Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 35481 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35481 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
“What about them?”
“They were beautiful.”
“Were they?”
“They were.” She gave him a hesitant glance through her lashes. “I fear I cannot compare.”
“You do.” Though at dinner, he hadn’t thought so. He’d thought her merely pretty. Yet now Bane couldn’t take his gaze from her. Perhaps because her hair was down, thick black curls spilling down her back. Or perhaps it was the simplicity of her nightgown, and the way it teased and hinted at the shape of her body.
Yet he was not looking at her hair or her gown. Not when he couldn’t tear his gaze from her eyes.
She glanced at his face again. So quickly. Hesitantly, he’d thought before.
But that look was calculating. Cunning.
As if the princess was judging his response so that she could decide how to move forward.
Something twisted in his chest, a strange ache that resembled the warning burn of the venom that coursed through his veins. Yet it wasn’t pain. It wasn’t agony.
It was want. It was longing. A yearning…for whatever he’d glimpsed behind that mask.
Never had Bane given much thought to the kind of woman he desired to be his. He’d never given much thought to women at all, unless they were warriors serving in the Gocean army. But now he knew.
He wanted fire. He wanted cunning. He wanted someone who could slice him open with a look and expose what he hadn’t even known was inside him.
Biting her lip again, she glanced away, a picture of timid innocence.
“Don’t do that,” he said gruffly.
Her gaze shot back to his, eyes widening in guileless surprise, asking breathlessly, “Have I displeased you, Your Majesty?”
“Don’t pretend to be shy. You’re not.”
She stilled, watching him. Calculating again.
The longing in his chest began to pulse through his blood. Pushing him toward her. Drawing him toward her. Helplessly, he went—and his need for her rose when she didn’t back away, but remained motionless as he slowly circled around behind her.
Voice low, he asked, “You came to these chambers seeking something—and do not tell me that you wish to know me better.”
“But I do.”
Without even seeing her eyes, he knew they would be sparking with amusement again. Unable to resist, he dipped his head lower, inhaling the lavender scent of her hair, growling softly into her ear, “What do you want from me, Princess?”
And her reply was as quiet as his, and not a bit girly or breathy. “Do you truly hope to unite our kingdoms?”
“I do.” If his brother would kindly die. Otherwise Bane would settle for her kingdom and unite Phaira and Gocea by a family bond of blood…even if he hated the brother tied to him. “Do you?”
“Very much. Especially if we can persuade my parents to give up their power early. If our kingdoms are truly united, if we intend to make one kingdom of Phaira and Gocea…that one kingdom cannot be ruled by two kings and two queens.”
Ah, and there it was. Something else hidden behind the mask. Ambition.
Yet why conceal it? Perhaps to keep her parents from realizing that she would conspire against them as she was now.
Bane continued his circle, stopping when he faced her. Her head tilted back to steadily meet his gaze. “Would your king and queen give up their power early?”
“No.”
Then Bane would see that they did after his marriage to this princess. King Robard and Queen Aveline would find themselves locked in that palatial chamber he’d planned for them.
But Bane no longer thought that he would lock away the princess there, too.
She drew a deep breath. “And so I worry…”
“Of what?” He would take her worries away.
“I worry that during these bridal negotiations, my parents might realize how much power they would relinquish and withdraw the offer of my hand.”
Soon they would have little choice but to give her to him. Yet he wondered what she intended by coming here. “Then what do you propose?”
A sly smile graced her lips. Her fingers rose to the ribbon at the closure of her nightgown and pulled. Silk slithered over bare skin to puddle around her dainty feet.
Her gaze boldly met his. “I propose, Your Majesty, that we come to know each other much better.”
2
Bane
The princess was glorious. Absolutely glorious.
Her body was exquisite, too. Not that he’d had more than a glimpse of her nude figure before his gaze returned to her face and his brain seized up. That cunning gleam was lighting her eyes again.
Because she’d made a plan that was just like his.
Almost just like his.
She’d come to his chambers so that her parents would be forced to let them marry. But the princess meant to wed Tamas—with the intention of securing two kingdoms. Yet upon marrying Bane, she would only rule one.
He would ruin her plans. He would disappoint his wife before their marriage even began. Yet Bane could not—he could not—let this glorious woman marry his twin.