Page 18 of Hymn of Breath and Bone

“Not now?” I asked.

Mira hesitated. “I need to do a little research,” she confessed. “To adjust your medicine. And you need rest. I’ll send up some peppermint tea, but feel free to come back sooner if your breathing worsens before tomorrow.”

She smiled again. Her dark hair was braided over her shoulder, and she flicked it out of the way as if it often annoyed her. “It has been lovely to meet you, Your Highness.”

“Marina,” I corrected, taking the hand she offered and gripping it. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Of course,” she bowed her head. “I’ll send you off with something for the pain. And I’ll have a contraceptive tonic made for you as well, Your Majesty, if you wish.”

“Thank you, Mira.” Caspian grinned at my heated face and wide eyes. “I do believe we’ll be needing it.”

“Turns out we’re notvery good at this fake engagement thing,” Caspian quipped as he tucked me into his bed and snuggled in beside me.

“The worst,” I agreed, nuzzling into his shoulder. My head still hurt, but the medicine Mira had given me helped.

“When did you decide this was real?” he asked, his fingers drawing idle circles over my waist. “That you wanted this?”

I had changed into a soft top and sleeping trousers which I would not call sexy, but Caspian still managed to find my bare skin no matter what I wore.

“I always wanted it,” I confessed, looking up to meet his amber gaze. “But I suppose I decided officially in the library.”

“I’ve never been more thankful for books,” Caspian teased, pinching my waist. “Why the library?”

“Ana was telling me the history,” I explained, stifling a yawn that had Caspian’s brow rising. “About how we had ruled together for so long. About Melusine.”

“Ah.” Caspian tucked me a little closer to him. “I wondered if you’d get to Melusine.”

“Ana didn't finish telling me about her,” I said, yawning. “That’s was when—”

“I figured as much,” Caspian said, smoothing my hair back from my face. “We can do some more research when you’re better.”

“You sirens and your research,” I teased. Truthfully, this was one of the things I admired most about Caspian’s people—the little I had seen of them, at least. They were unwilling to commit to anything without exhausting all of their options.

This was how Caspian had come to me in the first place, after all.

“I want to see more.” I twisted slightly so my breasts pressed against his side and ignored the rush that the sensation sent to other places. “Your people. Your world. If we are going to do this, I want to really know you. Know them.”

Caspian didn’t reply with words, his tender kiss and pounding heart telling me how much this meant to him. He had confessed his love to me already, and I suspected that he had loved me for longer than I had loved him. This was my way of returning that love.

“So fake engagement is off,” he declared, pulling back and smirking slightly at the little sound of protest I made. His voice dropped a little lower, a sensual purr that rumbled through my bones. “Will you mate me properly then, Marina?”

My heart lurched. I had not expected to receive any kind of proposal after Vitulus had been chosen for me, and I wasn’t mentally prepared for one now. But my reply still felt right.

“Yes.”

Caspian kissed me again, thorough and claiming. He broke away grinning. “When?”

“Whenever you want,” I answered, a little breathless at his attention and his hands roaming over my back.

He stilled, face suddenly turning serious. “Are you sure, Urchin? If we can’t convince your father—your people—”

“I’m sure,” I replied, trying to absorb his heat as my hands began a similar exploration of his body. “I chooseyou.”

Caspian kissed me again, his palms flattening against my back as he groaned into my mouth. “No sex,” he murmured against my lips. “Doctor’s orders.”

“She said novigorousactivity,” I replied, biting his lower lip and reveling in the feel of his hardness against me. “You can be gentle.”

“You are a menace,” he growled, teeth grazing my neck as he peppered kisses beneath my ear. “And there’s nothing gentle about what I want to do to you.Withyou.”