Precisely.
Torchlight lolls across Alden’s stark features as he nods. “Yes. Here.” As he speaks, he swoops his eyes over the room. “If you want our people to accept your Kyanite bride, it must appear as if you adore her.”
My fingers tingle with the urge to yank up my stoneware and drink all my wine. In truth, I require a river full of spirits to numb the nerves swimming in my belly.
Kisses are intimate. They aren’t entertainment for others to watch, to ridicule, to judge.
“Surely, that’s unnecessary,” Luc says with a frown.
Alden shakes his head, and Luc falls silent. “It is necessary.” His attention shifts to the somber Gabriel. “Gabriel, you will do as I say.”
For several long, pointed beats, the men lock gazes. One looks determined and commanding. The other looks like he’d rather bathe with jellyfish than concede to the older man’s demand.
A muscle twitches in Gabriel’s jaw as he catches my cheek with his hand, bringing my face toward his. I inhale the moment he leans down, touching his mouth to mine. Nerves thrum in my throat at the pressure of his lips, at the tingles, at the waves surging through my veins.
Dismay prods at my mind, reminding me of who he is.Whathe is.
I drown all of it and respond to his kiss—seeking only the heat, the curiosity sprawling through me. After all, I pledged myself to him, and I vowed to win his devotion. Responding to him may be the first step.
Gabriel pulls back, and I catch my hands against the table. My lips burn where they touched his. My skin flames when I think of everyone watching. Especially Alden.
I swallow hard, forcing away the memory, and instead, only allow the hatred toward Roland to burgeon inside me. There’s no room for anything else.
There never was.
“Fantastic,” Alden says, shattering the rest of the moment. “You will be a father in no time, Gabriel, if you bed her nightly.”
Ash scorches my tongue as I pin my stare to the far wall. A baby wasn’t part of the bargain.
Not now. Not ever.
A smirk tugs at the corner of Luc’s mouth as he glances between me and the stiff man next to me. Gabriel yanks up his wine and takes a quick drink.
As the men fall into conversation, I reach for my goblet, too, draining the contents. It’s not enough to forget kissing Gabriel.
I’m not sure anything would be.
ChapterEighteen
Later that night, the door bursts open, blasting cool air into the room and ripping me from sleep. I blink as Gabriel rushes out of our room with his Broad sword clutched in his right hand.
Dread rises thick in my throat as I gain my feet and reach for my dressing gown. With trembling fingers, I tie the belt around my waist and step to the window. No sounds pierce the night. No people rush about. At least, none I see in the moonless sky. I blink at the shuddering shadows and frown. If I were in Kyanite land, I would have joined Gabriel. I wouldn’t have stayed behind.
Here, Gabriel needs to believe I’m weak. Obedient. Not a threat.
Unconsciously, my fingers brush against my serpent mark as I rotate, taking in my new bed chamber. It boasts a bed barely large enough for Gabriel and me, a washing stand, shelves with dried herbs, and an armoire. There’s no color, no embellishments, nothing to warm the space.
The bedchamber is as plain and strait-laced as the man I married. Not that Gabriel is plain. However, he’s methodical, rarely friendly, and I have never heard him laugh.
Again, I press my hand against the mark and frown as I recall the kiss I shared with him. It’s not what I expected. In truth, I wasn’t sure what it would be like.
Itwasmemorable, and it awakened the curiosity inside me. The curiosity I suppressed after I left Malachi.
I sigh and sit on the left side of the bed. Father would say I am weak for even thinking about Malachi. No. He would say I am weak for marrying Gabriel.
The door groans open, and Gabriel steps back into the bedchamber. He lays his sword on the table and rotates to meet my watchful gaze. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Is everything all right?”
