Page 4

CHAPTER FOUR

N arissa immediately regretted her request for Solarius’s assistance.

He looked as though she’d slapped him across the face.

Eyes wide, mouth slightly agape.

He was stunned into silence, and she couldn’t determine if he was more appalled or disgusted by the fact that she’d asked him for help.

Her cheeks flamed, and she dipped her head so her waves tumbled forward to disguise her mortification.

Perhaps the winter berry wine had emboldened her a little too much.

“Forgive me, my lord.” She grasped blindly for the ribbons lacing up the back of her wedding gown.

“I’m quite certain I can manage on my own.”

She dared a quick glance at him in the mirror, just enough to catch him blink.

He shook his head once, as though clearing his thoughts, like he wasn’t exactly listening to her.

“My apologies.” His voice was hoarse.

He closed the distance between them in two strides, coming to stand behind her, the nearness of his presence sending a swarm of butterflies fluttering through her stomach.

Hooking a finger in the collar of his shirt, he gave it a hard tug, then cleared his throat.

“I would be more than obliged to help you…undress.”

Narissa held her breath, tension flooding her veins as he reached for her.

She listed to the left, catching the side of the mirror for support in a desperate attempt to cling to the last shreds of her dignity.

She expected him to untie the ribbons as quickly as possible to rid himself of her company, but he surprised her instead by carefully plucking the flowers from her hair.

Solarius set the small collection of pink blossoms on her vanity, then loosened her tresses with his hands, gently running his fingers through the woven plaits.

Tingles of delight shivered across her skin, and Narissa gripped the gilded mirror’s edge to keep her balance.

Her nails dug into the finely carved wood while the pads of his fingers lightly massaged her scalp, easing the tangled knots of tension so the strain of her muscles melted away.

Her eyes drifted closed and she softly sighed, relishing the tenderness of his touch.

It would be so simple, so easy to lean into him.

To sway backward so she was pressed against him, completely losing herself in the moment.

And for one brief glimpse of time, she could imagine their courtship hadn’t ended in tumultuous disaster, and that their new marriage could rival even the greatest of love stories.

Of course, those were only dreams and silent wishes.

When Solarius gathered her unruly waves and draped them over one shoulder, his fingers grazing the length of her neck, Narissa’s eyes flew open.

And she found him watching her with burning intensity, the silver of his gaze molten with an emotion she didn’t understand.

It heated her thoroughly, scorching her from the inside until she thought she would melt into a puddle at his feet.

His calloused hand slid around her throat, following the smooth line to her jaw, before tilting her head just slightly.

He bent down, his mouth hovering near the pointed tip of her ear, his warm breath fanning along her cheek.

Goosebumps pebbled her flesh when he leaned closer, his lips brushing over the shell of her ear.

A breathy gasp escaped her, and her lungs pulled tight, making it almost impossible to breathe.

With his other hand, he pinched the pearl earring she wore between his thumb and forefinger, and she imagined he was quite capable of squeezing other things as well.

“Would you like for me to remove your earrings?” he asked, his voice a rough scrape that caused her nipples to harden in anticipation.

Narissa trembled and shook her head, the movement nearly imperceptible, because she couldn’t tear her gaze away from his in the reflection.

His hands fell away, flexing at his sides.

She watched him watch her, his eyes skimming the length of her body, lingering on dip of her hips, the swell of her breasts, and the hollow of her throat for so long a furious blush scalded her.

She almost squirmed beneath his lazy, albeit seductive, assessment until finally his attention landed on the web of ribbons binding her into the lace corset.

With the skill of a practiced lover, Solarius slowly worked the laces of her dress.

He was methodical, pulling the ribbons one at a time, his gaze flicking to hers each time another piece of silk was unbound.

His featherlight touches teased and tormented her in a provocative conversation of stolen glances and silent challenge.

Each of them quietly goaded the other to see who would flinch first, who would pull away, who would take it a step further.

Narissa’s stomach clenched as his knuckles grazed her newly exposed flesh, and when he traced the tattoos marking her spine with one finger, trailing all the way to the curve of her backside, she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from sighing with longing.

She didn’t care if he hated her.

She didn’t care if she was supposed to hate him.

In that moment, with the tension between them so thick she could’ve sliced through it with a blade, Narissa would have given anything to have Solarius’s hands on her.

He slid his thumbs beneath the fabric bunching at her shoulders and gradually nudged the gown down the length of her arms, so it slipped from her body and pooled at her feet in a puddle of sea foam silk.

Narissa shivered as he drank in every inch of her.

She was fully nude, save for the scrap of triangular blue satin covering her most intimate area, and when she turned to face him, the silver of his eyes darkened to a fathomless stormy gray.

The fire in the hearth sparked and spat, the flickering glow highlighting only half of his face, illuminating the raw hunger in his gaze.

She tucked her bottom lip beneath her teeth, and he tracked the movement, fixating on her mouth for a moment before stepping in closer so the fine fabric of his coat lightly scraped her nipples.

