Chapter 19

Ardis knelt in the back of the truck. Her kneecap ached. Biting the inside of her cheek, she checked the straps tying down her Eisenkrieger. She tightened the buckles, straightened, and gave a thumbs up to Konstantin.

Wendel waited for her behind the truck. “Ardis.”

She leaned on his arm and let him help her down from the truck.

“How badly are you hurt?” he said.

“Not badly,” she said.

Wendel’s fingers tightened on her elbow. “Spare me the bravado.”

Ardis escaped from his grasp. They climbed into the truck’s cab.

Konstantin waited behind the wheel. “Why the devil did you wrestle that dragon?”

“I caught it by the tail.” Ardis shrugged. “One thing led to another.”

She tasted blood on her tongue, and she touched her split lip.

“Luckily,” she said, “I didn’t knock out any teeth.”

“Luckily,” Wendel said, “you didn’t die.”

Ardis glowered at Wendel, but he stared out the windshield.

“You are the expert,” she said.

He didn’t blink.

Konstantin looked between them, his cheeks pink, and cleared his throat.

“The Eisenkriegers performed admirably,” he said. “Thank you.”

“You are most welcome,” Wendel said, in the most sardonic way possible.

Ardis sighed. “There’s no need to be a bastard.”

Wendel didn’t say another word on the way to Königsberg. Ardis pressed her hands between her knees. She didn’t want to sit so close to Wendel, not with this tension in his muscles. Not with this sickness in her stomach.

At the drydock, Ardis marched the Eisenkrieger inside and climbed from the cockpit.

“Himmel is here,” Konstantin said.

He peered through the window, trying to hide a smile, then darted outside.

Ardis followed the archmage. “Are we done for the day?”

“Of course.” Konstantin gazed at the zeppelin. “Get some rest.”

When Ardis walked from the drydock, she found Wendel by the lagoon. He fractured the ice with his boot and dipped his hands into the freezing water. Bloodstains slipped easily from his hands, but he kept scrubbing.

He would never wash away his memories of touching the dead.

“I’m walking back to the hotel,” Ardis said.

She didn’t wait for Wendel, but he followed regardless. Gravel crunched beneath his boots. Snow started drifting from the sky and dusted her hair. The cold stiffened her muscles, and her knee throbbed more sharply.

Ardis stopped by a park and leaned against a wrought-iron fence.

Wendel was at her side in an instant. “Ardis?”

“I want to sit,” she said.

He took her elbow without asking and walked her to a bench. She sat with a sigh.

“I’m okay,” she said.

Wendel sat by her. “I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I can see the bruises on your skin.”

Ardis tilted her face skyward and let snowflakes fall on her cheeks.

“We should go,” Wendel said.

“My knee is killing me,” Ardis said. “Can we take a taxi to the hotel?”

“Not the hotel,” he said.

“Where?”

Wendel leaned with his elbows on his knees. Shadows darkened his eyes.

“Away from Königsberg,” he said. “Away from Prussia.”

“You would abandon your family?” she said.

Wendel shrugged, his shoulders tight. “I’m returning the favor.”

“Don’t you want to fight the Russians?”

Wendel dug his fingernails into his legs. “Perhaps you shouldn’t.”

“It’s my job.”

“Then resign.”

She laughed. “We need the money.”

“Money is worth nothing. You are the only thing of value to me.”

Wendel looked fiercely at her, as if daring her to disagree. Ardis found herself speechless. Tears stung her eyes, though she blamed the wind.

“I don’t want to lose you,” Wendel said.

A lock of her hair blew across her face, and he brushed it aside with his thumb.

“You don’t have to protect me,” Ardis said.

“But—the baby.”

She looked away, blinking hard, and willed herself not to cry.

“We don’t know that yet,” she said. “There might never be a baby.”

Wendel curled his fingers around hers. “Never?”

The hurt in his voice underlined the finality of the word. She stared at their hands, twisted together, and sucked in a breath.

“Can I admit something?” Ardis said.

“Anything,” Wendel said.

“I never daydreamed about babies or husbands or weddings.”

Wendel frowned. “Who does?”

