The stoneheart bride a s.., p.4
The Stoneheart Bride: A Short Fantasy Romance (The Dead Lands),
p.4
Flora could not answer. Not without sobbing.
“Yet still you let me touch you. Though I’d hurt you so badly, still you would have taken more and given as much in return.” He brushed a tear from her cheek. “Such a heart you have, already to have withstood so much. Stronger even than granite—a diamond, sharp and clear.”
That couldn’t be. “It broke,” she confessed on a shuddering breath.
“Did it? And all the love spilled out, gone forevermore?”
“No.” None of it had gone. “Though these past days might have been less painful if it had.”
His eyes darkened. “Forgive me for that.”
“For a misunderstanding?”
“For not being clear in my intentions, no matter what your uncle said or wanted. Never would I have hurt you. I thought you understood that I meant to have you. Especially after you accepted the second winding.”
“I don’t know what that is. I just wanted to kiss you.”
That earned her another kiss—swift and hard—before he eyed her with some bafflement again. “How can you not know the windings? The wedding ritual is the same in Innis as in the Dead Lands.”
“Binding hands with a red ribbon and speaking vows?”
“But courtship is the winding of the ribbon around each finger—first with friendship, then passion in all its forms, followed by shared values and hopes, a stone heart to withstand all troubles, and a promise to care for each other and any children that may come.” With each one, Brom mimed winding a ribbon around Flora’s fingers, then finished with a full loop around her hand. “Then love binds all together.”
“Never have I heard that before.”
Not letting go of her hand, Bram intertwined his fingers with hers. “Perhaps it has fallen out of tradition in places where they marry for other than love.”
Her heart beat faster. “So we had established friendship. And the second—”
“Is the bed.” His thumb stroked a circle in the center of her palm, making her shiver. “Though some start with passion and find friendship later. But though I wished for both, I thought your uncle and cousin would not wish for me to begin your courtship in bed.”
Flora would not have argued against it. “So you wish to bed me before we marry? To make certain our passion is well-matched?”
“I know our passions are matched. I knew before I ever kissed you.”
Flora had also thought so. Or hoped so.
And perhaps those hopes were not so foolish, after all. “But I would like to have you in my bed soon, anyway. To be certain.”
His grin matched hers, too. “The moment we are home. When I take you the first time, I would not have you muffle your screams.”
“How long must we ride?”
“Five days at this pace.”
She groaned. But perhaps it would not be so terrible—and they could begin the next winding in the courtship, as well, and speak of their values and goals…though in truth, after all that she’d learned of him in the past months, she was certain they were already aligned. And— “Will we still share a tent?”
“We will.”
“And you will allow me to touch you and kiss you?”
“Any time. My mouth, and anywhere else.”
Her delighted laugh rang out. “But you will have to muffle your screams. Your pleasure is mine alone.”
“Only yours alone.” Brom squeezed her hand and held her tight. Solemnly he added, “As it always will be.”
Epilogue
Flora had heard both Vash and Brom describe the fortress held by the Stoneheart clan—yet still nothing could have prepared her for the sight of the towering stronghold rising above the sheer face of the granite cliffs, or the crystalline waterfalls that filled the air with rainbows of sparkling mist. Horses grazed terraced pastures, children chased each other shrieking with laughter, and everywhere she looked, joy seemed in no short supply.
“Do you think you could be happy here?” Brom murmured in her ear as they rode the long winding ribbon of cobblestone that led to the stronghold.
“I think I would have to exert every effort not to be happy here—and still I might fail.”
He brushed a kiss against her temple before straightening again, calling out greetings here and there. Despite the curious looks Flora received, he did not pause to introduce her fully, aside from proudly announcing that she was his bride. Considering the hard length nestled against her ass, it was likely that Brom would not stop before they’d reached his bedchamber.
Until she said, “Do you wish to marry first?”
She must have surprised him. The stallion tossed his head, as if reacting to unexpected tension in the reins. In a flat voice, as if he didn’t wish to reveal his preference either way, he asked, “Do you not wish to continue courting—to be certain?”
“I’m certain.” And because she hadn’t declared herself so openly before, despite five blissful days and nights in his arms, she continued. “I do not wish to be in your bed simply to discover whether I can love you and want you enough to marry you—I know that I do. Love you, that is. And want you. Enough to marry. Enough to not marry, and still continue loving and wanting you.” Except…Brom had made no declaration either, and now he sat rigidly behind her. In a smaller voice, she added, “Unless you need me to continue courting you.”
Anxiously she turned to look back at him—and there was such tenderness in his gaze. His throat worked, and a moment later he said thickly, “I have never needed you to court me. I have wanted you from the beginning, and loved you almost as long.”
She considered that. “So you’ve been waiting longer to bed me than to marry me.”
“I have.”
