"You did? Truly? I mean, when I bonded with Puck, you washed your hands of me." She knit her brows, which were a shade darker than her hair. "For that matter, why'd you agree to help Puck?"
William set her back on her feet. "Not Puck. You. And I misspoke when I learned of your bonding. I was angry with myself, not you. I should have been the one to save you. Me. I should have manned up, but I didn't. Instead, I lashed out, blaming everyone else. Truth is, my choices brought us to that fateful day, not yours, and I want to make it up to you. I will make it up to you."
She listened, rapt and adoring.
Puck bristled with hostility.
"How are the Lords and Ladies?" she asked William.
"Alive and well."
A glint of happiness in her eyes...right alongside a glint of sadness. She missed her friends. Because of Puck.
Don't care--I don't! I did what I needed to do.
"Now, I want to hear every detail about your life," William said. "Start at the beginning, when we parted, and end with your gaze finding me in this hellhole. Leave nothing out."
Hellhole? "I'd rather hear about your adventures, William." Puck offered the pair a cold grin. "Why don't you tell us about your many bedroom conquests since Gillian's marriage to me."
If glares could kill an immortal, Puck would be bloody and dead.
William softened his expression and said, "All forgettable, my sweet. There's absolutely nothing to tell."
Gillian rested her head on his shoulder and clung to his arm, all while assessing Puck with a masked gaze. "How about I give you the highlights? I started my own clan, rescued women and children from bad homes, and became the most feared warrior in the land. Oh, and I recently decided to start dating. Because I'm divorced!"
"Enough!" The command spewed from Puck before he could bite his tongue. "You want a divorce so badly? Earn it."
"Ooh la la. Another show of heat." She exuded excitement, even as she braced for disappointment. "Return of the Ice Man in three, two..."
Bury emotions. Deep freeze. There. Better.
"And he's back," she said with a sigh.
William stuck out his lower lip, pretending to pout, and used his free hand to twist a fist under his eye. "Boohoo. Poor Pucky. Is our furbaby pouting about his lost kingdom?"
Puck rested his hand on the hilt of a dagger and contemplated removing the male's tongue. He needed his key alive--not able to speak.
"Be nice," Gillian said, her gaze on Puck. For some reason, his tension hemorrhaged the moment she released William. "I've spent a lot of time studying your brother. He's so paranoid he built a fortress the size of Texas, and conjured a maze around it. No one can get to him--because I've never tried. If I allow myself to be captured and carted inside, like a Trojan horse, I could kill the guards and sneak you two inside."
Puck said, "No," at the same time William gave an adamant shake of his head and shouted, "Not happening."
Her lips pursed with irritation. "Will I be hurt? Yes. I won't pretend otherwise. Am I afraid of pain? No. Will the little girl obey the big, strong men? Go screw yourselves!"
More spirit. More stubbornness. "Will I allow you to head straight to your unhappy ending?" Puck said. "No. You could be killed on sight. Or worse." Especially if Sin discovered what she meant to him. Not that she meant anything to him. Rephrase. Especially if Sin discovered Puck had bonded to her.
Better.
"Agreeing with Mr. Muppet grieves me, but in this, I must." William settled a fist over his heart, a position of faux dejection that in no way belied his immeasurable strength. "We go together or not at all. And what does he mean, unhappy ending?"
Gillian waved away the question as unimportant.
"We'll leave at first light." Puck pointed to her bandage. "Tonight, you'll heal."
"Sir, yes sir. We'll also feast." She saluted him, her expression unreadable. "Tomorrow, we'll head out to kick Sin the Demented off the Connacht throne and get me my divorce."
21
He was back. Puck had returned, as promised, making Gillian feel as if unicorns were prancing through her chest, and fairies were dancing inside her stomach. He was even more beautiful than she remembered. Otherworldly beautiful, with his chiseled features carved from ice and stone. His long, dark hair. Those horns. His utterly divine scent, more potent than magic, more intoxicating than wine.
She shivered. Everything about the warrior appealed to her. His towering height and wide shoulders...all those cuts of glorious sinew and latent strength...his tattoos...his lean hips and muscular legs...
His massive hard-on.
