Though she was surprised Ronan knew the guard’s name, Dominique hid her reaction.
“Enjoy your weekend,” Voltan said, tapping the top of Ronan’s door with one hand.
The gates swung open, and Ronan pulled the car through. There was another long drive, and Dominique saw that she was right—there were a lot more guards on this side.
Eventually, they reached the parking area near another hill. There was a large, ornate door built into the side of it. The door was out of place among the tall grass and wildflowers, and it fairly crackled with magic. Ronan parked the truck and turned it off. Without even looking at her, he climbed out.
Dominique took a deep breath, calming the nerves simmering in her stomach. She knew what she was getting into.She only had to play this part for a short time. Just a few days. Then, she could get back to her regular life.
At least for a little while. Then, she would be trapped in this place for a few years.
It wasn’t forever. She had to remind herself of that.
With that thought, Dominique climbed out of the truck just in time to watch Ronan drop her bag on the gravel next to her door. He carried his duffel over one shoulder and strode off.
She rolled her eyes at his back. Between his silence on the way here and his sudden departure from the gentlemanly behavior he’d demonstrated earlier, Ronan was letting her know he was angry with her. In every way possible.
Slamming the door shut behind her, she grabbed her suitcase, sucking in a harsh breath at the heft of it. Though the magic helped some with the weight, it could still get heavy.
Thankfully, she only had to carry it from the truck to the hill, where she followed Ronan across the lot and through the door. Inside, the floors were smooth fae marble, the veins running through the pale pink surface shimmering with rose gold and magic.
Dominique hated to set the wheels of her suitcase down, but there was no way she could carry her bag to wherever her room was. Ronan must be stronger than she realized because, though he’d commented on the weight, he’d had no trouble carrying it.
Before she could take another step, a small female brownie appeared next to her, taking the handle of her bag. Another seemed to come from nowhere to take Ronan’s duffel.
“Your Highness, I’m glad you’re here.”
“Hello, Celeste,” he greeted her. “This is my fiancée, Dominique Proxa. Please put her in the Lake room.”
The brownie’s dark eyes blinked at him and then at Dominique, but she made no comment, just nodded. The two females vanished as quickly as they’d appeared, leavingDominique to wonder if Ronan knew the names of all the castle staff he dealt with. If he did, that changed her view of him. Just a bit.
But he was still an ass.
She also wondered what the Lake room was, but she knew better than to ask. She needed to revert to her old habits. No asking questions. No speaking out of turn. In court, you only spoke when the royal family spoke to you first.
His back still to her, Ronan strode down the hallway, leaving her to follow or get left behind. With a silent sigh, Dominique started off after him, picking up her pace when he turned the corner ahead of her. She had a feeling that if she let him out of her sight, she’d be lost in the maze of castle halls and unable to find someone to help her.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Ronan wasn’tsure why he was so angry about what she’d said on the way here. Calling their engagement a farce. Their future marriage a sham. It was all true, so it shouldn’t bother him at all.
Then, there was her calm demeanor. It was like nothing anyone did or said touched her. Even in the truck, he’d been a complete prick, saying horrible things to her, and, yet, she’d said nothing. Just taken it right to the chin and kept going, like a heavyweight boxer in a championship fight. No, worse. She hadn’t reacted to his nasty words at all. Just sat there, staring out the window in silence afterwards.
The only times he’d broken through were when he kissed her in her kitchen last week. And when he snuck up on her in the deli. He hadn’t even noticed at the time because he’d been so pissed she wasn’t wearing her engagement ring.
It wasn’t until an hour or two later after he’d calmed down, that Ronan remembered the way her body tensed when he sat down and pulled her chair closer. She reacted to him, and he hadn’t even noticed. That was why he’d texted her for proof that she was wearing it.
He wasn’t sure why he wanted to get under her skin so badly. Why he wanted to peel back the calm, competent maskshe wore for the rest of the world. He wanted to see her undone, completely at the mercy of her emotions. Any emotion. Even if it was anger.
The desire was becoming a compulsion. He sensed that if he managed to dig beneath the façade, she would have secrets. Thoughts and feelings she buried so deeply that not even a whisper showed on her face or in the lines of her body.
He wanted to shatter that control she held onto so tightly. He wanted her to feel as off balance as he did.
As Ronan stalked through the castle halls, he realized Dominique was trailing behind him. This wasn’t the image of a loving couple he wanted to present—him stomping through the halls with her following behind.
He stopped suddenly and turned toward her, catching her elbows when she nearly ran into him. Then, he slipped his hand down her forearm to her wrist, the movement covering the crescent moon she wore there. He swore he could feel a pulse of heat beneath his palm where it lay, but the sensation vanished as quickly as it appeared. He twisted their hands so that their palms touched. He laced their fingers together, pulling her into his side,
There. Her fingers tensed between his, and her arm stiffened as though she was controlling the urge to pull away, but she didn’t. As he tugged her with him, she gradually became pliant again, her fingers curving around his knuckles.
