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‘And now?’ he asked. ‘You’ve come so far already. You’ve played for me, which in itself was a huge hurdle to overcome. Your orchestra will be here tomorrow, so we will see how successful we have been, but I have faith. You can do this, my little songbird. But you need to want this for yourself, regardless of any repercussions.’
Her head tilted. ‘Do those repercussions still exist?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said honestly. ‘I would prefer not to find out.’
‘So would I.’ A sad smile spread over her face. ‘It is hard for me to reconcile the man I’m sharing a bed with with the brute who forced his way into my home.’
‘They’re one and the same. I make no apologies for being the man I was raised to be. When it comes to my family and my country I fight—and when necessary I fight dirty.’
‘That you certainly do,’ she said with a sigh, before reaching for his hand and threading her fingers through his. ‘Why is this gala so important to you? I understand a nation’s pride in half a century of successful and prosperous rule by one monarch, but I can’t help thinking it means more to you than that.’
‘You don’t think that’s enough?’ he deflected. ‘Fifty years of rule is no easy feat. In Agon most monarchs abdicate when their heir reaches forty, allowing them to enjoy their retirement. My grandfather’s heir died before he reached that age, so he was left with no choice but to carry on—which he has done with dignity and pride, for his people. Helios will be forty in four years.’
Before she could ask another question he pulled her down to him and rolled her onto her back. Devouring her mouth, he allowed the sweetness of her touch, the sweetness of her, to encompass him and drive away the tightness pinching his skin to his bones.
And as he moved in her, her soft moans dancing in his ear and the short nails of her left hand scratching and gripping his back and buttocks with as much need as the long nails of her right, his mind emptied of everything but the ecstasy he experienced in her arms.
* * *
Talos had dozed off. Amalie lightly traced the bow of his full top lip, resisting the urge to replace her finger with her mouth. He looked at peace, all that latent energy in hibernation.
She’d told him everything. About all the shame she carried, the shame she hadn’t even known she was carrying—not just what had occurred at her mother’s birthday party but the knock-on effects. Talking about it, admitting it—not just to Talos but to herself—she’d felt cleansed. Purged. He was right. She’d been a child.
Her heart felt so full, and it was all because of him. He’d stolen her heart and it astounded her how willing she’d been in allowing him to take it. But then he’d marked her with that first look. She’d stood no chance, not once she was on his island. Not once he’d shown her his human face. Even that damnable contract didn’t make her fists clench any longer. She loved that he was prepared to fight for what he believed in.
What would it be like, she thought wistfully, to have this great man’s love? To be enveloped under the protection he extended to his family and his people?
She couldn’t allow herself to think like that. She was not her mother. Accepting that she’d fallen in love with him did not give her any illusions that he would have fallen for her in return. Only a few hours ago he’d made it clear it was all about sex.
But hadn’t she said exactly the same thing? And hadn’t she meant it too?
No. She would not allow herself the futility of hope. While she was on Agon she would cherish the time she spent with him. When it was time for her to leave she would go with her head held high and slip back into her old life.
She blinked.
Did she even want to go back to her nice, cosy existence?
Prickles spread out over her skin as she thought about what the future could hold for her. The future she’d once dreamt about.
She’d been terrified of passion and love. With Talos she had found both and she was still standing. Not only standing, but with an energy fizzing in her veins that made her feel more alive than she’d ever known.
All the walls she’d built—in part to protect herself, in part to punish herself—had been dismantled, revealing a future that could be hers if only she had the courage to reach out and take it.
Talos was a fighter. He wore his courage in his skin. He’d forced her to fight too, had found a way to bring out her own inner warrior. Now she needed to hold that inner warrior close and never let it go.
