“The first time we had sex, Solarius.” Her voice was hoarse and scraping, raw with temper. “Do you truly not remember?”
Shock slammed into him and that roiling knot of dread scalded the back of his throat.
“Narissa, I never…” He raised both of his hands and staggered backward. Surely he had to be losing his mind, she was gravely mistaken. He let his arms fall to his sides, dumbfounded by her declaration. “We never had sex.”
“Yes, we did!” She threw her gloves at him, then stormed toward him like a little ball of sea-swept fury. Fisting both of her hands on her hips, she glared at him, rage funneling down the bond. “I gave myself to you, Sol!”
He grabbed her wrists and hauled her to him, if anything to keep her from attacking him. “No. No, you didn’t. It wasn’t me.”
Solarius ignored the fact that her accusation stung his pride—it hurt beyond measure that she would confuse him with Calfair. But he pulled her in, breathed her in, and the truth spilled from him like he’d consumed too much honeyed wine.
“Trust me, Narissa. I would have remembered if we slept together, because only an act of fate would be enough to pry me from between your legs.”
Narissa blushed furiously, and he shuffled her wrists to one hand, keeping her in place, then captured her chin with his free hand. He lifted her face to his, lost himself in those eyes of hers.
“And it would have been my fucking honor to be your first.”
“Your only,”he whispered into her mind.
“But, but it was you.” Her tears were falling freely now, tiny white and pink pearls bounced off the hardwood floor, tinkling like faerie bells. “I saw you with my own eyes.”
“It wasn’t me, Narissa.” Solarius pressed a kiss to each one of her knuckles. “I swear to the stars it wasn’t me.”
She was trembling now, violently shaking in his arms. Her chest heaved, and she gasped for air like she couldn’t quite breathe. Broken sobs and incoherent words escaped her, and he gathered her into his arms, tucked her head beneath his chin, keeping her in his fierce grip. The scenario of that night replayed in her mind, a chaotic whirlwind of color and voices, of discordant music, and darkened corners. Every image, every word bled before him, the wretched result of what happened when he left Narissa alone at House Galefell for less than a quarter of an hour. Through her eyes, he witnessed the blurry, muddled memory of what she was forced to endure when he wasn’t there to protect her.
A venomous rage unlike anything he’d ever known surged through his veins, and with his wife breaking down in his arms, Solarius was only certain of one thing.
He was going to kill Calfair Skyhelm.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Narissa had never seen Solarius so furious, so full of such cold, ruthless rage. The ice radiating from him forced her to take a step back, to put space between them. Magic exploded around him, a violent vortex of moonlit shards and pulsing lunar power. Streaks of blazing silver ripped through the air as the might of the moon threatened to break free from his control. His chest was heaving with harsh, scraping breaths and his fists were clenched by his sides, his knuckles a ghastly shade of white. He rolled his neck, the resounding crack enough to make Narissa’s skin crawl. The silver of his eyes was molten, heated by uncontrollable anger. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and grating, rough like he’d swallowed a mouthful of gravel.
“I’m going to kill him.” Solarius popped his jaw and his chest expanded, his magic amplifying. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“Who?” Narissa squeaked, her own magic churning, bubbling to the surface. She crossed her arms over her chest to keep the pull of the tides at bay.
It was bad enough her own husband didn’t remember sleeping with her, but now he seemed positively murderous, and she had no idea what had spurred such a volatile response.If anything, she should be upset withhim, not the other way around. He was the one at fault, the one who spoiled their previous relationship.
Solarius turned his deadly eyes on her. “Lord Calfair Skyhelm.”
Narissa blanched, concern flickering through her. “He is a friend of yours, is he not?”
“He was…” The lunarstorm surrounding Solarius ebbed, the chaos of the moon settled, and Narissa’s soul calmed.
“Was?” Her brow furrowed slightly. “What happened?”
Solarius didn’t even blink. “He slept with my wife.”
Narissa balked at the accusation, her own frustration igniting. “No! How could you say such a thing? How could you make such a wretched claim against me? I never betrayed you. Ever.”
Because she loved him, and now she realized even that was a mistake.
“I know that…now.” Solarius shoved his hands into the pockets of pants, his mouth pressed into a firm line, and the wrinkle across his brow deepened. “But it was not me who took you to bed during that Midsummer ball in House Galefell all those nights ago. It was Calfair.”
“What?” Narissa’s voice sounded hollow to her ears, a painful echo. The dawning of an abysmal realization.
“Think about that night, Narissa. Try and recall every detail you can.” While Solarius was the epitome of level-headed composure, his eyes told another story. They were begging her, pleading with her to remember.
