She fought for longer than he would have expected, despite circumstances she could not defeat. She had always had a warrior's spirit, right from the start, and that had been part of the draw to her. He didn’t mind the way she fought him, gave him his all, because he knew in the end that he had won.
He could hear the ferocious beat of her heart, like the hooves of a stampede racing through her chest. She smelled like sweet and defiance, and Zee. “Not the wedding ceremony you hoped for?” he teased her softly, articulating sentences now that she was agreeing to let him call her wife - if ‘agreeing’ was the right term.
“Mine.” He reinforced, just in case she hadn’t gotten the memo in the entirety of their relationship. He nipped her scruff again, but then loosened his grip on her, giving her one last chance to shove him away, to leave if she was unwilling. If she chose to take it, he was… mostly certainly he would let her go. Maybe.
Bloodletter
