My skin prickled under his touch.
Instead of helping me down, he spun me in a circle, his face beaming with delight. “Oh, my beautiful Alina.”
I forced a smile, dizzy from both the motion and my growing disgust. When my feet touched the earth, Davide lunged forward for a kiss.
I stepped back just in time, avoiding his lips.
He froze, blinking as if he couldn’t fathom what had happened.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “Is something wrong? Is my wildcat lover suddenly shy?”
I stared at him, the bitterness rising like bile in my throat.
Yes, I had defied the rules of modern propriety with Davide—just as I had with others. But this… this had turned into something else entirely.
Davide didn’t see me as a lover.
He saw me as a prize.
A wife.
A possession.
And that… was unacceptable.
“Of course not, darling,” I purred, slipping easily into the role he expected. “I only wish to enjoy the beauty of this land before we get lost in each other’s arms.”
I stepped closer, trailing my fingers lightly along his neatly trimmed beard.
His face lit up, clearly convinced I was playing coy.
“Of course, my sweet,” he said. “Let me settle you—and then I’ll tend to the horses.”
He strode to the back of the carriage and retrieved a neatlypacked wicker picnic basket. Without asking for my preference, he chose a patch of grass he deemed suitable, unrolling the blanket with a flourish and laying out food and wine as if he were the hero of some romantic tale.
“My darling Alina,” he said, gesturing grandly. “Would you care to join me?”
I tilted my head and smiled sweetly. “Aren’t you going to turn the horses out in the grass?” I asked, voice like honey. “You don’t expect them to inhale road dust all afternoon, do you?”
He blinked, glancing toward the still-hitched Andalusians. “You’re right, my dear. I lost my head for a moment.”
As he fussed with the reins and unbuckled harnesses, I moved behind him silently.
Then, I screamed.
A sudden shriek that shattered the peaceful air.
I clapped my hands loudly, stomping the ground. The horses reared, startled, their muscles tightening with alarm. They tossed their heads, snorting and whinnying, hooves scraping the earth as panic set in.
Their eyes widened in terror. They tugged violently at their restraints, shrieking into the sky.
“Alina!” Davide shouted, spinning toward me, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Stop this foolish behavior at once!”
I didn’t stop.
I screamed again.
Louder.
