How difficult.
He let out a low growl and slammed her bedroom door shut as he walked inside. This was a huge space, and yet the way that he filled it was almost overwhelming.
Made it so that she couldn’t breathe.
How could she be so angry at him and yet also…?
The truth was, she had spent her life exposed to men. But most of them had been her family. And the ones that weren’t, were people like the vile dictator her father had been intent on forcing her to marry.
She had never been left alone in any sort of capacity with a man like Ragnar.
A man who was as compelling as he was terrifying.
A man who really might be closer to beast than human.
He was so large. So broad.
All of the men in her family had olive skin, black hair—like her own—and fine features. The kind that could easily put them on the cover of fashion magazines—and several of her brothers had been featured on such magazines. Ragnar was completely different.
He was rough-hewn, as if he had been carved from stone. His blond hair shaved at the sides, longer on the top, pushed back off of his face. His blue eyes were fierce, and his full beard added to his feral look. He didn’t wear suits. Even today, he had been dressed in war regalia. And now he was back in the same all-black sweater and pants she had seen him in before.
There was nothing practiced or artful about him. In fact, he was frighteningly authentic and honest. He made her want to hide.
Not because of his broad shoulders and well-muscled arms, but because she was quite certain that he could see through her.
In a way that no one else ever had.
Maybe in a way she had never even seen herself. Not even after three years in a convent pondering her life, her feelings, her motives.
When he looked at her now, he made her throat go dry.
“You could keep me in a dungeon,” she said, steeling up all her courage as she moved closer to him. “I understand that. But I don’t think you will. You’re a very smart man, Ragnar. Everything that I’ve seen of you so far suggests that. And you know that I’m no use to you if I’m a prisoner. If I’m a prisoner, then you could have taken any woman.”
“That isn’t true. I have now earned the allegiance of your father.”
“You could have more.”
Those words landed between them, and something flared in the depths of his icy gaze. Her heart leaped, her stomach going tight. And all at once it didn’t feel like they were discussing diplomacy. Not a ball, not relations with Cape Blanco. All at once, it felt like something darker. Something more personal.
Something she truly had no experience with at all.
“Could I?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.
She curled her fingers into fists, her nails digging into her palms. A strange thrill shot through her core, and she had to fight the urge to press her thighs together. She didn’t want him to see her react. She didn’t want to betray the strange feelings that were rioting through her system, not at least until she could get a grasp on what they were.
“Yes,” she said, swallowing hard. “In that I know how to manage all of this. I understand how to do this part. I learned from watching my father. And even though I don’t respect him, even though I think he’s kind of a terrible person, he is very good at making connections. So good that he even cozied up with an evil dictator. And he’ll cozy up to you as well. He has no real morals where that is concerned. I do, though. I just also know…”
He lifted an eyebrow. “How to manipulate people?”
“I don’t like to call it that. But I suppose it is. But isn’t that actually what diplomacy is? You tweak everything just right until the other party is happy. In this case, we want them to see what you are offering. And why you’re making things different. You’ve had a few years now to settle in, and now you’ve got married. So it’s time to show everyone who you are now. And exactly where this country’s going.”
“It is a bit of a bait and switch, considering that you’re a temporary addition.”
“So you’re going to have to outshine me,” she said.
He chuckled. “Some have said that my personality is lacking.”
“You said that you wanted help with that. Well, I can.”
