Page 51 of Awakened On Her Royal Wedding Night
It went so much further than that, though. She was constantly on his mind. He weighed every decision he made against how it would affect her and, when he had picked up the message that the charges had been filed, a sense of dread had accosted him. The train had left the station. There was no stopping it now.
His father was already furious and his mother’s appalled resentment was a given. He had no feelings whatsoever for Francois’s reaction, except perhaps satisfaction that he was being forced to face the consequences of his actions.
No, the cloying angst within him was solely for Claudine. What would this mean forher? And would all this fallout cause her to pull away from him? He deliberately held her at arm’s length, but that was as far as he would let her go. He needed her within reach.
He neededher.
That was terrifying, but it had driven him back to Sentinella to find her playing with the wall, talking of leaving and taking other lovers. Her teasing had clawed into a raw place inside him, stripping him of his usual patience and finesse.
Their lovemaking was often intense and primal, but that day in the library had been different. She had provoked him, yes, but a type of desperation had been driving him. A need to be inside her that had nothing to do with making the baby they were mandated to conceive and everything to do with binding her to him.
He stood on a knife’s edge of wanting to be an absolute barbarian who chained his wife to his bed to ensure she was always with him and the civilized man who knew that was utterly mad.
They were married. That ought to be enough, but it wasn’t. He couldn’t help thinking that, at some point, she would come to her senses and leave him. And there was not one damned thing he’d be able to do about it.
“More bribery?” she admonished as she came out of their bedroom here at the palace. It was the King and Queen’s anniversary celebration tonight. Possibly his father’s last public appearance. “I didn’t think I needed more sparkle, but I guess I was wrong.”
She wore a shimmering gown covered in iridescent sequins. A mesh ruffle at the neckline glinted with crystals, but the diamonds from her ears dripped like icicles in the sunlight. The tennis bracelet on her arm was six rows wide.
“Thank you.” She blinked the sooty lashes that fanned below the silver shadow on her eyelids and pursed her glossy lips.
“You look stunning,” he told her, feeling a pinch behind his heart as he touched his mouth to the corner of hers.
Mine, he thought yet again, and wanted to put his hands on her, as if that was all it would take to ensure she was always his.
“You look nice, too.” She slid her fingertip along his satin lapel, then searched his gaze. “Is everything all right?”
“My mother has been informed.” Or so Vinicio had told him a moment ago.
“Ah. Are we worried?”
“No. The news won’t break into headlines until tomorrow. We’ll get through one last, civilized evening.” That felt like a lie, but he was only trying to keep her from fretting.
“I’m sorry that this makes your relationship with them that much more difficult,” she said anxiously.
“Don’t,” he commanded gruffly. “Theymake it difficult.” She made it bearable.
He took a moment to appreciate that. To bask in the light that was the pureness of her soul. It hurt the way bright sunlight hit the backs of his eyes, making them ache.
“Felipe?” She searched his expression, but he wasn’t ready to pick apart what was happening to him.
He offered his arm and escorted her to the top of the grand staircase where they were announced right before the King and Queen followed them down.
The evening progressed as these things usually did. They mingled for an hour before the formal call to the dining hall. They were seated apart from one another, but Claudine was across from him at the table.
Two hundred guests were attending. An army of servants began to fill glasses and set the first of twelve courses. The din of conversation was near deafening, but settled each time someone gave a speech. Felipe stood to offer one. Francois gave another.
Claudine rose after the fish course, sending Felipe a look that was both apologetic and fretful before she walked away. He watched for her return, growing concerned when a quarter hour passed and she was still absent.
Francois’s fiancée was still here at the table. Claudine wasn’t tied up speaking to her.
Felipe looked to his brother and discovered Francois was staring at him. His brother wore a smug curl at the corner of his mouth.
Felipe’s heart lurched.
Even as he started to rise, Vinicio was leaning to say in his ear, “Ippolita has called an ambulance. Her Highness is very ill.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