“Well, then.” Flora settled back against him again. “Your bedchamber awaits, and your heart is not the only part of you that’s hard as stone. We’ll marry when you’ve finished making me scream.”
Brom laughed and nudged the stallion into a faster gait.
The fortress was no doubt even more impressive as they approached it. Flora barely saw a thing. Because as soon as Brom rode into the courtyard and lifted her down from the saddle—and up into his arms—all the world faded away, until there was only him and her, and the way Brom kissed her as he carried her into his chambers.
Loving him had never been a mistake. Hoping for this had never been foolish.
Instead it seemed the greatest of all treasures to have a friend who could set fire to her skin. Who searched out every spot that made her shiver with need, who trembled when she took him in her hand or her mouth.
And who looked at her as Bram did. Cherishing her, loving her.
Then kissing her again, from swollen lips to drenched cunt, and every quivering inch of skin between, readying her because never would Brom hurt her—and her barbarian was big, indeed. Big enough to make her cry out, but it was his gentleness that made her scream as he pushed slowly into her narrow sheath, the pain of taking him nothing to the agonized frustration of needing him deeper, and deeper, and deeper, as Brom resisted every desperate entreaty. She pulled at him, and pushed at him, and finally she was full, fuller than she’d ever dreamed.
Because her dreams were nothing to the reality of when he kissed her, when she could feel him moving inside her. So deep inside her. And rougher, his control shattering as she began to come—but Flora wasn’t screaming then, because she was kissing him again, utterly full of his love and her heart a shining diamond in her chest. Strong. Unbreakable.
Made of stone.
end
Want more fantasy romance from Kati Wilde? Turn the page to learn more about the Dead Lands series! Or visit katiwilde.com for links and information.
A Note From Kati Wilde
Hello there, book lovers! I hope you enjoyed this little fantasy romance novelette. For you audiobook readers, this story should be available soon (late 2022) as a free listen on the Read Me Romance podcast. I’ll be certain to send out my newsletter letting everyone know when that version is available, or you can visit my website for the link as soon as it is live.
If you are looking for this story in print, it will soon be available in the three-in-one special cover edition of The Midnight Bride, Pretty Bride, and The Stoneheart Bride (a special edition of The Midwinter (Mail-Order) Bride is already available).
I’d also like to thank everyone for their incredible patience as I’ve worked through some personal upheaval and as books have been delayed. My life has settled down again, so I’ve put the long awaited Sheriff’s Bad Bear and The Midsummer Bride up for pre-order (if these links don’t work on your device, you can always find them on my “upcoming” page on my website at katiwilde.com).
If you’d like to receive a notification when these books release, please sign up for my newsletter! I promise I’ll never spam your or trade your information. I’ll only use it to inform you of my new releases.
Until then, happy reading!
Kati
THE DEAD LANDS BY KATI WILDE
(All ebooks are in Kindle Unlimited. Discreet print versions are also available.)
The Midwinter Mail-Order Bride
The Midnight Bride
Pretty Bride
Coming Soon
The Midsummer Bride
Set in the same world as the Dead Lands
Evil Twin
ALSO BY KATI WILDE
(Except for Going Nowhere Fast, all ebooks are in Kindle Unlimited. An asterisk (*) indicates that a discreet print version is available. Visit katiwilde.com for more links and info.)
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Going Nowhere Fast
(new adult, enemies-to-lovers, road trip)
Secret Santa*
(holiday romance, office romance, down-on-her-luck heroine, dirty-talking-hero who is good with his hands)
All He Wants For Christmas*
(holiday romance, grumpy detective living next door, rich girl who works in a morgue)
The King’s Horrible Bride
(a modern royal romance)
The Wedding Night (Before Christmas)*
(billionaire romance w/a twist)
THE HELLFIRE RIDERS MOTORCYCLE CLUB
The Hellfire Riders: Saxon & Jenny *
(includes: Wanting It All, Taking It All, Having It All)
The Hellfire Riders: Jack & Lily *
(includes: Betting It All, Risking It All, Burning It All)
Breaking It All*
(Gunner & Anna)
Giving It All*
(Saxon & Jenny)
Craving It All*
(Bull & Sara)
Faking It All*
(Duke & Olivia)
Losing It All*
(Stone & “Cherry”)
THE DEAD LANDS
Barbarian Fantasy Romance
The Midwinter (Mail-Order) Bride*
The Midnight Bride*
Pretty Bride*
Fantasy Romance
Evil Twin
WOLFKIN AND BERSERKER ROMANCE
Beauty In Spring
(a short Beauty & the Beast romance)
High Moon
(a werewolf romance)
Teacher’s Pet Wolf
(a werewolf romance)
UPCOMING ROMANCES
The Midsummer Bride
(a Dead Lands novel)
Sheriff’s Bad Bear
(a berserker romance)
NEWSLETTER
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Kati Wilde, The Stoneheart Bride: A Short Fantasy Romance (The Dead Lands)
