“Not a chance,” he mumbled, wrapping an arm snugly around her wiggling thighs.
He couldn’t very wall waltz back into the ballroom with Narissa tossed over his shoulder like a satchel of sand, mostly because he didn’t particularly care to give the lords and ladies of society anymore of a reason to snare them in their vines of vicious rumors.
There had to be another way.
His gaze skimmed the outdoor balcony until he caught sight of Reif Marintide lounging against an exterior alcove. A sconce of faerie fire illuminated his silhouette, the flames flickering in the biting wind. He stifled a yawn, then jerked his head to the right, where a winding stone staircase wrapped around a pearlescent tower that shone like moonlight.
“Straight up.” Reif swirled his glass of whiskey, the ice clinking together softly. “Her room is the first door on the left.”
“Right.” Solarius nodded in gratitude. “Thanks for that.”
He flashed a winning smile. “Anytime.”
Narissa huffed as Solarius carried her past him.
“Traitor,” she hissed.
Reif scoffed and took a sip of his drink. “You don’t know the meaning of the word, sweet cousin.”
Solarius started up the stairs with Narissa tossed over his shoulder, taking them two at a time. He thoroughly expected her to keep pounding on his back, but it seemed as though she had settled and finally resigned herself to her fate.
“You know,” she said, heaving a dramatic sigh, “I am quite capable of walking.”
He had seen the way she wobbled and tripped over her skirts on the balcony. She might have been in possession of two feet, but her balance had disappeared along with the last of the winter berry wine.
“Unlikely,” he countered, adjusting her in his hold as he reached the door at the top of the stairwell. He grabbed the bronze handle, pushed open the ornate wooden door, and was immediately assaulted by oceanic wonder.
Narissa’s bedchamber was a dreamy, calming escape. An ode to Azuralis, the sea goddess herself. The walls were the softest hue of blue, embedded with shimmering pearls and crushed sea glass. Gilded scales stamped the deep turquoise flooring and in the far corner, the hearth was flanked by two small waterfalls set in marble reminiscent of a dazzling sunset. A curving bench was positioned beneath a magnificent stained glass window, the brilliant colors depicting two sirens separated by their own desires—one remained below the surface of the sea, surrounded by a forest of coral, while the other was perched upon a stone by the shore, her gaze trained on the moon. Overheard, the tower reached a point, and there a chandelier carved from driftwood floated as though being carried by invisible waves.
But it was her bed that held his attention.
It was large and sumptuous, draped with a thick blush comforter, a canopy of pale teal, and a pile of downy pillows.
Carefully, Solarius set Narissa on the ground. “This is quite the place you have here.”
“Yes, well. It is somewhat of a safe haven for me, and I would prefer it if you did not ruin it.” She crossed her arms out of spite, then tipped to one side.
He made to catch her, but she swatted at him and gripped the gilded spire of her bedpost. “I am perfectly fine, my lord.”
“Whatever you say, my lady.” Solarius lifted both hands in surrender, then shoved them into the pockets of his pants. If she wanted to teeter around her bedroom and risk toppling into the hearth, that was her prerogative. He stepped back, giving her some space, then canted his head to one side. “I thought I was supposed to be the one who was drunk tonight.”
She cut him down with a fiery glare, her nails digging into the bedpost supporting her weight. Her expression shifted and the change happened so quickly, he almost didn’t register it. One moment, she looked like she wanted to stab him in the eye with a seashell, and in the next, she appeared pensive and troubled.
Narissa dropped onto the bed, gently swinging her legs so her shoes embellished with milky blue gemstones slipped from her feet and tumbled to the floor. “This is all your fault.”
Tension coiled through Solarius, tightening his shoulders and stiffening his spine. He locked his jaw. “By all means, Rissa love, tell me again how I’ve ruined your life. How positively miserable you are. How much you loathe my very existence.”
Apparently, for some crime he did not commit.
She sighed again, but it was more despondent this time. Shoving off the bed, she tiptoed toward her mirror, her brow puckering at her reflection.
“Sometimes I hate you.” Her voice was quiet and there was a quivery break, the slightest catch in her breath, like she wanted to expand on her statement, then thought better of it.
Instead, she reached her hands behind her back and started fumbling with the laces of her gown.
Solarius inhaled sharply. “What are you doing?”
“I thought…” Narissa twisted, struggling to untie the ribbons. She reached one hand over her head while the other grasped blindly behind her back. “That is to say, I assumed we…”
