Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 26177 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26177 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
My legs were firmly around him, he was clearly turned on, and I’d just kissed him in one of the tearooms. “Ummm, this was a bet?”
“You lost before you even started.” He pointed out, gently tucking my hair behind my ears with both hands, his jeweled red blood crested ring was cold against my neck, reminding me that even if it felt good in the moment, he wasn’t my forever. “Though you do taste good, something I shouldn’t even really know about, which I’ll promptly forget.” He nipped at my lips again, like he couldn’t help himself. “Maybe I’ll sample you, then give you to him.”
Who was this guy?
He wasn’t what I expected from boring Frederick. Did he have some weird kink I didn’t know about?
I squirmed against him, suddenly uncomfortable.
“Ahhh.” He nodded and backed away. “And there it is, for someone who claims to want to marry anyone, you still want romance, you still want love, you don’t want to be led by lust, in fact, I imagine if I tried to”—he slid a hand down my shoulder dangerously close to my chest, I shoved him away and slid down the wall—“Exactly.”
“What? What does exactly mean?” My voice sounded so desperate and pathetic, had he really called my bluff?
He took a step back and wiped his mouth with his black-and-white striped handkerchief, wait was he literally wiping my spit? “It means, you still want what you want, and I could seduce the hell out of you right now and it would be meaningless for both of us, why don’t you do the opposite of what you want to do and attempt to get to know him? You might actually like him.”
“Or I could still hate him.”
“Stubborn wench.”
I gasped in horror. “Did you just call me a wench?”
His eyebrows narrowed into a squint. “Well, I was going to call you something else, but it was more inappropriate, started with a C and I still have some decorum.”
My eyes shot open. “What?”
He grinned. “I’m kidding. Go.”
“Where?”
Frederick looked around the room, his eyes wide like I was the idiot in the scenario. “To the man you’re supposed to marry, find a way to get to know him and if you truly want out…” He sighed and hung his head like I was the chore. “I’ll marry you.”
My stomach dropped to my feet. “That wasn’t romantic.”
“Again, you want romance, you want connection, you want love, and I can promise you, I will always love my books and my country more than my wife and that’s the truth, so if you choose this path just know other than some great nights together—a friendship—you’ll be lonely, I would never give you my heart.”
I crossed my arms, needing to distance myself from him or maybe even protect myself. “And he would?”
“Better question…” Frederick caressed my face with his thumb before dropping his hand. “Who wouldn’t?
“You. Arthur.”
He smiled. “We were doomed kings from the start, cursed even, who wants that? One reads all day and the other drinks and sleeps around, maybe try the Yankee for once, words I never thought I’d utter.”
I laughed at that and hung my head. “When the Yankee’s the better choice…”
“Might like it across the pond… hear it goes deep,” Frederick joked.
If blushes and gasps could be heard across the country mine would have been like a giant gong going off.
“Off you go.” Frederick gave me a swift light kick to the butt and shoved me toward the door and, for whatever reason, I kept walking toward Zautland’s room until I stopped in front of it, ready to knock. Everyone was at the castle for the holidays, but he currently occupied the late King’s room and it was daunting to even walk by it knowing that the one next door would one day, possibly be mine if I went through with this sham of an arranged marriage.
The minute I lifted my hand to knock on the door after taking a few deep breaths, he jerked it open wearing a grey wool coat, black leather gloves, and a black scarf that somehow made him more insanely attractive, he had tall black boots on like he was ready to go riding, took one long look at me, shook his head and kept walking.
Out of all the kings, he had the most power. He had the biggest castle, the most money, he was the heir to the three Kingdoms, the king of Kings between all of them. He was basically looked at as the ruler over not only his Kingdom but all three joint Kingdoms.
Women and men alike fainted when they saw him.
People adored him despite his ability to follow any rules.
People wanted him, needed his leadership, and yet I just couldn’t get over the way he held himself. While he was educated, he just didn’t care about royal rules and since I’d been living that way my entire life, hating it by the way, it bothered me that he couldn’t at least make the same sacrifices.