Page 49 of The Broken Elf King
He nodded. “The council seems pleased, and the people feel secure in the future bloodline of the monarchy.”
It was a robotic response, one that was very much focused on the duty of the wedding and not the emotions of it all. I understood. This was a business arrangement to him, or had begun as one. I peered at my dressing gown on the bed that Mrs. Tirth must have brought over, and blushed. Looking over my shoulder, I spied the washroom door and scooped up the dressing gown.
There were about twenty bows that tied up the back of my corset, all individually knotted by my dressing maids, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to reach them. I walked over to Raife and cleared my throat. When he looked up at me, there was a curiosity in his gaze.
“It took about three people to get me into this dress. I need help with the back,” I told him, feeling heat rising in my cheeks.
He nodded and I spun around, giving him my back. When I felt the heat of his body behind me, my eyes fluttered closed. He laid a warm hand on my right shoulder for leverage and then one by one pulled the bows of my corset. With each undoing, my top got looser and I inhaled a deep breath. Pain for beauty was totally a thing I embraced on special occasions, and this was one of them. I was sure to have indentations on my ribs, but this dress was the most beautiful garment I owned, so it was worth it.
With Raife’s hand pressed to my shoulder, I could feel his emotions. He wasn’t making any effort to hide them. Lust, desire, respect, and fear. Always fear.
When he got halfway down my back, the sleeves slipped off and I made no effort to pull them back up. He removed his right hand, letting the fabric he’d been holding up fall. The front of my dress was suddenly at my waist and I stood topless facing the bookcase. My eyes were still closed, my heart hammering in my chest as I took a shaky breath.
I should cover myself and walk to the washroom. I should make an effort to pull my sleeves up and act shocked at my unexpected nakedness. I didn’t. Because instead of turning away, Raife pressed closer to me. His body was suddenly flush against mine, and then his breath was on my neck. Heat bloomed between my legs in anticipation. For an agonizing ten seconds he hovered over my neck just breathing, and I wanted to reach up and grasp his hair, yanking him down to kiss my flesh. But I knew I couldn’t rush him. The tumult of emotions rushing through him was something he had to figure out himself.
The underlying emotion was fear. Just when I couldn’t take it anymore, his lips kissed my neck and I moaned, tipping my head back into him. His hands came around to cup my breasts and I turned my head, bringing my mouth to his.
The kiss we had that night when he was drunk was nothing compared to the one he gave me now. This kiss was hungry, aching and utterly all-consuming. Our greedy tongues caressed each other, and then all of a sudden he pulled away from me. I whimpered when he flipped me around to fully face him. I panted, out of breath and unsure what to do.
His gaze was savage in that moment. And then I felt it. A cascade of fear washed over me, coming from him.
I stepped closer to him, reaching for him.
“What are you so afraid of?”
He shook his head, placing his hand over my flittering heart, right between my naked breasts. “Falling in love with you. Losing you. Being inside you.Notbeing inside you. Everything about you scares me, Lani.” His words were so raw, so full of truth, I couldn’t help but respect them.
I stepped closer, cupping both sides of his jaw. “Let me love you.” I stared into his eyes, not even sure what that sentence meant, what I was really trying to say. It just tumbled out of me. I pressed myself even closer, slipping my fingers down the front of his trousers. “Let me take care of you.” I kissed his neck. “Heal you.”
I grabbed his hardness and then pressed my lips to his cheek, about to speak again, when his arms wrapped around my waist tightly and then I was lifted up into the air. I pulled my hand from his waistband and straddled him as he walked me with purpose to the bed.
When we reached it, he tossed me on the mattress and helped me shimmy out of my dress. Standing over me, he gazed down at me, all of me, and his eyes glittered. “If we consummate this marriage, it will be harder to get out of.”
I don’t want out, I wanted to say, but kept my mouth shut. “I like a challenge,” I said for his benefit. Getting too serious too quickly would only scare him off.
His eyes hooded, and then he lowered himself on top of me, showing me just what it felt like to be bedded by Raife Lightstone. Every bit of it was as mind blowing as I imagined.
Every. Single. Bit.