“Girls.” She smiled at his confusion. “All the girls in America, I think, except me.”

“Why not?”

“I blame growing up in a brothel. And then learning how to fight for a living. My point is, I don’t think I’m a normal woman.”

Wendel wrinkled his nose. “A normal woman? Why would I want that?”

“Because one of them would be more than happy to have your babies and get married and sweep some little cottage in Switzerland.”

“I don’t see how sweeping matters,” he said.

She snorted. “Somebody has to keep the cottage clean.”

“I would rather have a dirty little cottage with you.” Wendel’s eyes twinkled. “And rest assured, that isn’t a euphemism.”

“God, Wendel,” she said, “now you ruined Switzerland.”

“It doesn’t have to be Switzerland.”

She hesitated. “Where else would we go?”

“Wherever you want.”

Ardis pretended to sigh. “You can be very persuasive.”

“I know.” A smile crept over his face. “Is that a yes?”

“To what?”

“A future together. With the possible addition of a baby.”

She looked him in the eye. “Consider me persuaded.”

Wendel kissed her with gentle certainty. His hand curled around her neck and held her closer. Snow fell and hushed the sound of all but their heartbeats. Ardis melted in his arms, all her bruises and fears forgotten. He kissed her until she could only cling to him, and then he kissed her again, on the curve of her neck.

“Are you cold?” Wendel said.

“A little,” Ardis said.

He drew back and arched an eyebrow.

“A lot,” she admitted.

Wendel climbed to his feet and clasped her hands. “Inside with you, woman.”

“You can’t call me that.”

His smile looked like it should accompany a halo. “Wife?”

Ardis grimaced. “Husband.”

“Darling,” he said.

“Sweetheart.”

“Little honeybee.”

She burst out laughing. “What the hell?”

Wendel tugged Ardis to her feet. She stumbled against him, and he held her there.

“No one has ever called you that?” he said.

“Not ever.”

“Good.”

Ardis rolled her eyes. “Jealous of hypothetical German men?”

“Should I be?”

“Let me think.” She paused. “No. You win.”

Ardis started to walk—or limp, rather—and Wendel supported her weight on his arm.

“You must be my prize,” he said.

She laughed. “Don’t act prehistoric.”

Wendel raised his eyebrows. “There must have been prehistoric necromancers.”

“That’s no excuse.”

“I wonder if they revived woolly mammoths? Or saber tooth tigers?”

Ardis tried hard not to laugh. “Please don’t ransack a museum.”

“That’s a brilliant idea.” Wendel grinned. “We can fight the Russians with bones.”

“Back to fighting the Russians?”

His grin faded. “For the time being. Before we decide on our future.”

Ardis didn’t like to see sadness in his eyes. She leaned her head against his shoulder.

“We can scheme more at the hotel,” she said.

Wendel kissed the side of her head, then blew on her hair.

“What?” she said.

“Snowflakes.”

“If you treat me like a china doll,” she teased, “I’ll break you.”

“You are Chinese.”

“Half.” She faked a glare. “And no part of me is delicate.”

“I beg to differ.”

She touched her belly. “Maybe a baby.”

Wendel frowned. “That would certainly require you to be careful.”

“I know, I know.”

They arrived at the hotel together. The moment Ardis stepped into their hotel room, Wendel tugged her jacket from her shoulders. She suspected he was still being more than polite, but she found his attention sweet.

“I will have a maid tend to the fire,” Wendel said.

Ardis glanced at the log in the fireplace. “I can do it.”

She grabbed a box of matches and a few sheets of hotel stationary. Within a few minutes, she had kindled a crackling fire.

Ardis set down the matches. “Anything else?”

Wendel bent over the bed and yanked back the quilts.

“Take off your clothes,” he said.

She stared at him. “Is this you as a prehistoric necromancer?”

“The snow on your clothes is melting.”

Ardis realized he was right. She kicked away her boots and peeled off her clothes.

Wendel watched her undress. “Get in bed.”

“Yes, little honeybee.”

As she limped to bed, she saw the smirk on his face. She climbed under the covers and snuggled down into the pillow.

When Wendel joined her in bed, he was naked.

