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He didn’t even try to hide his smug look. “I like that look on you.”

“Oh really?” I said as I walked to the foot of the bed and climbed up, crawling on all fours towards him. “I can’t even imagine why,” I teased.

I barely caught the devilish smirk before he shot out, grabbing me by the shoulders, and pulled me on top of him. My knees slid to either side, straddling his waist. I placed my hands on his chest to balance myself while he continued to hold my upper arms. And slowly, he pulled me toward him, supporting the weight of my body as he drew me downwards.

I closed my eyes and felt as our lips met, grazing each other ever so gently, enjoying the taste of him. And then I was flying to my side, being flipped onto my back as he brought himself over me again. And oh my god, did I love the feeling of being helplessly pinned below the weight of his frame.

He kissed me once more, softly, teasingly, and then pulled back, shifting himself to lie beside me. Wrapping an arm around my waist, he pulled me toward him so that the curves of my back nestled into the curves of his front, spooning me. Settling his face into my neck and hair, his nose tickled my ear as he placed a kiss on the sensitive skin under my lobe.

“It’s late,” he whispered. “And we have to train again tomorrow. We’re going to have to get up early.”

Train? I had completely forgotten that tomorrow the hell games would start again. “Okay,” was all I said as he drew me closer to him, holding me.

But my mind was uneased.

All I kept thinking about was Charles and the operation to save my brother. All this time, my plan was to go on the mission, save Jacob, and then never return. My plan was always to run away and never look back. And why would I? I had nothing left.

But everything had changed.

In one moment, everything had turned upside down. I had been running from a marriage that I was afraid to accept, only to discover that now I just wanted to run toward it, toward him. I realized then that…

I didn’t want to leave.

Sure, I was terrified of what Charles was going to do. And I sure as hell didn’t want to stick around Castle Calvernon any longer than I had to. But I didn’t want to leave Wes. Now that I had finally found him, finally understood what my heart was trying to tell me all along, I didn’t want to go without him.

But I didn’t have to, right?

I mean, the deal was that I married Wes in exchange for help from the North to save Jacob and for him to be fully pardoned. As long as Charles stuck with his end of the bargain, there was no reason for me to run now. No reason why I couldn’t come back with Jacob and be with Wes.

Right?

It all rested on Charles now. As long as I could convince him I was truly the First Daughter of Telvia and explain why my parents would beat me as they did, it would be fine. I just had to prove that I wasn’t a nobody who was pretending to be Mara de la Puente.

I could do that.

He could scan my retinas, do a DNA test, or hook me up to some lie detector for all I cared. But Iwouldconvince him. And then all these problems would go away.

But that’s the crappy part about life sometimes. It has a funny way of turning your plans upside down and making you regret that you ever even tried.

47: The First Daughter of Telvia

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The alarm shattered my dream, jarring me back into reality. My eyes slowly drifted open as Wes shifted behind me. The annoying beeping was silenced, and I felt as he settled down next to me again. Lips feathered my neck as a hand traveled the length of my body. I moaned, rolling onto my back to look at him. Lying on his side, Wes propped his head up with one arm while the other traveled over my stomach and onto my waist.

“Good morning,” I whispered.

Leaning forward he smiled and grazed his lips against mine. Embers still alive within me rekindled the flames, and I reached up, pulling his face toward me, deepening the kiss.

He chuckled. “Mara, we’ve gotta get up.” But I noticed he made no move to unwrap my arms or pull away from me.

“Just one more minute,” I pleaded as I nuzzled his nose and then kissed him again, this time nibbling his bottom lip.

Wes moaned softly, closing his eyes as he inhaled. Excitement brewed inside me, delighted with the power I had over him. I parted my lips, begging him to let me in.

That did it. He lost all self-control. His hand was down on the bare skin of my thigh, gripping my flesh as his lips opened for me. I tasted him, feeling as he explored me, our breaths growing heavy and quick. My hand slid to grip his shirt, pulling on the fabric while his hand ran up my thigh, under my shirt, and over the curves of my waist, gripping my hips and pulling me toward him. My body went flush against his, and he felt amazing. Strong and firm, and the heat that swirled inside me was a wild thing. A tempest that couldn’t be tamed.

But all good things must come to an end.