Slowly, she splayed her fingers out,
her hand soft and warm and smooth. “Your skin reminds me of silk
tumbled with sand. I didn’t know a man could be so soft and so hard
at the same time.”

He bit back the words he really
wanted to say, how he’d like to show her just how hard he could be.
Instead, he groaned as her hand moved across his skin.

She started to speak, then
faltered.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know the right
words.”

“Just speak your mind.”

“I think…I think you are beautiful,
too.”

He smiled and captured her hand in
his, kissing her fingertips. He would do anything for her.
Anything. His smile faded as he considered what that meant. “If
this meeting does not go well, I may have to leave
quickly.”

“You won’t go alone.”

“You would give up this life for
what little I can offer you?”

“Without looking back. In truth, I
might have left soon anyway. I find little purpose in being trained
by a woman who seeks to destroy the king she serves. And Erebus
makes my skin crawl.” She shuddered.

Ertemis stood and dressed in the
white linen shirt. He ran his fingers over the embroidery. “I have
never owned anything white. Not the most practical color for a man
of my profession.” He planted his hands on his hips. “How do I
look?”

“Like a prince.” Her eyes focused on
the vee of bare chest visible where the neck of the tunic lay open.
His ears picked up her quickening pulse. “I cannot imagine a more
handsome man. Pity you have to hide yourself until we get to the
king’s chambers. I could stand to look at you a bit
more.”

“Be careful what you wish for.” He
winked at her before cloaking himself. “Lead the way.”

“That is most disconcerting.” She
frowned at the disembodied voice, squinting as if it might help her
see him. “Stay close when we go through the chamber doors. The
guards won’t know to hold the doors open long enough for
two.”

He pressed himself against her from
behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her snug
against him. “Is this close enough?”

“Oh! You are so poorly behaved. It
is entirely unfair to use your enchantment that way.” For all her
words, she stayed tucked against him.

“Poorly behaved? Unfair? And yet you
don’t struggle to get away.” He nuzzled her neck with his lips,
finding the spot that made her sigh.

She giggled and he pulled away.
“That’s not the response I expected.”

“I just thought how odd I must look,
being ravished by some invisible lover.”

“I have not yet begun to ravish
you.” He bent his head to whisper in her ear. “Although, I am
entirely ready to fulfill my position as lover, invisible or
otherwise.”

She wobbled, as though her knees had
given way. “We should go now, before we do not go at
all.

Chapter
Nineteen

Jessalyne held her breath the first
few times they passed someone in the hall, but she soon relaxed. As
long as he stayed in the shadows, Ertemis was truly invisible to
the eyes of those around them. He stayed behind her and moved so
quietly, that if not for his hand against the small of her back or
occasionally lower, she wouldn’t have known he was
there.