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“That’s where I come in. You continue with your role of holding the moon up while somehow retaining your sanity, and we pretend to be falling in love with each other. If we act like real fated mates, it will seem natural for me to begin learning to take care of the things Horvis is managing. We start with small things—like dinners, and introductions to the kingdom, and magic training with your armies. And then we move on to the bigger things, like moving Horvis out of the castle, and taking full control of the armies.”

I continued, “Eventually, we’ll have to do something so your entire life doesn’t revolve around the moon. If Diora and Namir say that sex works, we can probably get to that point pretty quickly. And if Horvis puts up a fight, we might need to do that sooner rather than later. It wouldn’t be a stretch for him to try to turn everyone against me, considering that I’m a solar fae who was turned into a prisoner, and then turned into a night queen.”

“TheNight Queen,” Espen growled back.

Stars, why did it make me so damned warm every time he growled at me?

What was wrong with me?

“Technically, Diora is a queen of the night court too.”

He growled again. “Technically, they’re the Shadow King and Queen.”

“Technically, I think you’re avoiding a response to the very valid points I made,” I shot back.

He growled at me, leaning his shoulder against the bookshelf and turning so he was facing me. “Your ideas are great, but they all lead to us having sex. I don’t want that to be inevitable for you, I want you to know that you never have to do or give anything to me. You’re not my prisoner or my possession; you’re my mate.”

“I appreciate that,” I said honestly. “It’s been a very long time since someone has felt like that about me, and I appreciate it tremendously. But ultimately, I’m tied to you. If the moon falls and the dragons attack, or Laith attacks, I’ll live or die with you. And I would much prefer not to need to fight off dragons to protect your people, especially if the only protection we would need is sex.”

“You know what sex leads to.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not a child.”

“No, but you could be carrying one. One time is all it would take.”

I shook my head at him. “If we only had sex once, the chance of getting pregnant wouldn’t be too high.”

His eyes narrowed at me. “If we have sex, Akari, it won’t be only one time.”

I narrowed my eyes back at him.

Before I could argue, he swiftly asked me, “Did you ever have sex before the prison? Before you were attacked?” That last word, he practically spat.

“No. I was too young, before.”

His eyes heated. “So you don’t know pleasure.”

“At this point, all I really know is pain and responsibility.”

He stepped closer to me, our shoulders still brushing the bookshelf. When he stopped in front of me, my lower half was clenched—but not in a bad way.

Not at all.

“If you want to experience pleasure, you knock on my door. Any time, day or night, my home, fingers, mouth, and body are yours to use. I’ll teach you pleasure, if you decide you want it. Until you’re comfortable letting me touch you, and using my body the way you want, there will sure as fuck be no solidifying the mating bond—and no sex.”

My eyes narrowed as I stared up at him.

Shit, it was a long way up.

“Are you trying to manipulate me?” My voice was warning, but honestly, the question was genuine.

He reached out toward me, and for whatever reason, my body didn’t lean or arch away.

His hand carefully cradled the side of my cheek, and he used the contact to tip my head back so that we were looking into each other’s eyes. “I don’t believe in manipulation, Akari. Either you want me or you don’t, and that’s entirely up to you. But we are mates, like it or not, and should you turn to another man for pleasure, I will end his life.”

The simple possessiveness in the statement made my toes curl, but luckily my dress hid my reaction.

“Fine.” My retort was as much a growl as his was. “You asked about my sex life; tell me about yours now.”

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