“He knows what I fancy.”
Now my heart started racing out of panic.
He started pulling out all the combs in my hair one by one.
He was leaning in close and I could hear his breathing.
Was he putting the moves on me right now?
Didn’t I have eight more
degrees
?
When all my hair was loose he ran his fingers through it.
“You’re so lovely.
I would have chosen a brunette for my first wife, had they given me an option.”
He caressed my nape.
The tingles turned into pleasant shockwaves.
Despite this, if he wasn’t Lord Elentinus I would have pulled away.
That didn’t seem like an option.
I’d been fooling myself into thinking I had any advantage earlier.
Elentinus didn’t have to charm me.
I was his property.
His hand stopped moving.
“Does this distress you?”
I found my voice—I don’t know how.
“I’m not ready.”
“I don’t mean to take you to bed, my dear.
I only wished to touch your hair—your beautiful skin.”
My posture slackened a little.
“Oh.”
I closed my eyes.
“Then it’s fine.”
I heard Elentinus make his soft laugh.
“You’re so delightful.”
His hand went to the side of my face.
Now that I knew he wasn’t after sex I felt free to enjoy his caress.
“Maritza, be honest with me.”
I looked at him.
“Are you a virgin?”
I cringed.
“Don’t you think that’s important for me to know?”
I gave him my most forlorn look.
“Of course you can know.
I cringed because I’m embarrassed.
No, I’m not a virgin.”
“That embarrasses you?”
“I’ve only been with one guy, one time.
He conned me into bed.”
I groaned.
“I was so stupid.
He found out I was still a virgin and made a bet he could get me to sleep with him.
I thought we were in love with each other.
It was all a scam.”
Elentinus traced his finger around the sensitive rim of my ear. “It sounds as though he broke your heart.”
“It—it was just a rich kid taking advantage of a naïve bumpkin.”
“He was unworthy of you.”
“…Yeah.”
He turned my face toward his.
I got caught in his deep, dark gaze.
“I’m not.”
He pulled me into a kiss.
The way he swept both his large arms around me and crushed my lips under his—it gave me this incredible flutter inside.
I closed my eyes and let him own my mouth.
His hot wet mouth was rough, and eager, but in such a nice way.
A feeling of melting started in my torso, then my legs got drippy and weak and my toes tingled.
I couldn’t even think straight.
All of the craziness from the last two days disappeared, and the only thing that existed was this warm euphoria.
Elentinus broke away.
His dark lips looked dewy and his eyes had an intense gleam.
He was taking in my reaction.
I’m sure I looked like a pathetic little romance novel heroine, all sleepy, blushing, and weak.
He liked what he saw so much that his eyes rolled back and he gave a euphoric shudder.
“This is how it was meant to be—with gentle seduction.
Not tyranny.”
I became puzzled, but it wasn’t enough to make the warmth inside me evaporate.
He took a deep breath and smiled at me while stroking my hair.
“I’ll stop now.
Any more and I’ll carry you to bed.
You’re too sweet to resist.”
Dang!
I wouldn’t have minded a longer make-out session.
It gave me a little ache in my chest when his arms pulled away.
I stared at him with expectant eyes.
He threaded his fingers through the hair at my forehead and worked them all the way through.
His hand caused rapturous tingles on my sensitive scalp that echoed shivers through my whole body.
“Fly away, little dove.
I sadly must return to work.”
I swallowed and nodded.
It took some effort to drag myself to my feet.
I went a few shaky steps away from the table, but then turned around and gathered up my plate.
There was still plenty of donut left.
Elentinus laughed at me.
I couldn’t resist a goofy smile.
I hugged my plate as though I were selfish and scampered away.
I peeked back at the stairs leading out.
Elentinus was staring at me with a smile.
I ended up being too giddy to continue my lecture with Kang that night.
I wandered around the lobby area in an idiotic love-sick daze while replaying everything that happened at the dinner over and over again in my head.