Her pulse skittered, beating wildly, so loud she swore he could hear it between her rapid, uneven breathing.

Every agonizing second was wrought with confusion as her mind spiraled.

Never before had she seen him look at her like that—like she was some forbidden piece of fruit, like he wanted to devour her whole.

Heat pooled low in her belly, and she clenched her hands into small fists and locked her spine, the air between them thinning, causing her head to spin.

Or perhaps it was the winter berry wine.

Narissa swayed on her feet.

“Easy, Rissa.” Solarius hooked one arm around her waist and the other under her knees, lifting her off her feet.

“Time for bed.”

Bed.

Her head lolled against his shoulder, and suddenly it was rather difficult to keep her eyes open.

In fact, she found it quite comfortable to be carried in his arms, even if it was only a few short strides before he laid her on the bed.

Narissa sank into the cushiony mattress, surrounded by a mountain of fluffy pillows.

Solarius draped the thick velvet comforter over her naked form, tucking it in around her legs to ensure she stayed warm.

She snuggled into the plush softness, tugging the comforter up to her chin, and though her lids were heavy with exhaustion and possibly the effects of too much alcohol, she peered up at him.

“You don’t want me.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

They weren’t exactly a question, nor were they a statement of fact.

If anything, it was a mild observation.

Solarius leaned against her bedpost, and the sheer layers of teal chiffon hanging from the canopy rippled around him like gentle ocean waves.

He clicked his tongue and crossed his arms over his chest.

“You know nothing about what I want.” There was no malice in his tone, but more of a somber acknowledgement.

“But I thought…” She yawned then, curling deeper into the comfort of her bed.

“It was your intent to get the deed over with, as you so aptly put it.”

“I will not bed you tonight, Narissa. Not when you’re in such an inebriated state.” He roughed the back of his knuckles along his jaw, his gaze drifting away from her to the stained glass windows.

“Another night, perhaps.”

Yes.

They would have plenty of those together, an endless stream of sleepless nights that bled into hostile days filled with the strain of their new marriage.

It sounded positively lovely.

Solarius shoved off the bedpost and headed for the door.

Narissa clutched the comforter to her chest to keep from reaching for him, counting his steps as he walked away from her.

“Are you leaving?” she asked, trying to keep the desperation from her voice.

He stilled, barely sparing her a glance from over his shoulder.

She couldn’t read his expression in the dim glow of firelight, but his silhouette was taut with tension.

He didn’t appear to move or breathe.

He simply stood there, contemplating, and when he finally spoke, the words floated across the room to her on a rough whisper.

“Do you want me to leave?” Again, he flexed his hands.

“Not particularly.” Her response was hushed and lacking its usual confidence.

Narissa knew Solarius didn’t care for her, just as she knew he would rather be anywhere else than in her bedroom.

But for one night, she could pretend…

because she was so tired of being alone.

He turned to face her fully then, his eyes expanding into radiant pools of silver.

Arching one brow, he pinned her with a cautious, scrutinizing look.

“You wish for me to stay?”

She shrugged beneath the covers, the velvet comforter sliding down her shoulder.

To Solarius’s credit, his gaze never left her face.

“It is our wedding night.”

Solarius straightened, running a hand through the silvery black strands of his hair.

“Very well.”

He removed his boots first and set them by the hearth, then shrugged out of his coat, laying it neatly over the back of the winged chair.

From her cocooned position on the bed, she shamelessly admired everything about him.

She liked the way the top buttons of his collared shirt were undone, giving her glimpses of his muscled chest.

She enjoyed watching him roll his sleeves, fastening them above his toned forearms.

He was recklessly handsome in an imperfect, careless sort of way.

Maybe it was the way his hair always looked slightly mussed, like he thoughtlessly shoved a hand through it.

Or perhaps it was the way his shirt was always a little wrinkled, as though he’d grabbed it from the floor after a night of drinking and merriment.

Either way, his haphazard, yet delectably roguish appearance, always gave Narissa’s heart cause to skitter.

Solarius stretched out on the bed alongside her, kicking one ankle over the other, and tucked his hands behind his head as he sank into the mountain of pillows.

He lay on top of the comforter and Narissa rolled over to face him, gnawing on her bottom lip.

His gaze was trained on the delicate canopy above them, and she wondered if perhaps he was accustomed to stargazing at night.

She imagined his bedroom at House Celestine had a ceiling made of glass so he could admire the moon and the stars as they shifted across the skies.

Unfortunately for him, right now his only view was a swath of shimmering turquoise fabric.

A sigh of discontent escaped her and her eyes fluttered closed with the pull of exhaustion.

With no promises, no expectations, and no hope for the future, she murmured, “Goodnight, my lord.”

Narissa was already halfway to the realm of dreams when Solarius’s rough whisper caressed her cheek.

“Goodnight…my lady.