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Every sense he had was focused on her. She was the centre of the universe. His universe.
He moved harder, deeper, driving both of them higher, looking down into her darkened eyes as he did so, letting her see that this was a fight he would win.
This would be a marriage in every sense of the word, not just physical but emotional, too, and she had to know it.
The pleasure gripped him tight, stretching him thin. And he reached down between her thighs, stroking her so that she gave a desperate sob, her body convulsing around his as she came.
Then he let go of his control, thrusting harder, deeper, until the climax swept through him, hot and dark and overwhelming.
‘Don’t care about me,’ she’d told him.
But it was too late.
He already did.
CHAPTER NINE
AWEEKLATER, Calista stood in front of the mirror in the bedroom she’d been assigned on her return from the coast. She’d been half-afraid, half-hopeful that Xerxes would insist on her sharing his rooms, but he hadn’t.
It was for propriety’s sake, he’d told her, to help bolster the illusion of a love affair that hadn’t been consummated. It was the story they’d both agreed on, to help shield her from any negative public opinion, and she knew that it was best if they had separate rooms in the palace. But the past couple of nights she’d missed him.
He’d spent the time in meetings with his brother and with the press, the scandal of his broken engagement to Eleni and the gossip about his love affair with a palace guard having settled down somewhat. Of course, the fact that there would be a second formal engagement party, where she would be introduced to the people of Axios as his fiancée, gave the gossip columns plenty of material, but with any luck once the party had been held everyone would be more excited about their wedding than the circumstances surrounding it.
It helped that all requests for interviews with her had been officially denied by the palace.
She’d had an audience with Adonis, which had been very formal, the king himself not friendly but also not outright rude. Xerxes hadn’t helped though, standing protectively at her side virtually bristling with threat. But at least it hadn’t been a disaster.
After that, she’d been poked and prodded by the palace doctor, the health of the baby checked and confirmed. Then there had been an array of visits from clothes designers that covered fittings for a new wardrobe, not to mention a wedding gown. Various palace staff also visited, with instructions on what she could expect once she married the Prince, and what her duties would be. Lessons in protocol and media training also followed, along with stylists, make-up artists and other staff that would now be assigned to her.
It was all a little overwhelming.
Her father hadn’t visited, even though Xerxes had told her that he’d paid a personal visit to him, assuring him that his daughter would be well taken care of.
She tried not to be hurt by the fact that he hadn’t contacted her, staring at herself in the mirror as the stylist tweaked some fabric of the gown she’d be wearing at the engagement party instead.
Her hair was in an artful, gleaming tumble down her back, and she wore the same gown that she’d tried on the night she’d met Xerxes. The gold satin skimmed her every curve, highlighting the deep amber of her skin. The stylist had brushed some gold powder over her shoulders and collarbones, making her gleam, picking up the same golden lights in her hair and eyes. A delicate tiara sat on her head, a corona of white diamonds fashioned to look like a delicate web, with large golden diamonds caught in it like raindrops.
It was beautiful. She was beautiful.
She barely recognised herself and, while a part of her was thrilled by it, another part found it deeply unsettling.
Nerves fluttered in her stomach. Xerxes had reassured her that tonight all she’d have to do was smile and look lovely, that he’d do the rest. She’d be introduced to the Axian court and aristocracy and the assembled media, there would be some mingling required, then she and Xerxes would lead a dance, and that would be it.
It wasn’t exactly a battlefield or even basic training, but still she felt out of her depth. She’d felt out of her depth a week ago when she’d approached the palace during that first engagement party. Then, she’d had little idea she’d end up being the star of Xerxes’ second party.
You shouldn’t be here and you know it.
She did know it. Here she was, wearing a beautiful gown, about to be formally engaged to a handsome prince, to be a princess the way she’d once pretended she was all those years ago. It should have been magical. Special...
He will want you to love him. He’ll demand it.
Her hands shook as she smoothed down the satin of the gown. She’d warned him not to care about her, that emotions could not be part of this marriage. She didn’t want them to be.
A knock came on the door but whoever it was didn’t wait to be admitted. The door opened to reveal the king himself.
The flutter in her stomach increased.
The king said nothing, merely gave the staff who’d been helping Calista prepare a look and instantly they vanished out of the door, leaving her alone with him.
