you’re having me move back in?” she asked.
“That is what I said.”
“But you threw me out!”
“And now I am throwing you in. Things have changed.”
“The sex, you mean.”
“Between men and women there is very little else.”
She frowned. “Is that true?
“In my experience. Though what we have is very good sex. As I said, it is not always like that. It has never been like that for me.”
“Yes,” she said, climbing up the bed, pulling the covers back and burrowing beneath them. “Because you have vast experience.” Her voice was muffled by the blankets.
“What are you doing? Are you burrowing?”
“I am not.” She shifted beneath the covers. “I’m cold.”
“I think you’re hiding from me.” He pulled the covers back and she made a sharp, short sound of protest. He slipped beneath them, alongside her, and covered them both back up. “Do not hide from me.”
He didn’t know why he cared. Didn’t know why it mattered. Only that he had felt connected to another person for the first time in longer than he could remember, and he didn’t want anything to disturb that. He didn’t want her hiding from him.
“This is very new.”
“I know. You wanted to experience things.”
“Well.” She shifted, moving away from him slightly. “Now this, and you, are things that I have experienced.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her up against his body. “This was not a onetime thing. You are going to be my wife. That means you will share my bed.”
“If...if I am your wife, and I share your bed, that means you will not share it with other women.” It was not a question; her tone was fierce.
He had not intended that. Not at all. But this was a test of his control. He clenched his teeth. “Yes. I swear it.”
She looked straight ahead, her dark eyes unreadable. “Then...yes. Yes, we will go forward with the wedding.”
ZARA WOKE UP feeling different. It took her a moment to figure out exactly why. Mostly because though she woke up in Andres’s room, she woke up in an empty bed. The sheets were cold, and it was clear that Andres hadn’t been between them for hours.
She sat up, holding the blankets to her chest. She looked out the small window that was behind the bed, and saw that the sun was high in the clear December sky. She got up, leaving the blankets behind, gazing outside at the landscape. It was covered in snow, the light glittering over the pristine blanket. It was late. She had no idea how late.
They had left the lunch yesterday, and then...all of that had happened. They had come back to the room. There had been the bath. Then the rest. Then more. And eventually, she had fallen asleep. Somewhere in there, she was pretty certain she had agreed to marry him. She looked down at her left hand and saw that she was still wearing his ring. Yes, she had definitely agreed.
And apparently she had also been in bed for nearly twelve hours.
She groaned and turned back to the bed, flopping down over the top of it. Right then the doors to the room burst open. She scrambled for the blankets, pulling them over her naked body.
“Oh, good,” Andres said, closing the doors behind him. “You’re awake.”
“Barely,” she said.
“We have somewhere to be.”
“What?” She sat up. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t know until recently. And because you have been asleep.”
“I would have thought your schedule would be more fixed.”
He shook his head. “Regrettably, no. I don’t normally live here at the palace.”
The statement took her by surprise. She had assumed that Andres lived here. Then she realized she had not been here very long, and they had never discussed it. “You don’t?”
“No. I have penthouses in a few of the major cities in the world. I try to avoid being under my brother’s roof when possible. Sadly, of late, it has not been possible.”
“So we... We won’t live here?”
“No. Unless it is very important to you.”
She shook her head. “No. I... Which cities?”
“Paris. New York. London.”
“I should like to live in those. All of them.”
“Sometimes we will.”
For the first time she felt wholly pleased with the idea of marrying him.
“I see that you like that.” A smile curved the corner of his lips. He seemed pleased that she was pleased. And that made her feel...pleased. She had the feeling that sex made people slightly crazy and she was suffering the aftereffects of that. She had spoken very boldly of all she knew about it. Because she had of course been aware that it happened around her in the camp. Caravans, tents, were not soundproof.
Still, she had never had these kinds of feelings about anyone. So the entire concept might as well be foreign.
“I have never been anywhere. Never, not in my life. Coming here to Petras was the first time I had ever been outside Tirimia. And since coming here...I haven’t left the palace.”
“Well, you will be leaving today.”
“I see you have everything all planned out. It would be nice if you would share those plans with me.”
“We are going to a Christmas play.”
Zara sputtered. That was about the last thing she had expected for him to say. “I didn’t expect that.”
“Several of the local schools are putting on a program. Kairos and Tabitha were unavailable and someone from the royal family needs to be there.”
“So we are going.” She was a part of the royal family now. She was a part of the family. The thought made a warm sensation bloom in her chest and start to spread outward, making her fingertips, her legs, her toes feel warm too. She hadn’t realized until that moment just how cold she had been.
“Yes. Your clothes have already been selected and are being sent up.”
“If you aren’t careful I could fall into the habit of letting you take care of things for me.” She took a deep breath. “It’s sort of nice not to have to worry about details.”
“I’m not worrying about your details. Untold legions of palace staff are. I prefer for them to worry about mine, as well.”
“It is quite a luxury.”
“I’m surprised to see that you aren’t hissing and spitting. I should have used sex to quiet you down from the first moment.”
She glared at him, completely annoyed with herself as she felt her face heat. She was certain she was not looking angry so much as flushed and eager. How irritating that being with him had in fact stolen some of her thunder.
“I did not fight with you for no reason. I’m hardly going to do it just for the sake of it.”
“Yes, I know, it was all about your freedom.”
The warmth in her chest only grew in intensity. She felt...understood. She could not remember the last time, if ever, she had felt that. A knock on the door to the bedchamber broke the tension between