Soldier Mine by Amber Kell Page B

him an innocent smile. “I’ll be right out in the hall, bugging your guards.”
    “It won’t take long.” Especially if Kres impaled him with his dagger like his eyes were promising he’d do.
    Vohne waited to talk until she’d left the room. Once the door shut behind her, he slid to one knee before his lover, his life, his mate. Taking Kres’ left hand between his own, he looked up at the one person he adored above all others and always would. “It’s tradition for the king to re-marry his mate after each reincarnation. You have been my husband for hundreds of years. Each time you die, I die with you, and when we meet up again, we renew our vows. It’s assumed by all that you would be willing to marry me again.” He hoped his eyes reflected the deep feelings he had in his heart for this one man. “Were they wrong?”
    Kres’ handsome face changed from annoyed to confused. “How many times have we gotten married?”
    Vohne smiled. His lover hadn’t said no. There was still hope. He really didn’t want to go in front of his people and tell them that his mate refused his hand in marriage. It would undermine his legitimacy and cause issues later on, but there was no way he was going to bring that up to his mate. He wouldn’t pressure him. He’d already taken away all of Kres’ other choices in life. He wouldn’t take this choice away too. “More times than I care to count,” he confessed, mostly because each time they reincarnated, it was because they’d died before.
    Kres shifted in his chair but still let Vohne hold onto his hand. “A guy just likes to be asked.”
    Vohne’s head snapped up. His mate’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “Would you do me the honour of becoming my husband?”
    A teasing smile tilted the edges of Kres’ mouth. “Depends on what you’re offering. I mean, you have to top the offers from the other guys I have lined up.”
    “Hmmm, that’s tough. You could be the co-ruler of an entire kingdom,” he tempted.
    Kres shook his head. “I’m not really into that kind of power. I’m a low-key kind of guy.”
    “Hmm. Riches. I can buy you anything you desire,” Vohne offered.
    Kres shook his head again. “Money can’t buy happiness.”
    “You’re a tough man to please,” Vohne said, playing with Kres’ fingers as he thought. “How about my undying love and devotion? I can promise I’ll never stray, and if I haven’t stopped loving you by now, it’s never going to happen. Besides, I’ve already killed all the competition and I’m all you’ve got left.”
    Kres laughed. “Well, if you put it that way, I guess I’ll have to take you.”
    Vohne stood up, leaning over his mate. “So you’ll marry me?” He didn’t want any question in Kres’ mind about whether he had agreed to this marriage.
    “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
    “Good.” Vohne slid his fingers into Kres’ hair and pressed their lips together. The familiar flavour of his mate set his body on fire. He wanted to throw Kres on the table and cement their bond, but he knew they needed to talk to Niafe about their plans first. After giving Kres one last kiss, he marched over to the door and ripped it open.
    “Come in,” he growled to Niafe.
    She came back in, and Vohne sat down in the chair beside his mate. Inhaling his mate’s calming scent, Vohne gathered his thoughts on how to thwart another uprising.
    “Who do you see as my biggest adversaries?” Vohne asked Niafe.
    Niafe shifted in her seat, folded her fingers together then set them on her lap. “I don’t want you to think badly of me, Your Highness. Going against my family was a difficult decision.”
    “I understand,” Vohne said. A thought occurred to him. “What is your heritage?”
    “Half human, half Thresl. My father was human.”
    “Was?”
    “Yes, he died in The Purge. Mother hasn’t re-mated.”
    The silence was filled with the weight of knowledge.
    “That’s why she’s losing her sanity, isn’t it?”
    Niafe nodded.