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“We’re in a ballroom. We should dance.”
Only a smidge disappointed, I lifted my ear and tilted my head. “There’s no music,” I pointed out. “But I can fix that.” I clapped twice. Exaggerated a frown. Clapped twice. Again, no soft melody filled the airways.
“What are you doing, lass?” he asked with an equal amount of curiosity and amusement.
“Well, I’m living in a fairy tale with berserkers, shifting wolves, immortals, and enchanted castle.” I wrinkled my nose. “Music should play at my command.”
His shoulders shook the slightest bit. He trailed his knuckles across my cheek. “Unfortunately, the castle is missing the enchantment.”
“There goes my Beauty and the Beast dreams.” Thisman, this amazing king,wasa fairy tale fantasy come to life. A wishsoclose and yet entirely out of reach.
“We don’t need music.” He drew me into his arms, urging me to rest my cheek against his chest.
Mmm. He wasn’t wrong. Here, wrapped in the strength of his arms, swaying to a rhythm created by the beat of his heart, I needed only him.
“This is nice,” I admitted.
He gently pinched my chin, lifted my face, and smoldered at me. “This is how it can always be. Neither of us wanted this marriage, but I have no desire for strife in my home. I get enough of that outside of these walls.”
Was I getting a peek at the real Callen? Not the legendary king or the fierce berserker, but the man willing to reveal his vulnerability to me and me alone.
Parts of me constricted. “What are you wanting then?”
“A truce,” he suggested.
“A truce I can do.” I’d just have to be careful. Guard my secrets.
Grinning, he tugged me toward an open chest filled with gems. “Pick your favorites, and I’ll commission a necklace to commemorate this night.”
If only I’d get to keep it! Both excited and resigned, I dipped my hand inside the chest and let cold, hard diamonds, pearls, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires slip through my fingers. The amount of sparkle baffled my mind. So many precious gems. Enough to fund a thousand trips home.
Closer to escape than ever!
Ignore the spark of regret. It meant nothing. Less than nothing. “How can I choose until I’ve bathed in them?” I said, attempting a light tone as I pivoted to face him.
He stood with his hands linked over his sporran, so sexyI almost lost my train of thought. “A bath in jewels, hmm?” His pupils enlarged, spreading over glittering irises. “That’s somethin’ I’d like to see.” As my cheeks flushed, he chuckled and took my hand. “Until then, let's continue our day of fun.”
A huge,beautiful chestnut horse, saddled and ready, waited for us in the backyard. Callen gripped my waist and set me on the mount, then climbed up behind me.
Awe consumed me. “Are you serious? I get to ride?”
“You do.”
Grinning big, I leaned against him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
For the next twenty minutes, he trotted me around, sharing fascinating details about his life. “I used to race here as a boy.” “I plucked those flowers for my tutor, not knowing they were poison.” “This is where I fell off my first horse.”
“I can see it. You hit the ground, silent and stoic, then jumped to your feet and got right back on.”
“Almost. I screamed in pain when the horse stomped on my ankle, breaking it.ThenI jumped up and got right back on.”
“Ouch. Even your animals throw temper tantrums.”
He chuckled softly. “I suppose so.”
“Is that why you refused to take me riding before? You expected a tantrum?”
His next exhalation tormented my nape in the best way. “I refused because I knew I’d like it.”
