her eyes, willing the peaceful numbness of sleep to take over once more.
When she woke again, a nurse was standing by her bedside placing a cuff around her arm to take her blood pressure.
“Oh, good, you’re awake,” she said cheerfully as she removed the cuff. “I have your dinner tray. Do you feel up to eating?”
Marley shook her head. The thought of food made her faintly nauseous.
“Leave the tray. I’ll see to it she eats.”
Marley looked up in surprise to see Chrysander looming behind the nurse, a determined look on his face. The nurse turned and smiled at him then reached back and patted Marley’s arm.
“You’re very lucky to have such a devoted fiancé,” she said as she turned to go.
“Yes, lucky,” Marley murmured, and she wondered why she suddenly felt the urge to weep.
When the door shut behind the nurse, Chrysander pulled the chair closer to her bed again. Then he settled the tray in front of her.
“You should eat.”
She eyed him nervously. “I don’t feel much like eating.”
“Do you find my presence unsettling?” he queried as his gaze slid over her rumpled form.
“I—” She opened her mouth to say no, but found she couldn’t entirely deny it. How to tell this man she found him intimidating? This was supposed to be someone she loved. Had made love with. Just the thought sent a blush up her neck and over her cheeks.
“What are you thinking?” His fingers found her hand and stroked absently.
She turned her face away, hoping to find relief from his scrutiny. “N-nothing.”
“You are frightened. That’s understandable.”
She turned back to look at him. “It doesn’t make you angry that I’m frightened of you? Quite frankly, I’m terrified. I don’t remember you or anything else in my life. I’m pregnant with your child and cannot for the life of me remember how I got this way!” Her fists gripped the sheet and held it protectively against her.
His lips pressed to a firm line. Was he angry? Was he putting on a front so as not to upset her further?
“It is as you said. You don’t remember me, therefore I am a stranger to you. It will be up to me to earn your…trust.” He said the last word as if he found it distasteful, and yet his expression remained controlled.
“Chrysander…” She said his name experimentally, letting it roll off her tongue. It didn’t feel foreign, but neither did it spark any remembrance. Frustration took firm hold when her mind remained frightfully blank.
“Yes, pedhaki mou?”
She blinked as she realized he was waiting for her to continue.
“What happened to me?” she asked. “How did I get here? How did I lose my memory?”
Once again he took her hand in his, and she found the gesture comforting. He leaned forward and touched his other hand to her cheek. “You shouldn’t rush things. The doctor is quite adamant in this. Right now the most important thing for you and our child is to take things slowly. Everything will come back in its own time.”
She sighed, realizing he wasn’t going to budge.
“Get some rest.” He stood and leaned over to brush his lips across her forehead. “Soon we will leave this place.”
Marley wished the words gave her more reassurance than they did. Instead of comfort, confusion and uncertainty rose sharply in her chest until she feared smothering with the anxiety.
Sweat broke out on her forehead, and the food she’d picked at just moments ago rolled in her stomach. Chrysander looked sharply at her, and without saying a word, he rang for the nurse.
Moments later, the nurse bustled in. At the sight of her, sympathy crowded her features. She placed a cool hand on Marley’s forehead even as she administered an injection with the other.
“You mustn’t panic,” the nurse soothed. “You’re safe now.”
But her words failed to ease the tightness in Marley’s chest. How could they when soon she was going to be thrust into an unknown world with a man who was a complete stranger to her?
Chrysander stood by her bed, staring down at her, his hand covering hers. The medication dulled her senses, and she could feel herself floating away, the fear evaporating like mist. His words were the last thing she heard.
“Sleep, pedhaki mou. I will watch over you.”
Oddly, she did find comfort in the quiet vow.
Chrysander stood in the darkened room and watched as Marley slept. The strain of the frown he was wearing inserted a dull ache in his temples.
Her chest rose and fell with her slight breaths, and even in sleep, tension furrowed her brow. He moved closer and touched his fingers to her forehead, smoothing them across the pale skin.
She was as lovely as ever, even in her weakened state. Raven curls lay haphazardly against the pillow. He took one between his fingers and moved it from her forehead. It was longer now, no longer the shorter cap of curls that had flown about her head as she laughed or smiled.
Her skin had lost its previous glow, but he knew restoring her health would bring it back. Her eyes had been dull, frightened, but he remembered well the brilliant blue sparkle, how enchanting she looked when she was happy.
He cursed and moved away from the bed. It had all been a ruse. She hadn’t ever been happy. Truly happy. It seemed he’d been incapable of making her so. All the time they were together, she’d plotted against him, stolen from him and his brothers.
Though he’d considered her his mistress, he’d never placed her in the same category as his others. What he’d shared with her hadn’t been mercenary, or so he’d thought. In the end, it had boiled down to money and betrayal. Something he was well used to with women.
Yet he still wanted her. She still burned in his veins, an addiction he wasn’t equipped to fight. He shook his head grimly. She was pregnant with his child, and that must take precedence above all else. They would be forced together by the child, their futures irrevocably intertwined. But he didn’t have to like it, and he didn’t have to surrender anything more than his protection and his body.
If she would once again be placed under his protection, then he’d do all he could to ensure she had the best care, her and their baby, but he’d never trust her. She would warm his bed, and he wouldn’t lie and say that prospect wasn’t appealing. But she would get nothing more from him.
Two days later, Marley sat nervously in a wheelchair, her fingers clutched tightly around the blanket the nurse had draped over her lap. Chrysander stood to the side, listening intently as
