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The door shuts behind me, and the intimate space punches me in the gut, brutal with memory’s assault. The previous night with Sebastian, not to mention our impromptu time in bed this morning, is more than evident in the rumpled sheets.
Liam faces me, one eyebrow arched. “Hearing the two of you earlier, and now seeing this room, makes me certain of what I want.”
“And what would that be?” To keep from wringing my hands, I cross my arms.
“Your virginity.”
“You…my…what?” My mouth hangs open, making it impossible to verbalize the shock trembling through my limbs.
“On the night of your birthday, I want your virginity.”
Before my knees give out, I stumble to the bed and plop onto the end. “My birthday?”
“Yes. It’s tradition for the queen to choose a man to spend the evening with, and I want you to choose me.”
“Why are you doing this? At Ford’s ball…” I shake my head, dumbfounded. “I thought you accepted my choice.”
“I did.” Liam begins pacing. “But Sebastian’s already got all of you, and I just want…” He stares at me, struggling to explain. “I want you…want this one thing to hold on to.” He swallows hard. “The memory will get me through the days until I can be with you again.”
“And if I refuse?”
“I’ll tell the Brotherhood about your true parentage.”
“You wouldn’t!”
“I would.”
“But my uncle will take the throne.”
“Yes.”
“You’d take away my homeland?”
Solemnly, Liam nods his beautiful head. His noble head, though I can’t find a hint of nobility right now.
“But…it’s all I have left of…” Swallowing down the painful lump in my throat, I fight tears. “It’s the last place I saw my parents alive.”
“I’m sorry you’re still living with that pain, my sweet girl, but your parents are gone, and your life is here now. I don’t want to spill the truth, but I will if I have to.”
“I don’t believe you.” The denial launches from me with a heart-wrenching hiccup. “You wouldn’t risk my safety like that.”
“I can keep you safe without watching you marry another man.”
I jerk my head back and forth in denial. “You wouldn’t do this.”
“I warned you not to believe in the good you thought you saw in me.” His expression hardens, though I spy sorrow through the crack in his shell. “Turns out I’m just a selfish man who loves you desperately, and I want your first time to be with me.”
“Then maybe you can understand how desperately I can’t give you this.”
“But you can, Novalee.”
“It’ll break his heart!”
“I understand that kind of pain more than anyone, which is why he never has to know.”
My eyes go wide as Sebastian’s confession all those months ago floats through my mind.
When I take your virginity, every member of the Brotherhood will be present.
