He would have to protect her, he thought. That kind of soft heart would get her hurt while living inside the palace. She didn’t know the dangers lurking around every corner, all the political intrigue and the people who pretended loyalty towards him but actually had their own agendas. She would have to toughen up, or she’d be torn up by the cruelty of the people who came and went through the palace.
His mind started working out a compromise and he thought about it carefully, sifting through the details in his mind. He wanted her and she had the same reaction to him when he touched her, but she was scared. He suspected that she’d never experienced anything like what they had between each other. He had to accept that no other woman had made him feel this way either, but he was more experienced and knew what was to come. He wasn’t afraid of it, in fact he wanted it very painfully.
“How about a compromise?” he suggested, wondering if he was actually insane for offering her something like what he was thinking. Was he such a masochist?
Isla crossed her arms over her stomach, her hands covering her bare arms as much as possible as if to protect herself from that soft, gentle touch from his fingers. “What did you have in mind?” she asked, not sure she actually wanted to know but not willing to live in fear either.
He pried her hand away from her arm and tucked it onto his arm, leading her out of the corner and back to the main area where his servants had already set up their evening meal. “How about if we sit down and eat, you ask me questions about whatever interests you, I’ll ask you questions and we’ll answer each other so that we get to know one another.”
Isla looked up at him, uncertain about his proposition. There had to be more to it than that. He was in too good of a mood for it to be that simple. “And?” she prompted nervously.
He smiled, glad that she’d picked up on the fact that he wasn’t telling her everything. Smart and beautiful. What a combination!
“And… you need to talk to me. I get to kiss you and you need to stop hiding from me.” He watched her carefully, looking for signs that she would rebel at his suggestion.
She looked up at him carefully. “Just kiss?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She waited tensely to hear if he would just kiss her, not sure if that’s really what she wanted.
He smiled and moved closer, putting his hands on her waist. “I’ll stop whenever you tell me I’ve gone too far.”
She took a deep breath and shook her head. “I don’t believe you will do that.”
He chuckled and looked down into her wary eyes. “Why are you so skeptical?”
She bit her lip before she proceeded to say, “Because I doubt you would have stopped earlier today if I’d said no.”
He smiled at her blush and his hand moved a bit higher on her body. “You didn’t want me to stop this afternoon.”
She wanted to pull herself out of his arms, but he held her firmly. “How do you know what I wanted?”
His firm lips quirked upwards, but she could tell that he was trying to hide his amusement. “Because I knew what was going on inside you and it wasn’t simply pleasant. You were on fire, Isla.” He stopped her protest by placing a finger over her lips. “If we’re going to survive this marriage, you’re going to have to be honest with me.” He hesitated a moment before he continued by saying, “And honest with yourself.”
She sighed and shook her head. “I can lie to myself all I want,” she gritted out.
He laughed outright with that statement, then kissed the top of her head. “Okay, so you can lie to yourself if that makes you feel better. Just don’t think that I’ll believe your silly nonsense.”
“So let me get this straight. You get to touch me and kiss me whenever you want, I have to attend all meals with you and answer your questions, you’re apparently going to answer my questions as well.”
He knew where she was going with this but played along. “That about sums it up. What’s your answer?”
She shook her head and looked back up at him. “What do I get out of this?” she demanded.
He shrugged one of those massive shoulders. “You get the pleasure of my company, the excitement of kissing me back, you may feel free to touch me in any way that strikes your fancy and you get to know me better.”
“But I don’t want to touch you!” she lied. Even now, her hands wanted to smooth up his forearms, to feel the muscles that were revealed by the cuffs of his shirt that were rolled up. She wanted to place her hand over his heart and feel the rhythm, to find out if his heart raced when she touched him just like hers did when he touched her. But she kept her hands firmly on his hands, considering that to be a “safe” place to leave them. At least for the time being.
He shook his head and pulled her slightly closer. “You can lie to yourself, Isla. But don’t lie to me.”
She rolled her eyes. “What do you perceive I’m lying about now?”
“You want to touch me. You want to touch me so badly that your fingers are twitching against my hands. I can also see it in your eyes. So tell yourself whatever you need to. But keep it honest when it leaves those pretty lips of yours.”
She snatched her hands away, keeping them by her side which she worried was a dangerous way to stand in his arms. At least with her hands on his, she could more easily and quickly reach up to push him back.
“As for what you get out of the agreement…I’ll hold off on the wedding until next week as we’d originally planned…”
“As you had planned. There was no ‘we’ in the discussions,” she interrupted.
He conceded her point with a slight smile. “As your brother and I agreed, the wedding date will remain next week, and you get to know me better.”
“This sounds like a one-sided agreement. Why should I do this?”
He leaned closer and his lips nuzzled her neck. “Isla, you’ve got to accept that, one way or another, you’re going to be in my bed. It’s a matter of time but we can marry now, as strangers who want each other painfully, or we can do it as friends next week. Those are my concessions.”
She shivered as his mouth found a sensitive spot on her neck and nibbled with his teeth. “That doesn’t really sound very fair,” she said, unaware that her voice was breathy and she actually tilted her head to the side to give him better access.