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The immense magic that she’s brought me—it pulses through my veins, reminding me what surrender would mean. If I lose her, I’ll lose myself and my realm. But if I lie, it might cost me the same. Being a king has meant hard choices and harder consequences, yet I have no idea what to do in this moment.
Do I risk sacrificing the realm or chance losing Meg?
15
MEG
My minotaur has gone quiet and not the comfortable kind of silence. I shouldn’t push. I mean, we barely know each other. Except he had his face between my thighs a few hours ago… again. If we’re going to be together in that way, we might as well talk about the hard stuff. Still, I take Lady Snarl away from him before he beheads her like he did the orc.
“What’s going on in that big bull head of yours?” I ask. Teasing seems to work well on him.
But he doesn’t smile. “Promise you’ll give me the rest of the contracted time to woo you.”
After talking about my ex and the hurt he caused, I’m not about to promise anything until Leander tells me what’s going on. He’d been asking about wanting children before he went quiet, but there wasn’t anything in the deal about making babies. Panic sets in, and I ramble. “I’m not ready for a family. Not when I’m still figuring out what to do with my own life. Maybe in five or ten years….”
He shakes his head. “I didn’t mean to sound as though I questioned your choice. I would never second guess your decisions as to breeding.”
Breeding? What the hell? I won’t get stuck on semantics, not when he hasn’t told me the real issue. “Then what’s wrong? Because I’m out of guesses.”
With his stiff posture, he wears his discomfort like a straitjacket, which makes me want to hug him or sit in his lap like Oggie did for me. Before I can talk myself out of it, I push my heavy chair back with a horrible scraping sound that makes me flinch. I need to ask Leander for some human-sized furniture. Except I’m leaving in a few days, which I’m not going to think about right now because the possibility of not seeing this realm again? It’s too sad. Leander and I both deserve some comfort, so I take a chance, round the table, and climb on his lap.
When he pulls me to him, some of the tension eases out of his muscles.
“Tell me,” I say. “It can’t be as bad as you think. Unless you say you’re not interested in a repeat of what I got this morning in your room because that was—”
“I could never deny you.” His deep voice rumbles through me. “But for one thing. I can give you a realm, a crown, whatever you want. Except a child.”
“Oh.” My brain nosedives into a tailspin of scrambled thoughts. He wasn’t kidding about making me a queen or being his pick for a permanent match. I haven’t seen kids in his realm, but I hadn’t wondered why with everything else. What if it’s a personal choice for him or a medical issue or any number of insensitive problems to poke at?
Lucky for me, my minotaur keeps talking. “We haven’t had a child in this realm in ages. Not since before Darnell came.” He pauses, stroking a hand along my spine. “Not for a century before that, if I’m being honest. Plus, my kind… we’re not prolific.”
“Minotaurs?”
“Immortals. While no one but the gods can truly live forever, I’ve lasted millennia. Most in my realm can. When the magic is high, time moves far slower. It has only passed faster as my powers have slipped away.”
I snuggle closer, as shameless as Oggie in demanding affection. Besides, Leander seems to need my nearness. “What about now that your magic has come back?”
“Since you’ve returned it.” He has refused to take credit for whatever has made his castle brighter and the realm more secure with the multiple orgasms he gave me.
I wiggle on his lap. “We should make more magic.” If I only have a few days here, I plan on creating as much as possible with this man who treats me like a queen.
He chuckles, and the deep sound is delicious. “I would love to…”
When his voice trails off, I go still. “That sounded like a but.” His body’s reaction beneath me definitely doesn’t match his tone. Perhaps I’ve misjudged. Or I’ve been too forward. Remembering every awful insult my ex said those last few days, I scoot away, preparing to stand.
“Don’t.” With one word, his king-of-the-realm commanding self has returned.
“Okay.” My agreement comes out small, and I tell myself to stop. The name calling and hurtful comments? Those aren’t Leander or me. But those years of insults? The millions of tiny verbal daggers about everything from my size to my sanity? They cut deep slashes that I haven’t been able to heal.
“The magic you’ve created,” he says. “It’s so much that I haven’t been able to control all of it. You’ve seen the flickering lights today, felt the shaking ground, heard the distant booms within the maze?”
I nod.
“That’s the overflow that I haven’t been able to channel,” he says.
“I triggered an earthquake?” Holy shit. No wonder he doesn’t want to have sex with me.
“Not quite, but I’m not sure that we won’t set off the equivalent if we…”
