now registered shock, horror. He was torn between the disappointment of watching her understand, of seeing her accept the reality of what he was, and a strange fascination that he could still shock someone. That she hadn’t somehow sensed upon their first meeting that he was flawed in a very real and insurmountable way. In a way he had fully embraced. He was not a man capable of doing things by halves. And since he could not be good, then he had purposed to be debauched to his very core.
He had a feeling that if he tried to explain that to Zara she would look at him as though he had grown another head. He was struck just then at how different their lives had been. He lived in a different world. The moment he’d gained control of his life, he’d made it exactly what he’d wanted. One filled with parties, as much human contact as he wanted. A different woman every night, helping to fill the void that might have been tempted to widen inside him if he allowed it.
She had lived a much more solitary existence. While his had been cluttered with noise. As much as he could possibly surround himself with.
They might as well have been from other planets entirely.
“Now,” he said, not seeing the point in continuing the discussion. “You will tell me something about yourself.”
She tilted her chin up, her expression proud. “The fact that I witnessed my family’s death isn’t enough information for you?”
Something uncomfortable, heavy, shifted in his chest. “You don’t want to marry me,” he said.
“Of course not.”
“Why not?”
“Aside from the fact that you’re a stranger, you just confessed to me that you betrayed your brother. You... You just told me you were the most faithless man on the planet, and now you’re seriously asking me why I don’t want to marry you?”
“You said yourself you had no plans to marry. Don’t tell me now that you had fantasies of a white picket fence and a husband who only had eyes for you. Our marriage could be whatever you want it to be, but you haven’t even asked me what my designs on you are. You haven’t asked me what my goal is for our union, haven’t given any input on how you would like things to be conducted. You simply don’t want to marry me. Which makes me think you must have a goal apart from me.”
She looked away, her jaw set, stubborn.
“Answer me, feral creature, or I will make good on my earlier threat.”
“Listen to you,” she said, her head whipping around, her lip contorted into a sneer, “the man who just professed to being able to seduce any woman is threatening me with his body.”
“You would be seduced soon enough.” He ground his teeth together. “And I might even find I don’t mind being bitten.”
“I don’t wish to get my mouth dirty.”
He laughed, though he felt no amusement. “I will remember that. Now, tell me. I grow impatient.”
“I too am impatient, and yet no one seems concerned about that. I have been held captive for the past two months, before my ownership was transferred to you. Yes, I find I am quite impatient. I’ve never had any say in my life. I was born into royalty, in a position more vulnerable than I could ever have imagined when surrounded by the stone walls of the palace. Then I lost everyone and was taken away to the middle of the forest. Then I was taken captive. And now I have been delivered to you, to be your wife, and I have no choice, yet again. Who am I? What am I to be? The pawn of whoever holds me in their hand at any given time? I must be more than that, Andres. I should like a chance to find out.”
Her words touched something in him. Strange, because nothing about her should resonate. They were different. From different worlds, as he had only just been thinking. Somehow he recognized these words as though they had originated in his own head.
“You will,” he said. “That is another promise I make to you. Our marriage does not have to be traditional in any sense. Not if you don’t wish it. In truth, I am not suited to forsaking all others. It is simply not in me. If I have a certain measure of freedom, then you will too.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“After you have our children you will be free to pursue lovers as you see fit. Or to pursue different hobbies and interests. Education if you wish.”
“Interesting that you prioritize lovers over education.”
“I would certainly choose lovers over education. But it is your choice.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“Why what? Why am I offering you a choice? It does not benefit me to act as your prison guard. Neither do I have any desire to. I told you already, I don’t particularly want a wife. But I owe Kairos. You understand now, clearly, I should think. All he requires is that we produce a child who can take the throne should he and his wife be unable to fulfill the task.”
“I see. You only need my womb. As if that isn’t an extremely large thing to ask.”
“It would be a family. Blood. How long has it been since you’ve been a part of that?” He hated himself for using this against her. Still, he was a man with no shame, and he was hardly going to grow any on the spot.
She looked away.
“A long time,” he answered for her. “Do not fight against me. Neither of us has a choice. We do not need it to be any more difficult than it already is.”
He stood, getting ready to go.
“Can you call the seamstress back?”
It was not what he expected her to say. But then, he found he could not predict Zara. She didn’t fall neatly into a category the way the women he often associated with did. “What do you need?”
“I’m not going to be able to get myself out of this,” she said, indicating her gown.
“I am more than willing to help you with that, Princess,” he said.
Heat formed a ball in his gut, a knot he could barely breathe past. Here he was, talking to her about taking other lovers once they took their vows, and yet he was getting aroused by the thought of unzipping her dress. He’d helped countless women out of couture gowns; there should be nothing exceptional about this moment. Nothing particularly interesting about this desire. And yet there was.
“No, you cannot.” Her voice was stiff, her obvious distress indicating that she was not immune to him either.
“You would rather call Elena back in here just to unzip you? Seems a bit much. Do I frighten you so intensely?”
Something flared in her dark eyes. “Nothing frightens me. I already told you once. How quickly you forget.”
“Then turn around.”
She obeyed, and he knew it was out of sheer stubbornness more than anything else. He reached out, gripping the tab on the dress, drawing it down slowly, ignoring the slight tremble in his fingers. There was no reason for him to tremble. He was unveiling nothing more than the elegant length of her spine. Beautiful, certainly, as everything about her was, but unremarkable.
One