I think it was late when I finally went to bed.
***
“Damn it!”
I sat up in bed and blinked the sleep out of my eyes.
Whore had rudely barged into my cell at what felt like the ass-crack of dawn.
He sneered at me.
“What are you doing here?”
“This is my room.”
He lost patience instantly.
“Why aren’t you in bed with Lord Elentinus!”
I glared at him.
He threw up his hands.
“That’s it!
I’m telling him you’re ovulating.”
“Go ahead.
Lord Elentinus isn’t going to make me do anything I’m not ready for.
Unlike you, he’s a gentleman.”
Whore examined me with a raised brow.
“You fancy him.”
I didn’t answer.
What?
Was that a crime?
We were going to get married, weren’t we?
He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
“So what
did
happen?”
“None of your—“
He opened the satchel with my choke chain device.
Asshole!
“Okay, okay!
We talked and we had dinner.
It was fish and then one of those donut things.”
He closed the satchel.
“What else?”
I hesitated, but I knew what he wanted.
I gave him the goods only on the fear of being shocked.
“He kissed me.”
“Did you kiss him in return?”
He spat this out fast, like it was an accusation.
“Yeah.”
Whore leaned back with a satisfied grin.
“Very well.
That’s acceptable, then.”
He started to go.
“I expect your next meeting with him to end in consummation.”
Whatever, creep.
He paused in my doorway to grumble loudly with his back turned to me.
“Lord Elentinus asked me to help come up with the third Degree of Intimacy for you.”
My brow twitched.
“Um…so what did you come up with?”
He darted an angry look back.
“I don’t know!”
Now he gave me his customary sneer.
“I think you should just go to bed with him.
I don’t see the point of any of this nonsense.”
Another grumble.
“But Lord Elentinus has asked me to come up with some activity.
I have to oblige him.”
He turned his back to me again and crossed his arms.
“What did men and women do during courtship where you’re from?”
This gave me a snide grin.
Well, well, the great Hor-Denay forced to ask for advice from a lowly woman.
Gloating would have been fun, but I knew better than to provoke him.
I searched the ceiling for a sincere response.
“Well, we’d go out on dates, like to dinner—“
“You already had dinner!”
“—or to a movie.
Movies were kind of a lame date.
It was better to do some activity, like ice skating or going to a festival.”
“This is no help at all.
It has to be something you can do on the yacht.”
“He could give me a tour of the ship.
Though it’s kind of huge and my feet would get tired.”
“There’s not enough time for that.”
“What about dancing?
You have music, don’t you?”
“That would be ludicrous.
Lord Elentinus is not some dancing fool.”
I tried not to get frustrated.
“Do you have sports?
Like bowling?
Could we set something up?”
Whore put his hand on his chin.
“There’s Ragmore.”
He fumed.
“No.
It would take far too long to teach you.”
“What about…like, a board game?”
“The only game worthy of Lord Elentinus is too complicated for you.
These are idiotic suggestions!”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“I’m trying my best.
I don’t exactly know what’s available.”
He stuck his nose in the air.
“There’s hardly anything available.
This isn’t a leisure craft.”
“Well, in my time, if people didn’t have any money or there wasn’t anything to do we just stayed home.
Snuggle together on the couch.
Watch TV maybe.”
Whore got an evil glint in his eyes.
“Yes.
You should snuggle together.
I’ll tell him it was your idea.”
He started to go.
I popped up after him.
“Hey!
Snuggle doesn’t mean sex!”
“Be silent.”
He left and closed the door.
“Bleh!”
I collapsed back into my bed.
I felt like Whore had set a trap for me.
I’d be springing it that evening—whenever Elentinus and I got together.
I fretted over it all day.
I didn’t even bother trying to learn more from the Domestics.
My mind felt too harried to focus.
I was glad when Whore finally came to get me for my date that evening.
I couldn’t stand the wait.