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"I didn't mean to—we can slow it down." He rushed out, his fingers wrapping around her hand as if he could hold her there.
The way he looked at her, likehewas the issue, pulled a strange feeling from her. And suddenly she wanted to confess everything to him. For no reason other than to erase that look and the guilt she felt.
"It's not that. I—" she snapped her mouth shut.
His gaze jumped between her eyes. "Whatever it is, you can tell me." His thumb ran circles along the back of her hand as if he could pull the words from her mind.
And she wanted to tell him the truth. Truly. But why did everything have to be so complicated?
She looked up at him. "Graeson, I'm engaged."
She was drifting away and he knew it. He pulled her hands to his chest and pulled her against him by her waist. On their own accord, her legs wrapped around him, the water pushing them up.
"You wear no ring, except this one." He rolled his finger over her mother's ring. "You have not met him. And you've made no vows."
"But I did give him my word," Kallie whispered.
"Kalisandre."
Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she squeezed her eyes shut. She wanted her name to belong on his lips, to stay there forever. She willed it to have the power to break every promise she had made, every vow she had taken, every plan she had made.
But it didn't.
She sighed. "I won't go against my word, Graeson."
"You don't have to, we can explain what happened."
Her eyes flew open. "And say what? 'We kidnapped your fiancé, but really King Domitius kidnapped her first? Oh, and guess what? He's not even her real father!'"
Dani had tried to argue the same point, but a letter would do nothing. It wasn't as easy as telling the other kingdoms the truth. She barely believed it when they had told her, so why would anyone else? It was too strange, too complicated. Too messy.
He sighed and dropped his forehead to hers. "We'll figure it out," he said and kissed her forehead.
And it took all of her willpower to not meet his lips, to not claim him for herself. But as much as she wanted to believe him, she needed him to stop. She didn't need the distraction right now. And that's all he was. Whatever he thought he could gain from this, she would only disappoint him. And for more reasons than she could count.
She had to push him away. And there was only one way to do that.
She rested her head on his chest and said the only thing he could not alter or misconstrue. "He's a king, Graeson."
She felt the absence of his breath on her head. He let go of her waist and brought his hand to her chin, tilting her head up. "Is that really all you care about?" His jaw flexed.
She didn't want to look at him. But she couldn't let him hope there was a chance, so she stared at him, her gaze unwavering. "Yes."
He opened his mouth, then closed it. Whatever words he wanted to say were lost in the space she had forced between them. He released her chin and shut his eyes, his face contorting. She stared at him, wondering if she had made the right choice. But she had never had the choice to begin with, had she?
"I don't believe you," he finally said.
Kallie didn’t have a chance to respond as a breeze swept through, brushing against her neck and sending shivers down her back. Her teeth rattled.
Graeson looked down at her, his gaze softening. He cleared his throat. "If you stay in this water, you'll catch a cold. And if you're not going to help get the fire started, you can catch yourself something to eat." Then his eyes lit mischievously.
"What are you doing?" Kallie asked, eyes growing wide as she forced her body to remain still.
A crooked smirk formed on his face. "You may not want to be with me yet, but don't think for a second that I'm not going to stop trying to convince you otherwise."
And at that moment, Kallie learned of another side to Graeson: he was unyielding.
He lifted her out of the water before she could swim away. And with the choice of falling into the water and possibly hurting herself, she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. "I don't think you can persuade me to give up a kingdom by carrying me."
