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“There’s too much here—let’s take the things you said one at a time.” Still, he was maddeningly calm, speaking to me as though I was a child having a tantrum. “First—no, I don’t want peace between the Courts—not yet, anyway.” he frowned. “Second, yes you can help me take the Shadow Throne because you do have magic—it’s just buried,” he went on.
This statement surprised me so much that I stopped struggling and just stared at him. He thought I had magic? That was impossible—I’d been trying all my life to do something—anything—magical. The wisest mages in the land had come to tutor me and…nothing. But somehow Liath thought he saw something in me that everyone else had missed. It made no sense.
But he hadn’t even paused—he was still talking.
“Third,” he said, frowning down at me. “Who says you’re not beautiful?”
I looked away, feeling abruptly ashamed.
“Everyone,” I mumbled. “I don’t look like a Fae maiden should. I’m too big—all over.”
“You’re fucking perfect,” Liath growled, frowning. “But I can see that no matter how many times I tell you that, you won’t believe me. I’m going to have to show you.”
“Show me?” I looked up at him in alarm. There was something hot and hard pressed against my thigh and, inexperienced though I was, it suddenly occurred to me what that rigid lump must be. I shrank away from him as much as I could—which wasn’t very much, since he was still lying on top of me, pinning my hands above my head.
“No, not like that,” Liath growled impatiently. “I’m no fucking rapist—I told you I won’t take what you’re not ready to give.”
“But you…your, uh…it’s hard,” I whispered, nodding downward.
“How can I help getting hard when I have a beautiful maiden wiggling and squirming under me?” he demanded, raising his eyebrows. “My shaft doesn’t just get hard when I’m going to fuck, you know—it gets hard when I’m fucking aroused and you’re the most arousing thing I’ve seen in a very long time.”
I shook my head.
“I don’t believe you. Asfaloth always says—” I stopped abruptly, embarrassed to admit what my cruel cousin said of me.
But Liath wouldn’t let me get away with it.
“No, go on. What does that ass say?” he demanded.
I looked away.
“He says looking at me would make any male sick—that the sight of my curves would turn his stomach.”
Liath growled—a sound of pure frustration.
“All right—after a lifetime of that kind of bullshit, no wonder you think you’re ugly. As I said before, I’m going to have to show you.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked but he was already rolling off me. I sat up in the bed and watched in confusion as he walked across the room.
There was a large oval mirror in a golden frame which was taller than me. It was mounted in a heavy marble stand which I was sure wasn’t meant to be moved. But Liath picked it up with one hand and carried it back. He set it up beside the bed and then beckoned to me.
“Come down here.”
“What if I don’t want to?” I asked in a low voice.
Liath gave me a stern look.
“Then I’ll come and get you. Is that what you want, little bird?”
“I’ll run and hide,” I threatened. “Somewhere you’ll never find me. Somewhere outside the palace.”
“Then you’ll freeze,” he said shortly. “You’re used to the eternal Summer of the Seelie Court. You won’t make it an hour outside in the snow.”
He was probably right, I thought. But I didn’t want to just do whatever he said—I was too stubborn to want to be an obedient wife. However, I had to confess I was intrigued. How was he going to “show” me I was beautiful?
Reluctantly, I came down off the bed and went to him—though I didn’t stand too close.
“All right, good.” Liath nodded. “Now take off your gown.”
“What?” I took a step back, clutching the long blue gown to me nervously. “I don’t think so!”
He blew out a breath and ran a hand through his long hair.
“Do you really still think I’m going to rape you?”
“It…wouldn’t really be rape,” I pointed out faintly. “Not…not by the laws of our people.”
Which was true. But the laws of Fae marriage, he was my husband now, so he owned me.
But Liath was shaking his head again.
“Little bird, I’d never force myself on you. For one thing, I’m not a fucking rapist, as I said before. For another, you’ll soon have more power than anyone in either realm. I’d be a fool to provoke you.”
I shook my head.
“What are you talking about? I don’t have even a tiny spark of magic in my whole body! How could I be more powerful than anyone in either realm?”
“That’s a lesson for another day. For now, take off your gown and come to me.” Liath frowned at me. “And if we have to do it this way, we will—as your husband, I order you to do as I say.”
