“No voyeurism. I promise.”
Her pulse drummed in her ears. She knew he purposely avoided an answer to her question but she let it go. Her inner libido was jumping for joy at the thought of mating with him.
How are you even thinking about doing this?
The whole thing was absurd. She and Sven had known each other for such a short time and their lives were never supposed to cross in the first place.
“What happens if…” She hesitated, not quite believing the words were coming from her mouth. “If I get pregnant?”
For the first time since the conversation started, Sven laughed. Not in a bad way, but warm and comforting like she’d cracked a layer of ice around him. “Bryn, in all the years I’ve had to perform this tradition, that has never happened. I doubt it’ll happen now.”
She shot him a sharp look. “Doubtful isn’t the same as impossible.”
“I’m not asking you for forever,” he said softly. “Just for now. Until I can keep the throne and prove I can carry the responsibility.”
“Are you disappointed that Alitta left?”
She watched him frown but it didn’t seem like disappointment. The last thing she wanted was to be a second option. Not in that manner of definition.
“Alitta was never my choice,” he explained. “Her family is influential in their own way, so the council thought that she was the most qualified option for this time around.” He reached for her hand. “I am not even a little bit disappointed that she will not be fulfilling her obligation. What I feel when I’m around you is something that I have never felt with her.”
“You know your mother and grandmother were not fond of her.” Bryn hated outing their confidences, but she felt that it needed to be said.
He chuckled again. “They have made their feelings toward her crystal clear.” He squeezed her hand. “I am surprised that they told you, though. That means something that they felt comfortable enough with you to disclose that tidbit of gossip.”
“It’s not gossip if it’s true.”
“Touche,” he grinned. “I’m sure they’ll approve of this arrangement if you agree.”
She knew he wasn’t wrong. Silence stretched between them. Bryn stared at the rim of her mug, torn between exasperation and… And what? Excitement? Sexual anticipation? Most of the feelings were not anything she wanted to admit. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he had offered to pay her for her services. She felt like a professional escort.
The sad part was that she loved it.
Finally, she set the cup down with a thud.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
Relief flashed across his face, much too quickly for her liking. She held up her hand. “But only on one condition. After an acceptable amount of time and your crown is safe, you let me go. No questions asked. No strings attached.” She already knew it would break her heart but she wasn’t willing to let him own her.
Sven’s expression sobered, but he nodded. “Agreed. But only once I’m certain that any danger toward you has been terminated.” He bit his lip. “You should know that we’re not entirely certain that Alitta isn’t somehow connected to that danger.”
That surprised her but also made her dislike the other woman even more. She stared at him. The man had turned her life upside down already, and here she was ready to put a new level of chaos into their relationship. “Understood. And if she is involved, I hope we can eliminate her as soon as possible.” It sounded catty, but she didn’t really care. “When do we do this ritual thing?”
“Three days.”
Her head snapped up. “What? That soon?”
“The ritual is in three days. With everything else going on, I know the timing sucks. My assassination attempt, the factthat you were the target of an attack, and my missing brother should take precedence, but the moon cycle comes regardless of anything else that needs to be attended to.”
She nodded, at a loss of anything further to say.
“That means that we have two days to make people believe our relationship is real. To convince them it’s not just a cover. Otherwise, they’ll never accept it.”
“You left that little detail out.” Her gut told her that he had left other details out also. She let out a long breath. “What do we have to do?”
But he only smiled faintly, like he already had a plan. “Just trust me.”
Bryn discovered what that plan was the very next morning. She was sitting with Hilda when Freya and Sven swept into the room.
