I glare at him. “I think it's already been established that I can do nothing about my situation.”
“You’re right.” He smirks. “You can’t. And I meant what I said before.” Withdrawing himself, he gathers me against his chest. “Any other man touches you and I’ll cut off their hands. You’re mine now, wife. Completely. Don’t forget that.”
My lips clamp shut. Tauren might love me, but I feel nothing of the sort for him. The fluttering in my chest is fear. So is the warmth in my belly.Fear. That’s all.
As if sensing my thoughts, Tauren places a hand over my stomach. His thumb strokes my skin, slowing my breathing until a horrible, awful thought takes hold of me.
“Am I going to have a baby now?”
Tauren chuckles. “What?”
Panic grips my chest. “Father said if I lose my virtue, I’ll have a baby. But I don’t want a baby. Not right now. I’m not ready. I can’t?—”
“Hush.” He kisses the back of my head. “You will not have a baby unless you decide to have one.”
I shake my head. “But Father said?—”
“There is a herb you can take to prevent pregnancy,” he explains. “I’ll have it put in your tea when we return to the castle.”
My racing heart slows a little. “So I won’t have a baby?”
I don’t hate babies, but horses are better, so are dogs, cats, frogs, even wolves.
Then again, Tauren’s babies…
“You will not have a child,” he chuckles as I force all thoughts of cute horned babies away. “Like I said, there will be no children unless you decide the time is right. The choice is yours, sweetheart. Always.”
I try not to think about how warm those words make me feel, focusing instead on the soft glow of the fire. Tauren runs his fingers through my hair, pressing kisses against my head as we lie together. It feels good enough to make me shudder.
Without thinking, I adjust my rear against his hips.
“Careful, wife,” he growls. “Or I may remember I haven’t yet punished you for running away. I wanted to keep things sweet for your first time.”
“Maybe I don’t want you to be sweet.” The words just fall out of me.
He chuckles, and drags his fingers through my hair, massaging my scalp. It feels nice. Like someone taking my hair out after a long?—
I smack my hand over my mouth, gasping.
“Dahlia?” Tauren sits up. “What is it?”
I stare up at his blond hair, black horns, dark eyes. Since coming here, I knew there was something familiar about him. More than just from our meeting at the party. Claren, too… I’ve seen their features before.
“What does your sister look like? Does she look like you?”
“She does…” His eyes narrow, the same dark eyes I saw in that strange girl at the inn. “Why?”
“I’ve met your sister.”
His lips part. “What? Where? Are you certain it was her?”
“Yes, it must’ve been.” I drag my hand through my hair. “There was a demon girl at the inn on the way to Lord Elheart’s palace. She was with the guard so he must’ve sent her there toreceive me. She was my handmaid. She looked just like you and Claren.”
“How was she?” he stammers. “Was she hurt?”
I shake my head. “She didn’t look injured. She was very quiet, though. I’m pretty sure she couldn’t talk. Could she talk before?”
Tauren looks grave. “Yes. That’ll be Elheart’s doing. I’m certain of it.” His brow dips as he thinks. “You said she was at the inn?”
