Page 23 of The Rat King
“It’s okay, Avery. I appreciate you trying. We can attempt it another day.” He ran his hand from my elbow to my shoulder and gave me a soft smile. My stomach clenched and not in a pleasant way. He was a good man, cute, I guessed, but nothing happeneddown thereat his touch. Xavier shifted his belt and headed for the door. He tapped the doorframe with the butt of his fist three times like he had more to say, but he turned and left.
I slipped the dress off and threw on a robe, releasing all my tension in a sigh as I slumped into the chair at my vanity. I meant to pick up the refilling make-up remover cloths, but my hand strayed to the crown. Picking it up, I studied it. There would be a day I had to sleep with him. Putting him off would only prolong the inevitable. And I didn’t know if being around him more would make things easier or harder.
I went to sleep with the thought bouncing around in my mind. I had to find a way, for the witches, to warm to him. To fall for him, and I had ten months to do it. We were totally fucked.
Chapter 15
Avery
Four months after the wedding.
Xaviercametomeagain on the next full moon, and the next. Still, I couldn’t sleep with him. At least he hadn’t tried to make any advances not on the reprieve. That would have been much more uncomfortable.
We’d done all the couple dating stuff except the physical act and the man was determined to make that happen.
“How long are you going to make me wait?” he asked, a new insistent, possible aggressiveness I hadn’t recognized before laced his voice.
“I don’t know,” I said, slipping off my robe and walking over to my bed. This was the same routine every time.
“Avery, the pressure is building,” Xavier said, which was new.
“Then jerk off,” I snapped.
He stepped forward, wrapping his hand gently around my shoulder. “Not that type of pressure. The people expect me to have wooed you by now. How am I supposed to do that if you won’t let me touch you?”
“I don’t know,” I said, hand shifting to the high neckline of my sleeping gown
“I bring you flowers, I read you poetry, take you for rides to the nearby villages and buy you anything you ask for. What else can I do, my queen?” His hand trailed down the length of my arm. “Your skin is so smooth.”
He was right. Compared to their skin, which most of was covered in the knicks and cuts like my helpers. I’d seen his bare torso, and it was the same. Fortunately, his face hadn’t suffered the same accidental abuse.
I gently jerked my shoulder out of his hold, even as I took a step back. “Next time?” I asked and could hear the rattle in my voice. There was something about the look in his eye that frightened me. All of this pressure wasn’t turning him into a diamond. It was bringing out things in his character that perhaps wouldn’t have existed without it. But they say stressful situations bring out people’s true character and maybe Xavier wasn’t as noble of a man as everyone believed him to be.
He advanced, and I flinched. “You do not want me in this form either, my queen?” Xavier gestured to himself. He was right. He wasn’t bad. Many women would be happy with him as a husband. I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but I couldn’t even make myself go through the motions. I had to go through with it eventually and we both knew it. Maybe if I slept with him, it would trigger some feelings. That happened to some women, didn’t it?
I shut my eyes and said, “Okay, maybe we can have a drink first?”
“A drink?” he hissed. “After the kindness I’ve shown you, you sayokayto me and want to get inebriated?” He stormed toward the door, slamming his fist into it as he passed, and I jumped. He turned and glared at me. “I’m getting a little tired of being the one doing all the giving.”
Guilt, my new companion, nipped at me. Shit. I knew what I needed to do. I was here and married to this man and at some point, we would need to be intimate. If not to produce an heir, then to seek pleasure. I’m sure I wasn’t the first woman in an arranged marriage trying to figure things out. Though I was sure none of them were ever given the space and time I was, and many of those women had grown to feel affectionate toward their husbands. Why couldn’t I do the same?
I gritted my teeth as I paced the room. The clock on the nightstand ticked away and with each minute, the moon crept across the sky. Xavier wasn’t bad. If it were Nighval I could have—oh no. The blossoming thought was as unwelcome as it was true, but I didn’t finish it. I hadn’t even seen him since before the wedding. But when his finger had traced across my skin, sensations sprung to life, and I was far too aware of his overwhelming presence.
Shaking my head, I made up my mind. I would go to him and force myself to do this. Maybe he’d be amazing in bed and things would change.
As I approached his door, a hushed conversation was taking place. A woman’s voice said, “I thought you were done with me, Xavier? Is your pretty wife not satisfying your needs?”
He chuckled in a way I hadn’t heard from him before. “Unfortunately, no, she isn’t. And I told you, once the curse is broken, we’ll send her away, and I’ll make you my queen.”
My hand flew to my mouth to seal it before a gasp could escape as I placed the voice.Olive. What a conniving bitch. No wonder she acted like she didn’t want to be friends with me.
“When I saw her and then heard the wedding announcement, I thought perhaps you changed your mind,” the woman said.
“Why would I want a woman who has no desire to please me when I have you, darling?” Xavier said.
“You still need to bed her, my king. Do whatever it takes to please her, so she’ll fall for you the way I have,” she said.
“But she isn’t willing. I thought maybe when she agreed to marry me, we were making progress, but she flinches at my touch. I can’t force her.”
