I stared at the door, my fingers curled around the handle of the knife and I waited for Noc to come back.
About a half an hour later, I fell asleep.
Chapter Twenty-Three
We’ll Have It for Breakfast
My eyes opened when Tor lifted me to cradle me in his arms.
“Tor?” I asked sleepily.
“Just so you know, love, a true warrior princess would not allow a man to approach and disarm her while she carried on sleeping.”
Hmm.
I didn’t know what to make of that except for the fact that it was true.
He walked us to my room and as he did last night, set me on my feet by the bed. Then he made as if to move away but I shook off the residual sleep claiming me and stopped him by lifting both hands and wrapping them around his neck.
“Honey?” I whispered and his hands came to my hips, fingers digging in.
Then I felt his forehead drop to mine.
I sucked in breath.
“I missed you calling me that,” he murmured.
My heart leaped.
“You’re not angry with me anymore?” I asked, my voice tinged with hope.
His forehead left mine.
Uh-oh.
“What you said was cruel,” he informed me and I couldn’t read his tone.
My fingers at his neck gave him a squeeze and I whispered, “I know.”
“And untrue,” he went on.
I took a risk and moved slightly closer to him. “I know,” I repeated not because I knew then, just because I knew now.
“I want an heir because it’s my responsibility to provide one. But mostly I want an heir because I want children,” he told me.
“Okay,” I said softly.
“But more than that, I want you,” he finished, his fingers digging deeper into my flesh and I pressed my lips together as my heart didn’t leap… it flew.
“Really?” I breathed.
“Cora, my love,” he started then I saw his shadowed face get close, “I know your life is in turmoil, but you really must start paying attention.”
As much as it pained me to admit it, he wasn’t wrong about that.
I swallowed then quietly I agreed, “Okay.”
His fingers squeezed again and then started to release so my fingers pressed in and I got on tiptoe so our faces were even closer. “Please, don’t be angry with me anymore,” I whispered. “I shouldn’t have said what I said. Not at all but especially with what happened to your Mom and your stepmoms. I’m really so, so sorry.”