Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77730 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77730 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“Will I need to interact with him?”
“I don’t know. He’s supposed to be your father. It makes this… complicated.”
“And he is thinking I am still drugged.”
“Precisely. And if he found out you aren’t still drugged, he might react. Quickly. Before I get a chance to shore things up for me. For us.”
“So it would be best if he assumed I’m still mute.”
“Yeah.”
“But how would that work? Wouldn’t a prince have questions about his wife and her inability to speak?”
“I think perhaps you’re giving the bastards in the Dark realm a bit too much credit. None of these powerful men give the women in their lives much thought at all. He would assume that so long as you were pretty and fulfilling your wifely duties, I would have nothing to complain about.”
“But what about everyone else? All the other guests?”
“That is where being a princess comes into play. You can be as unusual or eccentric as you wish. If you don’t speak, people would brush that off and assume you think you are too important to speak to them.”
“I hate that.”
“But you’re not you,” he reminded me. “You are Gemma Grimwood—a selfish, entitled, conceited bitch. Only the four of us will know any different.”
That was fair.
It wasn’t me.
It was a part I was playing.
And I’d met the real Gemma Grimwood. She was someone who would think everyone else was beneath her if she had the title of princess.
“Okay. I can do that. I hope.”
There was a soft knock at the door before Vishen moved inside. “Bad news.”
“What now?” Jet growled.
“Your father sent word. He wants you and your wife at dinner tonight to discuss the feast.”
“Great. Well, it looks like you’ll have a little rehearsal dinner tonight,” he said, looking at me. “Whatever you do, just don’t speak, and things will be fine. I will cover for you.”
“I can do that.”
“Can you send Nira to find her something to wear?” he asked, looking at Vishen, who rushed out of the room. “Not gonna lie,” Jet started, his gaze grazing over me, “I like this look.” His voice went a little gravelly at the end, and it made my insides go liquid.
“It felt like being naked when I first put it on. But I’ve gotten used to it.”
A little growl escaped him as he sucked in a breath so deep, his whole chest shook. Before I could try to understand that, he cleared his throat and straightened.
“Come on. Let’s get you hydrated and bathed while Nira gets you something to wear.”
“You’re going to bathe me?” I asked as I moved beside him, my brows pinching at the idea even as my belly wobbled.
“Is that an invitation?”
“What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Vishen and I will bring water up for a shower. Maybe tomorrow we will get you enough water from your lake to fill the tub.”
I didn’t mean for it to happen, but a moan escaped me at the idea.
Up so close, I saw the way Jet’s eyes darkened.
“Is the water… pleasing for you?”
“Pleasing?”
“In a sensual way?”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
Jet’s head angled to the side, his gaze searching my face for a long moment. “No fucking way.”
“No way, what?”
“I thought water fae were… liberal with their affection.”
It was like he was speaking another language.
“I feel like there is some sort of suggestion there, but I don’t understand what it is.”
“I thought water fae liked to fuck damn near every man they come across.”
“Oh.” I felt a flush bloom across my cheeks. “I… I haven’t had much contact with anyone.”
“But you have been with a man?”
“Does that time someone tried to take advantage of me count?”
“Fuck no, it doesn’t count.”
“Then no.”
There it was again, a little rumble in his chest.
“Have you?”
“Have I what?”
“Been with many women?”
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
“Oh.”
“None?” he pressed, not believing me. “Not even a little?”
“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
“I mean,” he said, shifting so he was towering over me, his body begging me closer, the spicy scent of him making me want to bury my face in his neck and breathe in. “Has anyone touched you like this?”
His hand lifted, brushing the hair off my shoulder, then gliding his fingertips down from my ear, over my neck, then shoulder, making little goosebumps rise up on my skin.
“Or this?” His fingers slid inward, tracing the bodice of my borrowed shirt, his nail just barely teasing over my breast.
My breath hitched as sensation surged through me.
His gaze lifted from my lips as his hand suddenly pressed between my thighs. “Or this?”
A strange, choked whimper escaped me as heat surged from the contact and up my spine. My hand shot out, grabbing his arm as my legs wobbled.
“I can stop,” he said as his fingers pressed in more firmly, making heat flare beneath his touch. “Or I can show you more.”
My pulse was running wild, my breath coming in fast, shallow gasps. I didn’t know what this was, but I knew I didn’t want it to stop.