CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ronan watched Dominique through dinner.She was quieter than usual, her icy armor firmly in place and twice as frigid.
Oh, she was upset with him. That much he knew. He was going to have to do some fast talking if he didn’t want her to break one of the icicles off her armor and stab him in the gut with it.
Then again, the way she was looking at him and then at her steak knife made him think she might stab him with an actual weapon rather than a metaphorical one. Discreetly, he slipped her knife off the table and put it on the other side of his plate, out of her reach.
She shot him a glare, her eyes arctic blue, and he knew she wasn’t going to let him off the hook easily when they were alone.
Nearly three hours later, dinner was consumed, and after-dinner drinks were shared in the main parlor. The king and queen took their leave, which meant the rest of the guests could now go as well.
After a quick goodbye to his sister and a promise that he would let her spend time with Dominique the next morning, Ronan led his silent fiancée back toward her room. When sheopened her door, he opened his mouth, intending to tell her they should talk.
But Dominique beat him to the punch. Her hand reached out, fisted the front of his shirt, and she dragged him into her bedroom with her. For anyone watching from afar, it would look like she was eager for some alone time with her fiancé. He knew better, though. She planned to vent her rage, and she wasn’t going to let her target get away.
Anticipation filled him when she slammed the door shut behind them and stomped across the room. When she turned back toward him, the ice princess was long gone. Her cheeks were flushed a deep pink, and her eyes sparkled like chips of ice blue diamonds. Even her hair seemed to crackle and move with the force of her anger.
“What in thehelldo you think you’re playing at?” she bellowed, tossing her beaded evening bag on the bench at the end of the bed. “You want to get married this weekend? Are you fucking INSANE?”
He was enraptured by the change in her. She wore her emotions on every line of her body, and she was letting him see it all. He felt like he was meeting the real Dominique Proxa for the first time. She was magnificent—fierce and strong. Completely unafraid to tell him what she thought.
She didn’t wait for his answer. “You have no idea what you’ve done. Your mother is planning to contact my family. I can guarantee it. If she does, they will waste no time getting here. They will do whatever it takes to make sure we marry and stay that way. They’re power hungry, Ronan. They don’t want to just be highly regarded in the kingdom. They want toruleit. They will lie, cheat, steal, even kill to make it happen. I have no doubt they’ll try to drug me again to make it happen. And, if they find the opportunity, they will drug you as well. We’ll be their mindless puppets. You’ve put us both in danger. And you didn’teven bother to discuss it with me. Plus, your sister will be in peril, too! If they feel she’ll get in their way, they will get rid of her by whatever means necessary.”
Dominique seemed to finally wind down, her chest heaving from the force of her anger and fear.
Ronan took a step toward her. “I told you I would handle your family, and I will. We will both be safe from them. And so will Aisling.”
She rolled her eyes at his words. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with. You’ve never met myrealfamily! The bowing and scraping, the simpering, it’s all an act. It’s a mask for the ugliness beneath their skin. They are evil, Ronan, and you shouldn’t underestimate them.”
He crept closer to her, recognizing the sincerity of her words. She wasn’t being dramatic or exaggerating. She genuinely feared what her family would do to her and to him when they found out about the marriage.
“I will watch them closely whenever we’re near them. I won’t let them harm either of us.”
She huffed out a breath. “How do you intend to do that? They are very good at pretending to be decent.”
“I followed you for weeks, and you never noticed,” he pointed out.
Dominique stepped away from him and threw her hands up in the air. “Of course I didn’t notice you! I was in the human realm. I don’t have to worry about anything but the occasional creepy human man. But my parents and sisters are different. They expect spies around every corner and behind every bush. They will be looking for you.” She paced back and forth, rubbing the back of her neck with one hand.
Ronan stepped into her path, grasping her by her elbows. “You don’t know me all that well, Princess. If you did, you would know that no one sees me unless I want them to.”
She tried to jerk away, but he cupped her jaw with one hand, holding her still. “You don’t know me or my family well enough to be so cocky, Ronan. And don’t call me princess, Your Highness!” She spat the words at him, her eyes sparking with fire.
Now that he had his hands on her, Ronan didn’t want to let her go. He backed her up against the wall, pinning her there by moving his hands up to each side of her neck. His fingers tangled in her hair, scattering the pins she’d used to hold it up.
“If I don’t want you to see me, you won’t. Not until it’s too late.” He could feel her pulse thrumming against his palm.
Dominique was still breathing heavily, her eyes flashing. The low neckline of her dress gaped, giving him a tantalizing glimpse of what lay beneath. Not that he needed the reminder. The image of her clad in her lacy underwear had haunted him all night. “Just know, if they catch you and brainwash you, I can’t help you. You’ll be their drugged-up marionette for the rest of your short life.”
Their faces were only inches apart. She’s even more beautiful with the pink flush in her cheeks and her hair mussed. She didn’t look a thing like the ice princess he thought she was. She looked like the woman he wanted.
His eyes moved over her face, taking in her burning eyes before moving down to her mouth. He couldn’t resist her undone like this. It made him want to see what it took to unravel her completely.
He kissed her.
Ronan expected her to shove him away, to tell him to go to hell. Instead, she stepped into him, her arms wrapping around his waist. Her nails dug into his back through the thin material of his shirt. He grunted when she dug them in hard enough to leave marks, making her anger with him known.
He used his grip on her hair to tug her head back, positioning her where he wanted her. Dominique Proxa might be in charge in the human realm, but in this room, he was in control.
