His eyes were fixed on her lips like he wanted to snatch another kiss, but he held himself back. Resting one hand on the wall behind her, he leaned in and said, “Now that it is just the two of us, tell me the truth. Did anyone force you into the marriage?”
She swallowed, feeling the creep of dread run up her extremities. She’d been afraid of this conversation ever since King Aleth had first told her about the plan to marry Trei. “Not by physical force, no.” As soon as Rangar’s face darkened, she quickly added, “But it was a political necessity. There was no other way to unite our kingdoms. You aren’t the crown heir, so if I’d married you, you wouldn’t be king of both the Mirienandthe Baersladen.”
His face went stony, and she touched her palm to his scarred cheek. “Rangar, listen. The wedding was the last thing I wanted. I didn’t know that’s why they had sent you away to the borderlands. They cornered me after you’d left and explained the situation. Trei and I were both terribly upset about it but ultimately didn’t see any option but to put duty before love.”
His eyes narrowed. “You and Trei. A happy couple already, is that it?” A shadow crossed his face as he leaned in and dropped his voice dangerously. “Did you like it when he fucked you last night in your newlywed bed?”
She gasped, then grew angry and slammed a fist against his chest. “For your information, wedidn’tconsummate the marriage yet out of respect for you and Saraj.”
Rangar narrowed his eyes and seemed to consider this for some time, but his temper didn’t cool. He barked, “You saidyet.”
She knit her fingers together anxiously. “Well, I mean, I don’t see what choice I have eventually . . . ”
“What choice other than to ride my brother like a stallion?”
“Rangar!” She clapped a hand over her mouth, aware that the guards were close. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Don’t speak like that.”
He raised his other hand to the wall, caging her between his arms. “Bryn, you have no idea what I’ve felt these past few days. When Valenden’s messenger told me about the wedding, I didn’t think you would go through with it. I rode day and night to save you, knowing you had to have been forced into it.” He looked away, wounded. “Only to arrive too late. And to learn that you weren’t forced at all.”
She gripped his arm, shaking him. “Rangar, please. You’re torturing me! I can’t put what’s between us above my entire kingdom, despite however much I want you.”
A formidable look sprang into his eyes. “And how much is that?”
She was very aware of the fact that his body was practically flush against hers. She could feel the rigidity of his muscles and suspected that it extended to the manly part between his legs. If she only shifted her hips forward, she’d feel his desire. She sucked in a breath at the thought. Her heart began to thump in her chest.
“We can’t,” she whispered. “I’m married. It’s wrong.” Still, her skin was begging for his touch, and she couldn’t keep herself from arching her back, grazing his chest with her own.
He lowered his lips to her ear and muttered, “It was wrong of my family to wed you to my brother, knowing it would destroy me. I don’t care a damn about propriety, Bryn.”
“If they catch us, they could lock us both up for treason.”
“It’s worth the dungeon to be with you.”
Before she could protest, he captured her lips again. Her first instinct was to struggle, but the surge of need that rose in her at the touch of their lips made her body go still. A fluttery sensation spread from her lips to the base of her belly, and she felt herself shivering from want. The sweat dripping down her temples only made her more flushed.
She squirmed against the wall, brushing her hips against his, and felt the stiffness there that told her how badly his own need was.
As he devoured her lips, all thoughts of propriety left her mind. While he’d been away, she’d been able to fool herself into believing they could both move on with enough time, but now she realized what they had wouldn’t die that easily.
As he melded his body to her curves, he dropped a hand to the small of her back. He moved it low until he could cup her bottom, then pulled her tightly against his hips.
She gasped, tossing her head back.
“He’ll never make you feel like this,” Rangar growled in her ear. “Like your body is on fire.”
Yes. She knew that now. She’d experienced some pleasant feelings with Trei, even a brief spark when he’d kissed her, but nothing like this.
Rangar’s hand began to bunch up her skirt to her thigh. He stroked her bare leg, leaving her trembling in urgency. She felt her nipples harden under her blouse and leaned forward to graze them against his chest, moaning at the brush of contact.
“No man will ever give you pleasure as I do.” He grabbed her by the back of her neck, pulling her close so he could tease her ear with his teeth. His other hand, plunged under her skirt, trailed to the thin undergarments that were already soaked with her desire. “I don’t want him to have you.”
“He’s my husband,” she panted.
He pushed her back hard against the wall, panting now himself. “Then let me have you first.”
Her eyes widened. What he was proposing was adultery, a serious crime. Even in the eyes of her saints and his gods, there was little worse than being unfaithful to a wedded partner. Before she’d married Trei, she would have willingly let Rangar make love to her. It washimwho had wanted to wait until marriage. But now, she was bound by an oath.
“We can’t.”