“Your feet!” Ardis slid away from him. “They feel like ice.”

“My apologies.” Wendel didn’t sound too apologetic.

He brushed her hair from the nape of her neck and massaged her shoulders. His fingers brought a sigh to her lips. He pressed himself against her back, his body hot and hard along hers. She ran her hand over his buttocks.

“You feel nice,” Ardis murmured.

“Nice?” Wendel laughed. “Is that all?”

He kissed her on the neck, then traced her spine with his lips. She shivered at his touch, his kisses sparking electricity on her skin. The soreness in her muscles melted, but the ache of unspoken words built behind her ribs.

A sigh escaped Ardis. “Wendel.”

He stopped kissing her. She took a breath, just enough air to voice her confession.

“I love you.”

“I wondered when you would say that.” Wendel sounded like he was smiling.

“I already did,” she whispered. “You didn’t hear me.”

Wendel tensed behind her. He must have known she was talking about the night he died, the night she brought him back with borrowed magic. Ardis hated that she had reminded him. She turned to him and kissed him to make him lose sight of his memories. He returned the kiss gently, then fiercely, his fingers weaving in her hair. She closed the distance between them, craving no space between their skin.

She wanted to show him her unsaid feelings, beyond the inadequacy of words.

“You know I love you,” Wendel said, a rasp in his voice.

“I do.” Ardis smiled. “You told me. Many times.”

“I meant it every time.”

Wendel leaned on his elbow and looked into her eyes. She studied the sharp shadows of his cheekbones, the questioning set of his mouth, and the quiet green clarity of his eyes. He was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at him. Of course, her opinion may have been swayed by the fact that he was lying naked beside her.

Wendel’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why are you smiling?”

“You are so ridiculously handsome,” Ardis said.

“For a moment,” he said, “I thought you might say pretty.”

Ardis laughed, since she had called him that before. She rested her head in the crook of his arm and breathed in his scent. The spice of pines clung to his skin. He curved his hand down the hollow of her back. She waited for him to do more, but he seemed content to lie there and look at her with a smile shadowing his face.

“Come closer,” Ardis said.

Wendel dragged her against him, his fingertips firm on her spine.

“Closer,” she said.

He flicked his eyebrows upward. “How close?”

She could feel how hard he was against her hip, and she slid her hand down to stroke him. His lips parted. He closed his eyes, tilted back his head, and surrendered to her touch. A groan escaped from deep in his throat.

“Wait,” Wendel said.

He slid off the bed swiftly. He hunted for his coat, found it on the floor, and reached into the pocket. Sprawled on the sheets, Ardis admired the view. Wendel caught her staring at him and gave her a smoldering look.

“Are you ogling me?” he said.

“Absolutely,” she said.

Wendel returned with a preventive. He leaned against the bed and looked her up and down. His jaw taut, he tilted his head. She would have loved to know what he was thinking. Her heartbeat thudded in anticipation.

“I’m still cold,” Ardis said. “Come to bed.”

Wendel sat on the edge and caressed her breast. He rubbed his thumb over her tight nipple, and her breath snagged.

“Cold?” he said, like he didn’t believe her.

Ardis smoothed the sheets. Inviting him. But he stood beside the bed and ran his hand down the hard planes of his chest, along the dark trail of hair, even lower. He touched himself and watched her watching him.

Ardis crossed her ankles and curled her toes. “Don’t be so bad.”

Wendel smiled, devilishly, as he slid on the preventive. Then he climbed into bed and grabbed her by the waist. He dragged her down and held himself over her, his weight denting the mattress, his hands clutching the sheets.

“That’s better,” Ardis said.

Wendel kissed her on the mouth. She licked his lip, then nipped him, just hard enough to make him moan. She couldn’t stop kissing him, her heartbeat thumping as if she had been running and finally caught him.

“I want you,” Ardis said.

Wendel had a wicked glint in his eyes. “Be more specific.”

“I want you inside me.” Her cheeks heated. “Obviously.”

“I’m happy to oblige.”

Ardis wanted to knock the smirk from his face, but Wendel distracted her by nudging her legs apart with his knee. He slid inside in one long stroke. She groaned and gripped his buttocks, her fingernails marking his skin.

