Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
I grab her face gently with both of my big hands. I place my lips gently on hers and then give her the barest hint of my tongue. I growl against her lips as I feel her own tongue touch mine. It’s a promise of things to come, and I don’t know how long I will make it before I make good on my promises.
I wanted to walk out of here with her over my shoulder, but I know that she deserves a beautiful wedding day, even though I care for none of it. The wedding was merely a means to make her mine. But every princess should have the day she’s wanted since birth, and I am determined to give it to her.
“Shall we, my wife?” I offer, holding out my arm and leading her to the reception line.
Alena looks at me with a little shock before she puts her hand in the crook of my arm and nods for me to lead.
The receiving line is long, and I know we’ll be greeted by well-wishers and dignitaries for quite a long time. But I don’t plan on letting Alena go while this is happening. People can say hello to her, but no one touches my princess.
11
Alena
Roman has one arm wrapped around the back of my chair while his other hand can’t seem to stop touching me. From small brushes against my arm to full-on grabbing my thigh under the table. They’re all possessive yet soft. Even when it’s just moving a strand of my hair off my shoulder. He has some sort of obsession with my hair. A few times I even caught him smelling it.
“Your hair reminds me of the sun. I hope our daughters have it,” he says, as if reading my thoughts.
I turn to look at him, the sweetness of his words making me feel warm all over. He leans in, taking my lips in a slow kiss before pulling back. I can tell he’s fighting control. He wants to take the kiss deeper.
“You like it? I’ve always thought it made me look different from the rest of my family,” I admit. “I’ve thought about dyeing it.”
“I forbid it.” He doesn’t say it like a demand, more as if he’s in shock at the thought of me doing anything to change myself. “It’s the first thing about you that caught my attention. I thought you looked bright, full of life. I wanted that.”
My mouth falls open a little, and his eyes catch the motion. He licks his own lips as if he’s trying to remember what I taste like.
“You seem so dark,” I admit, scooting a little closer to him. Not that there is much space to begin with. He’d already pulled my chair right up next to his. I reach up and touch his face, and he leans into my touch.
“Maybe that’s why I need your light.”
“That’s incredibly sweet.” I smile at him as tears burn the back of my eyes. He doesn’t seem anything like I first thought he would be.
Suddenly he’s picking me up and putting me on his lap.
“Oh God.” I bury my face in his neck, knowing my cheeks are probably flaming red. We are sitting at the front of the room while the wedding party is in full swing. Roman said there would be no first dance, and the party just started. I was happy about that. I didn’t like the idea of getting up and dancing with only the two of us on the dance floor. He said he didn’t like the idea of everyone looking at me moving around in this wedding dress. I didn’t even know what that meant.
He runs his hand along my back. “It was either put you in my lap or pull you out of here. I don’t like when your eyes fill with tears. It does something to me, something I don’t like.”
I snort against him. My snort turns into a laugh, and I can’t stop giggling. “You mean you don’t like emotions.” I can barely get the words out through my laughter, and I lean back to look at him. He’s giving me a giant smile.
“That feels good. I like your laughter against me.”
“How do you do that, seem so cold one second and warm the next?”
“Am I cold with you? I don’t mean to be. All I feel when I’m around you is the need to be closer. The need to have you. When you’re close, I feel…” He pauses as if he’s looking for the right word. “Whole.”
A rush of love for this man courses through me. I’m floored that this warrior-like man needs me to feel whole. I try to think about when he’s been cold to me, but when I replay in my head the times we’ve spent together, I realize he hasn’t been cold at all. He’s been intense. His one mission has been clear. He wants me. Even thinking back to the first day when I thought he was being a jerk, he wasn’t. He was worried about me. Wanted me near him. Everything I’ve asked for, he’s given me instantly. Unless it was to have distance from him.