Page 32 of Shadow Queen
She forced herself calm. She couldn’t fault him for his anger. Undoubtedly, the seer’s vision of Mikael’s death haunted him, as it did her, and her defense of Alexander on his return from Aleon would still be fresh in his mind. But she didn’t want things to be like this between them. “I understand your concern—”
“My concern?” he snarled as he spun to face her. “You don’t. Because it’s more than concern. You lead Salar toward death, but I won’t let that happen.”
“You think that I would? I care for him!”
“Then you’d give me the Bear!” he raged. “Or at least send him back to the North. If you cared for him, you’d protect him!”
Just then, Mikael entered. There was no mistaking the high tension in the room, and he looked at his commander with a warning eye. “Wait for me outside,” he said stiffly.
The commander gave Norah one last glare and left the room without a word, closing the door behind him.
Mikael’s eyes moved back to her, and he softened. He stepped forward, reaching out and pulling her close to him. “I’m sorry. I meant to tell him first. That was my intention this morning. But I’ll deal with him.”
She sighed as she swept her locks behind her ear. “Don’t be angry with him,” she said. “He worries for you. He doesn’t understand, after all that’s happened. And my being here caught him by surprise.”
He looked down at her, and the faintest smile touched his lips.
“What?” she asked.
“You defend him.”
Then he looked down at his shirt on her.
“Sorry,” she said, glancing down at the shirt and shrugging. “I don’t have a dress yet.”
Mikael brushed her hair back from her shoulder. “I was just remembering what I felt the last time I saw you in my shirt.”
Norah swallowed, remembering the night he had saved her from the Horsemen’s attack. “What did you feel?” she whispered.
His eyes moved back and forth between hers. “I wanted to hold you. I wanted to put my arms around you.” He pulled her closer. “I was already falling for you.”
She remembered that night well. Too well. It still haunted her—what had almost happened. She covered the emotional scar with jest. “Took you long enough.”
He smiled, dropping his head, and caught her in a kiss. She needed his kiss. She opened her mouth to him, and his body responded. He picked her up and carried her back to the bed.
But as much as she wanted to continue, the commander was angry enough with her. “The lord commander’s waiting for you,” she reminded him as he laid her on the bed and nipped at her breasts through the linen shirt.
He growled in protest before rising and pulling her back to her feet.
There was a small knock on the door, and Vitalia appeared. She held a dress and a tray of cheese and fruit.
Norah smiled at him as she shimmied her shoulders. “Perhaps I’ll put it on for you again this evening.”
“I’d prefer to see you taking it off,” he said. Then he kissed her once more and left to join the commander.
Mikael found Soren in the hall. His commander watched him approach with a steely gaze. They had much to talk about.
Soren’s nostrils flared. “You’re a fool. You welcome your death.”
“Watch yourself,” he warned.
Soren snorted. “Are you just going to ignore what happened with the Bear? What you’ve seen? What you’ve heard?”
Mikael’s anger grew. “We talked about it. The matter’s over.”
“You mean your rutting has bewitched you.”
Mikael grabbed Soren by his weapons strap and slammed him against the wall. “Be very careful of your next words,” he said between his teeth. “I have no more tolerance for you, brother.”