Yeah, he'd gotten hard--for her? For someone else? And she'd noticed the moment it happened, despite wanting to stare at his face forever. His shaft was a magnet for her gaze. Apparently the Dune Raider wanted to go a-raiding--in Puck's pants.
Finally she had proof: old fears would not rise up and overtake her.
Dang him! The second she'd spotted him, a sizzling bolt of lust had slammed into her, igniting a wildfire in her veins and an aching need between her legs, making a mockery of everything she'd felt in the past. Even now, awareness tingled beneath the surface of her skin. Skin burned by a constant white-hot flush. Breathing was now a luxury, panting the norm. Her heart had yet to slow down.
Her body craved relief--and wanted it from him, only him. Her husband.
Already unofficially divorced? Who was she kidding?
Having been forced to bury her physical desires for centuries, she'd become a master at hiding her needs. Those skills served her well today, allowing her to fool both Puck and William. Crave Puck's mouth and hands? What? When? Me?
Once or twice, she'd feared Puck had figured her out, feared he could see underneath her calm facade, how her knees threatened to melt every time he revealed emotion, or heat. Once, she'd thought he'd gazed at her with palpable longing.
But, no matter how desperate she might be, or how much he might or might not desire her, the reasons for avoiding sex with him hadn't changed. He would freeze her out afterward, making her feel used and abused. She would kill him, and in turn, inadvertently kill herself. No, thanks.
Unless she iced him out afterward? Food for thought.
Or she could just wait for the divorce. As soon as the bond got axed, she would crave other men. Surely! Besides, what was a few more days or weeks of abstinence after half a millennium?
But oh, she was tired, so very tired of hearing about her friends' amazing sex lives. "Sex is beautiful," Rosaleen had once said. "A communion of bodies and souls. And the pleasure--" She'd smiled a cat-eating-the-canary grin. "I was so primed for an orgasm, I didn't care if the world around me ashed. Not until I was done with my man."
That. That was what Gillian craved.
"You guys want a tour of the camp?" she asked.
Puck nodded, his gaze never wavering from her face, as if he couldn't look away. As if he'd found a prize worth fighting for.
A coil of warmth unfurled in her belly, even as she chided herself for more wishful thinking.
"I would love a personal, private tour," William said.
William, sweet William. She'd been so excited to see him, more excited than she'd thought she'd be, considering he'd faded to a fond but distant memory in the back of her mind and heart.
His fairy-tale face and fantastical electric blues had grown harder in their time apart. And he had a sharper edge, too. If only her body responded to him. He was never cold with her.
As she led her guests through camp, Puck fell into step between her and William, his body heat razing her already sensitized nerve endings. Maintaining her casual facade jumped from possible to improbable.
Neither male noticed. At the moment, they were too busy glaring at each other.
William broke first, tossing a careless smile Gillian's way. "Tell me true, poppet. On a scale of one to ten--one meaning you nearly perished from heartbreak every minute of every day, and ten meaning you did, indeed, perish because you could no longe
r live without me, but hope of a reunion brought you back to life--how badly did you miss me?"
Snort. "We were parted?" she asked, feigning confusion.
"Oh, how you wound me." He bypassed Puck to stop in front of her and brush a lock of hair from her face. "You fared well here?"
"I did." She wouldn't trade her time in Amaranthia for anything.
Again, Puck stepped between them. Though he wore his favorite Ice Man expression, broadcasting zero emotion, he wrapped his hand around William's windpipe, squeezing while lifting her friend off his feet. "I will give you only one warning, Ever Randy. This is my land."
"Mine," Gillian corrected.
Still glaring at William, he said, "She is mine. Until we are unbonded, no one gets between me and her. Understand?"
Lightning crackled under William's skin as he slammed an elbow into Puck's forearm, gaining his release. "You have no right--"
"Don't I?" Puck jutted his chin. "Or do I need to remind you of our deal? You are to keep your hands to yourself."
Always so cold, yet so hostile, now intense and possessive. Why, why, why did she want to throw herself into her husband's muscular arms?
"What deal?" she asked.
"What deal do you think?" Puck replied. "The one where William helps me claim my crown--"