The Serpent and the Wolf (Dark Inheritance Trilogy, #1)

by Rebecca Robinson

“If you want to pick a fight, look at me while you’re doing it.” “I’m not picking a fight.” “You are. You always pick a fight when you feel out of control.”

“Do you ever wear panties underneath my shirts?” Biting the inside of her cheek, she shook her head. A low sound emanated from the back of his throat as he kissed her mouth again, biting down on her lower lip.

“The truth is that all I can think about is sliding my hand between your legs until you come so hard you forget you ever hated me.”

“Pretend you love me, Wild One,” he murmured, and she elbowed him for good measure. He shook with laughter and settled his hand on the small of her back.

“I have learned quickly that people who bet against my wife often find themselves saddled with regret.”

So she whispered, “Dance with me like lovers do.” His jaw twitched, and as soon as she’d asked it of him, Reid of Mireh obliged.

“And if it were your pride I would like to earn today?” She smiled wide. “Then you must win.” His finger settled beneath her chin and lifted her face upward, and though he had never done so in public before, he pressed his lips to hers. Her heart immediately slammed against her ribs. “Very well, Wild One,”

“I am the great-granddaughter of one of the most powerful Veragi witches known to this world, and she made her home in Mireh.” Ton’s eyes went wide. “I did not abandon my country,” Vaasa said. “I came home.”

“Stay until you feel Asterya is settled, however long that takes.” “You’re removing the time frame?” “Three years isn’t enough.” “What is enough?” Pausing, his lips pursed. But he never dropped his gaze. “I don’t know.”

He knew exactly how much time would be enough, because the answer was simple. No amount of time would be enough.

“Dominik is—” “If he is the only thing standing between you and me, I will go now. Give me the word and he will cease to pull breath.” “It isn’t that easy.” “It is.” He pointed to the notebook. “It was mine. I bought it a few years ago from one of the artisans in the Lower Garden.”

“I am driving myself insane with wondering. With guessing. With hoping.”

“I have collected a thousand words, and yet I cannot find a single one to tell you what comes alive inside of me when you are near.”

“Do you not know the words, or are you just afraid to say them?”

“Do you love me the way I love you?” he asked.

“Say it for me, Wild One.”

“Say it for me and that will be enough.”

To not want him was a futile endeavor. To not need him was a ship that had already set sail.

“Of course I love you,” she whispered. His hand trembled ever so lightly, and he let out a strong breath. “Then it’s enough.”

He looked at her now in a way no one else had ever looked at her, like all of her sharp edges just softened and glowed. Like to be loved by her was truly enough. And maybe she was destined to lose everything she’d ever loved, maybe it would shatter her into a...

“Remind me who I am. Where I am. Because I think you are the only o...

“You are here, with me.”

“And as for who you are…”

“You are my wife, and everything begins and ends with that.”

“You lied about having never been with a man, yes?” Laughter bubbled in her and heat crawled up her neck. “Yes.” Using one hand, he hooked her leg over his shoulder. “So I don’t need to be gentle with you?” Desire shot down her spine. “No.” “Good.”

“I love you. That will never be untrue.”

All the things he knew she didn’t want… they were exactly what she wanted, so long as they were with him.

She never told him that she would stay.

The latter was already in a sprint, having not waited for an instruction before going after Mireh’s consort. After his consort.

This terror was different from anything he had ever known. Something was wrong. He didn’t know how he knew that, but he did. He knew it.

“If I don’t find her, I will burn all of Asterya to the ground,”

That she’d been waiting for him, had been as hopelessly enthralled with him as he was with her after their wedding night, even if she wouldn’t say it out loud. Even if he’d bled quietly on that bed, wondering if the most curious thing in his existence had just slipped out the window.

“She is my wife,” Reid finally said. “And we will find her.” “I am in love with her.”

“Father was right. You can never want anything without the chance that it will be taken from you.” She lifted her eyes to his, heart pounding. “You will never alleviate your fear, Dominik, because the key is not in taking what you want, but in wanting the right things. And you have never wanted the right things.”

“I have waited a lifetime to watch it. To see each speck of fear dance in your eyes as you come to terms with your greatest nightmare, for you have found every way to witness mine.”

“He isn’t the wolf,” he said. “You are.”

His wife looked clearly to Reid’s left, directly at Mathjin, and said, “You’re next.”

“I will not let you out of my sight again,” Esoti said, then grabbed her arm. “Now let’s go take off someone else’s head.”

Stalking forward like the wolf they’d named him after, not a trace of mercy anywhere on his corded body, Reid descended upon Mathjin with the ruthless ire reserved only for those who touched the ones he loved. It was as if he chose every step, and what he’d said to her that day in his office rang true. He knew when not to fight, and that made his choice all the more frightening.

“For my wife, and for my father. For failing his only son.” With one long slice, Reid slit Mathjin’s throat.

“Surrender your magic,” he growled. A warning coiled within her, deep and low, a small whisper of possession that might have found a voice if Ozik hadn’t cut her off at the knees. There was no debate, no question she had to ask herself. “It’s yours.”

Another sob burst from her lips. She didn’t care what she’d given up, didn’t care that Asterya would fall to the hands of a madman or that the continent would be ravaged. All she cared was that Reid filled his lungs.

“She asked me to protect her daughter.” Melisina raised her gaze to meet his. “To bring her here however I could.” “The marriage agreement,” Reid whispered. “It was the only sure way I could think of.”

“Once you were given a clean bill of health, yes. They voted you headman. We need to figure out how we’re going to utilize that to get her back. Until we know where they are, you’d be traveling blind.”

“Dominik is dead. I am married to Vaasalisa Kozár, the last remaining heiress to the Asteryan throne. So though I am the headman elect of Icruria”—Reid

“I am the emperor of Asterya, too. And I’m going to get my wife back.”