She slides her wrist out of my grasp, nodding before hurrying off to see my niece.
I scrub my hand over my jaw, hiding my grin. Princess Dahlia can avoid me. She can spend this whole party drifting from guest to guest, but that won’t change the equipment that’s waiting for her in my dungeon, for the momentIdecide enough is enough.
If my wife doesn’t respond to pleasure, I will give her the punishment she so seems to crave.
And then she’ll be mine forever.
36
DAHLIA
Fuck it. I down another glass of cherry wine the second I’m far enough from Tauren that he can’t stop me. It’s my fourth, maybe fifth, glass, and it goes down easier than the others. It douses my nerves along with that awful voice in the back of my mind that seems to be getting louder by the minute:
You’re leaving tonight.
You’re going home to Father.
Tauren will forget about you the moment you’re gone.
When the servants brought in a tray of sparkling wine while we were getting changed into our costumes, I drank the first glass within minutes, then downed both Eden’s and Blossom’s. Anything to not think about the carriage that’ll be waiting for us. The carriage I know I have to be in.
Like my sisters said, I can’t stay married to the monster who kidnapped me.
No matter how much I may want for him to break down that carriage door and kidnap me all over again.
“May I take your glass, Your Highness?” I almost stumble into a servant carrying a tray of crystal wine glasses.
“Yes please.” I drop my empty glass onto her tray and help myself to another full one.
The servant’s eyes widen. But before I can tell her to mind her own business, the real reason her eyes are so wide slides up behind me.
“I told you no more wine, my love.” His voice rumbles through me. “Are you trying to test me?”
“I’m thirsty. Dancing is hard work.” I bring the glass to my lips, but he swipes it out of my hand before I can take a sip.
“Then allow my staff to bring you something other than wine.” He waves his fingers at the servant, who dips her head politely. Before she can leave, I snatch up another glass and down it in seconds.
The wine slides down my throat like juice. “I can drink what I like.” I slam the new empty glass onto the servant’s tray. “If you want something other than wine, go drink it yourself.”
Tauren’s smirk turns dangerous enough that my shoulders droop. “You’re right, sweetheart. You can drink what you like.” His fingers brush my neck, curling around my throat. “But it won’t change how I treat you tonight.” He drags me towards him, kissing my forehead. My breath catches. “If you want me to take you while you’re drunk out of your mind then I will,” he purrs. “Makes it all the more easier for me to take what I want from you.”
I push away from him, stumbling enough that he has to catch me by my elbow. “I’m going to see Tamryn.” I dive through the party crowds, ignoring the heat of his gaze on the back of my neck.
Half an hour and several more glasses of cherry wine later, I’m lying on the grass behind Tamryn’s easel, babbling at her while she paints. “And then she found out Father had auctioned her off to Prince Orion, and so she had to kill him and then fakeher own death, and that’s why my eldest sister now lives with an assassin! Isn’t that insane?”
Tamryn nods, smiling at me while she dips her brush into her palette. She does that a lot now. Smiling. I’ve never seen someone look so happy without using any words at all.
I’m about to ask her how she’s doing when she lifts the parchment from her easel and spins it around to show me.
My hands clap over my mouth. “Tamryn!” I wobble to my feet, squealing giddily. “You painted me!” I grasp the parchment, careful not to smudge the wet paint.
The girl in the painting looks just like me, with her hair in the same swan-feather-decorated bun and wearing the same fluffy white tutu. She’s mid-leap on a stage that looks just like the one Tauren set up for us tonight.
“You’re so talented!” I grin.
She bites down on a smile, blushing. When I try to hand the painting back, she waves her hands, gesturing at me.
“You want me to keep it?” I gasp. “Are you sure? It’s so beautiful.”
