Page 74

Ruarok won’t hurt me—not physically, anyway.

Skylar nods and leaves, carefully closing the door behind her.

I know why he’s here. “You’ve heard the news, then?”

“You’re leaving?” he snarls.

“Yes. I’ve promised my hand in marriage to KingRoburtus of Imnor. He has agreed to allow ten thousand of our people into his kingdom to find a safe haven in exchange for my hand. We can prioritize younger families so they have a future.”

Ruarok shakes his head. “King Robertus is old. Like four hundred years old. And he’s huge, too. Last I heard, his belly looks like he’s nine months pregnant. He’ll want to lie with you, Taelyn. You understand that, don’t you? That’s what marriage entails.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m not completely naïve, Ruarok. You’ve helped me with that. I know what it means to be married.”

“And you’re happy with that? The idea of some four-hundred-year-old whale humping you? What if he puts a baby in your belly? Then you’ll have to carry his child as well.”

“A child is always a blessing.”

“No!” He slams his fist against the wall. “I won’t have it.”

I grit my teeth. “It’s not your decision to make.”

“Curse the gods. I don’t give a fuck if it’s not my decision to make. I’ll travel to Imnor and murder the son of a bitch before I let him put his filthy hands on you. I swear it, Taelyn. I’ll not rest a single moment for the rest of my life if I know you’ve become his whore.”

“His wife,” I snap. “And the queen. And I’d leave what remains of Askos to you to rule. You should be happy, Ruarok. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted? Isn’t that what you’ve been fighting for, ever since I released you from the cage? Isn’t it the reason you made sure the door wasn’t shut properly the day you shoved your cock downmy throat? You wanted to make sure people didn’t want me to rule here. You should be thanking me.”

“Thanking you?” he chokes. “How could I thank you for spending the rest of your life torturing me? You think I would get a moment’s peace? You think I wouldn’t constantly have my head filled with the image of you with that man? You think it wouldn’t make me want to tear my heart out of my chest every single second of the day? I swear to the gods, I’d rather spend eternity locked back inside that cage than think of even a moment where someone else is touching you. You’re mine, Taelyn. How can you not see that? You’ve been mine from the very first moment I asked you to dance ten years ago.”

Tears fill my eyes. “No. You don’t get to say that to me. Not now there is no choice. Don’t you see? I have to do this to save our people. I don’t have a future here anymore. You saw to that.”

He grabs me and yanks me against him. “I don’t give a fuck about our people. I’ll stand back and watch every one of them plummet into the depths of the earth before I let you marry someone else.”

I force myself to lift my chin, though my heart is breaking. “And that is why you’ll never make a good king. Because being a good leader means making sacrifices for your people, no matter the hurt it might do to you personally.”

“I don’t care about any of that,” he growls. “All I want is you.”

He grabs my face, and then he’s kissing me, hard, his tongue forcing its way into my mouth. His hands are all over me, tearing the clothes from my body.

“Ruarok, stop,” I gasp.

“No, you’re mine. Your mouth is mine, your pussy is mine, your ass is mine. I’ll die before I let another man touch you that way.”

He tears down the front of my dress, baring my breasts. He cups one roughly in his hand, pinching the nipple so hard I cry out. He’s lit that desire inside me, though, that need I only ever seem to experience when I’m with him. My pussy tingles and throbs, needing to feel him there.

It’s just sex, I remind myself. That’s all he wants. All he cares about. If I said I was in love with another man, but nothing was ever going to happen between us physically, he probably wouldn’t even care.

Sex is his sustenance. His lifeforce. His everything.

I refuse to believe he can feel anything deeper.

38

RUAROK

I needto be inside her. The thought of King Robertus being the one to take her virginity is too much.

I can’t let her go to him a virgin.

I can’t let her go to him at all.