Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Dravic felt it too.
He had meant only to silence the longing that had overtaken him. Instead, the kiss awakened something far stronger.
Reluctantly, he lifted his head.
Neither moved.
Dravic stared at her, every instinct demanding he step away.
What had he done?
He had kissed her. Not as her king nor as her protector. Simply… as a man.
Adira slowly lifted trembling fingers to her lips and looked at him with quiet wonder. She had never imagined she would ever experience a kiss, and never had she imagined it could feel so magical.
Nor had he.
Dravic took a step back. The distance between them felt both welcome and unwelcome.
He pointed to the bed.
Adira’s fingers lingered against her lips one last moment before she nodded and hurried to obey him. She settled herself beneath the blankets and looked at him.
He turned away from her.
It stung her heart that he turned his back on her. But what had she expected him to do? He was the king and she had embarrassed herself in front of him.
Would he punish her?
The sudden thought had her turning her back to him. She did not want to look at him any longer. She did not want to see or feel his regret or anger for kissing her.
The chair creaked softly beneath him as he sat and stared at the fire.
What had possessed him to kiss her?
It was not a stolen kiss meant to amuse himself nor one born of passing desire. It was a kiss that had stirred something deep within him. Something he had no intention of allowing to happen again.
He dragged a hand over his face. Nothing good could come of it.
He was king and she was… Adira.
He turned to look at her. She had turned her back to him. He had no idea what she thought, though he had seen no embarrassment or regret in her eyes. Only a quiet wonder that had nearly undone him.
He looked away again.
She suffered enough, locked in a world of constant silence. She deserved more than becoming a king’s convenience. More than whispered visits in the night. More than being hidden away while another woman wore the crown beside him.
Anger flared in his eyes. He would never do that to her.
Yet marriage… was impossible.
The thought had scarcely formed before Tavish’s voice answered it.
“You cannot risk placing an heir on the throne who cannot hear the cries of his people… or the warnings of those sworn to protect him.”
Dravic closed his eyes. Whatever happened between them could go no further.
It must not.
He could not allow it.
The weight of the unexpected situation settled heavily on his shoulders as he turned his head and cast a glance at the bed.
Adira still lay with her back to him, wrapped tight in the blankets almost as if she wished to bury herself in them… away from him. Only her hair was visible, the fire’s light turning her auburn hair a brighter red.
Had he frightened her? Had she retreated to the fearful woman she had been when he first laid eyes on her? Did the unexpected kiss hurt the trusting relationship they had established?
The thought unsettled him more than the kiss itself.
He did not want to lose what he had with her. He refused to, and besides, he was king, his word law.
He slowly rose from the chair.
Adira squeezed the blanket tighter around her. Fear crept over her recalling the terror she had seen in Eunice’s eyes after the king had summoned her. And how she had begged on her knees to the king. She had never disobeyed the king, never had given him reason to punish her, until now.
He was the king, but he was also an experienced man with women, having seen the different women leave his bedchamber with smiles the next morning when she had been summoned to return to him. He would know. He would have seen for himself that she had wanted him to kiss her.
What punishment awaited her now?
She could not stop her tears from falling or stop the worry that churned her stomach. And she could not stop thinking what a fool she was for having enjoyed the king’s kiss. And worse, she thought how she would hold the memory of it in her heart and mind forever.
More tears slipped silently down her cheeks, and for once she was grateful that no one could hear her cry.
A hand touched Adira’s shoulder.
She flinched at the gentle touch and turned without thinking.
The glimmer of tears on Adira’s cheeks struck Dravic like a hard blow.
He didn’t think. He simply pulled back the blankets and slipped into bed beside her.
Adira stared at him in stunned confusion.
He drew her into his arms. Then with a gentle touch, he wiped the tears off her cheeks.
He was king. He issued commands not gentle words.
So, he ordered, “You will not cry.”