Free The Warrior King (Book 4) by Michael Wallace Page B

with those big, wide eyes. He couldn’t help but be charmed by her earnest expression. “Aren’t you hot? Take off your clothes and get in the water.”
    “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
    “Oh? Why?”
    “It’s not that I don’t want to.”
    “Darik, you know what I think?” she blurted suddenly. “I think we should be married.”
    He blinked. “What?”
    “Do you want to?”
    “I—” His voice caught.
    “I thought you wanted to. Was I wrong?”
    “Did I say. . . did we ever . . .?”
    She laughed, and it was such a bright, delightful sound that he couldn’t help but grin back. “In the mountains, what you said. You want to marry me, don’t you?”
    “Of course I do,” he said, finding his voice. “It’s just . . .what exactly did I say again?”
    “Is there a problem?” Her smile turned shy. “Why don’t you do it then?”
    “All right,” he said, making a sudden decision. “We’ll be married. Let me talk to your mother.”
    “What does my mother have to do with it?”
    “I don’t think she likes me.”
    “She doesn’t like you one bit. She’d just as soon dismember you and feed you to our fledglings. But that’s nothing personal.”
    “It sounds rather personal. And painful.”
    “You’re a Flatlander. She’s not like Father, she doesn’t want anything to do with your kind. Anyway, that doesn’t matter. We’ll live alone in the mountains anyway, and soon enough she’ll have to deal with you. Even if you wanted to ask my mother, she’s not here. I want to be married now, don’t you?”
    Again, he found himself blinking stupidly. “Now? How would we get married now? There’s nobody around to do it.”
    Now Daria looked confused. “Do what? We’re both here. We’re the only ones who will be getting married. You did mean what you said, right? You want to get married? Once we’ve decided, we may as well get married right away.”
    He was still trying to figure out how they would get married right now. Was getting married for a griffin rider nothing more than a mutual declaration? There was no ceremony, no trading of wedding goods from one family to another, no public exchange of kisses, no declaration of marriage from one’s family, owner, or guild? Apparently not.
    “Even though you’re leaving in a few hours?” he said.
    “ Especially because I’m leaving in a few hours. If we wait, it might be weeks or even months. Or one of us might be killed. We’re in a war, after all. If that happens I don’t want to say I had the chance to marry you, but never did.” 
    “In your culture, marriage is only two people, right?”
    “Isn’t it in yours?” She looked concerned, then horrified. “That’s right, you people have harems. I’d forgotten that.”
    “I won’t have a harem,” he said hastily. “That’s only for sultans and khalifs. I only wanted to be sure I wouldn’t also be married to your mother, your cousin, your sister or uncle or something.”
    She laughed. “That’s so funny. Now take off your clothes and get in here.” She rose partway up, the water running down her neck and over the gentle swelling of her breasts, and tugged playfully on his foot. “Hurry up, let’s get married before the wizards come back.”
    He rose and turned as he peeled off his robes and then tugged at the drawstring around his small clothes. All this talk and the proximity to Daria had left him aroused, and he was embarrassed to have her see.
    “What do I say to make us married?” he asked as his small clothes fell to the brick floor.
    “You don’t say anything,” she said. “You come down here, and we make love. Don’t tell me you don’t know what making love means.” He turned, and her eyes widened as she looked down at his crotch, and then she gave a mischievous grin. “Your body seems to know what to do. I’ll show you the rest if you don’t know how. Not that I’ve ever been married before, of course, but I know. People have told me what to