“What do you want?” Wendel said, his voice like dark velvet.

“Your cock,” she whispered.

He started slowly, every stroke a delicious torment, then quickened his pace. She hooked her legs behind his and took him even deeper. He kissed her on the collarbone, his breath hot on her skin, and sucked on her nipple.

Ardis ground against him. She ached with unspent desire.

“More,” she said.

Wendel thrust even deeper, filling her completely, but she still felt a hollow ache. She kissed his neck and tasted the salt of his sweat. He reached under her and gripped one of her buttocks. His groan spiked her lust.

“Let me,” Ardis said.

Wendel glanced into her eyes. “What?”

She hooked her leg behind his and flipped him onto his back. He fell against the pillows. Straddling him, she stroked him in her fist. His hardness felt slick in her hand. He sucked in his breath, a shuddering intake of air.

“Ardis—”

“What do you want?” she said.

Wendel narrowed his eyes, but he looked disoriented, his face flushed.

“You,” he said.

She kissed him. “Be more specific,” she whispered.

Wendel glowered halfheartedly. She sank down and took all of him. When he angled his hips upward, she bit back a moan and reached down to touch herself. He watched her through his eyelashes, his gaze scorching, then lifted himself on his elbows. He kissed her on the mouth, his tongue darting between her lips.

Ardis quickened her fingers, the pleasure on the brink of excruciating.

“Come,” she said.

“What?” Wendel sounded drunk with lust.

“I want you to come.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. He pounded into her with uninhibited pleasure. She rode him until he clutched her close, every muscle in his body stiffening. He let out a stuttering groan. The sound thrilled her in primal ways.

When he came, Ardis came with him.

Her tension spent, she lay in the crook of his arm and closed her eyes. He smoothed her hair from her face. She rested her head on his chest, breathless, his heartbeat thumping against her ear. Her body glowed with joy.

This, she decided, was what love felt like.

“I love you,” Ardis whispered.

Wendel answered her with a kiss.

~

Ardis lay beside Wendel, daydreaming, as the sky darkened to the color of a blackcurrant. A knock on the door startled her.

Wendel sat upright. “Wait here.”

He dragged on his trousers and answered the door. A maid looked him up and down, none too subtly. Ardis clutched the sheet to her chest. Likely the maid thought Ardis was a prostitute, and Wendel was fair game.

“Sir,” the maid said, “you have a guest waiting for you in the lobby.”

“Who?” Wendel said.

“He said his name was Wolfram.”

“Wolfram?” Wendel scowled. “What does he want?”

“I’m afraid he didn’t say, sir.” The maid brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Do you require anything else, sir?”

Ardis thought she might vomit if she heard another sir. God knows what the maid would do if she knew Wendel was once a prince.

“No, thank you,” Wendel said.

He shut the door in the maid’s face, much to Ardis’s satisfaction.

Ardis swung her legs over the edge of the mattress. “Should I come?”

“You already did.” Wendel gave her a thoroughly evil smile.

She rolled her eyes. “Should I go downstairs with you?”

“It’s nearly dinnertime.”

Ardis dressed and braided her hair. She hoped she didn’t look feral, though there wasn’t much she could do without a bath. Wendel raked his fingers through his hair and splashed water from the sink onto his face.

They descended to the lobby together.

Wolfram was waiting in a chair. He leapt to his feet when he saw them.

Wendel arched an eyebrow. “If Mother and Father have invited us to dinner at the castle, you already know my answer.”

A crease appeared between Wolfram’s eyebrows—a look Ardis knew well.

“I’m inviting you both to dine with me,” Wolfram said.

Wendel blinked. “Where?”

“Here.”

Ardis wasn’t sure Wendel would say yes, so she took matters into her own hands.

“I would love to,” she said. “I’m famished.”

Ardis had wanted to sound more ladylike, but her stomach grumbled rather spectacularly. Wolfram hid his smile behind a polite cough. Wendel echoed the smile, but he still had a hard unyielding look around his eyes.

“Very well,” Wendel said.

Wolfram’s smile widened. “Shall we?”