Page 47 of A Royal Deception

I froze at the possibility that he didn’t want me in his bedroom tonight. Ohmigod! Was I not supposed to be here? Did he expect us to stay in separate bedrooms? I could feel my face flushing with embarrassment.

“Do you want me to move in with her?” I squeaked.

“No! I mean… this is your room. Our room. I only wanted to make Zarna comfortable, considering how frightened she wasearlier. You could ask Sannata to keep an eye on her tonight in case she gets nightmares about her ordeal at Kavya’s home.”

I blew out a slow, relieved breath as I analysed every word he’d said. He sounded as if he was concerned about Zarna. He wasn’t throwing me out of his bedroom before we even began our married life. Phew!

“I’ve already spoken to Sannata Mausi about it,” I said, feeling my knees go even weaker at this evidence of his kind heart.

In a world that worshipped alpha holes, His Highness’s kindness called to me like a beacon. He had shown me compassion and respect from the first time we met. That attracted me even more than his drop-dead good looks.

He said he wanted me to give him an heir, and that would involve… well, I couldn’t think too much about what that would involve without melting into a puddle at his feet. What I wanted to know was if he planned to start right away with the heir-begetting process. I wasn’t complaining. I just wanted to be prepared.

“Try and get some rest, Shivina. Tomorrow might be a busy day because we’re going to be inundated by nosy guests as soon as word of our marriage gets around,” he said. “And if anyone tries to put you down for any reason, don’t hold back. You have my permission to tell them off as severely as you like.”

My shoulders slumped in disappointment when I realised that he wanted me to go to bed. There would be no heir begetting today. Although I didn’t blame him. There was nothing bride-like about me. I was sure Kavya Baisa had packed a suitcase full of lingerie as part of her trousseau. Meanwhile, here I was in my usual nightwear, consisting of a shabby t-shirt and PJs. Ohmigod! There was a big hole in my tee just above my left breast. Talk about a mood killer.

I wanted to rush out and buy some decent nightwear right away, but I couldn’t afford to blow my money on such fripperies until I figured out my money situation. Was His Highness going to pay me a monthly salary if this was a business arrangement? I wished I’d had the presence of mind to fix an amount as the total payment for holding up my end of the bargain. These open-ended verbal agreements were totally unreliable. I mean, did he plan to pay me in instalments, or would I only get paid after I produced an heir? I wish I had asked Zarna to negotiate with him on my behalf.

“Shivina, your lips are turning purple,” exclaimed His Highness. “Breathe!”

With a loud gasp, I took in some air and realised that my inner monologue had gotten so out of control that I had stopped breathing in panic. His Highness stared at me in concern.

“Are you all right?”

I nodded in reply and gave him a wan smile.

“Goodnight, your Highness,” I said, getting under the covers.

He sighed heavily.

“My name is Ranvijay,” he muttered before he retreated to the bathroom. I did my best to fall asleep before he returned, but I was wide awake when I felt the bed dip as he got under the covers. His arm touched my back as he made himself comfortable, and we both froze. I pretended to be asleep, and he relaxed after a few minutes.

That was a close shave, I realised. It was all very well to decide we were going to have a baby together, but we had clearly not thought enough about what happened before that. How on earth was I supposed to have sex with a man I barely knew? There was nothing romantic about this!

I swore to stay awake all night to make sure not even an inch of my body touched his, but my eyelids felt very heavy, and I decided to rest them for a bit. When I opened them again, themoonlight was streaming through the big windows, and I was curled up in His Highness’s arms. Damn it! This was exactly the kind of situation I wanted to avoid.

My whole body went stiff with shock when I felt something hard poke me in the hip. I wondered if I could slide out from under the heavy arm that held me trapped against his side.

“I can literally feel you panicking right now,” he murmured in my ear.

His chest rumbled against mine when he spoke, and it set off a round of tremors in my lower abdomen. I pushed myself up and glared at him, but my curls fell across his face, hiding his face from view.

His Highness wound his fingers around my thick curls and tugged gently, sending tingles across my scalp. When I shivered in response, he ran his fingers gently along my neck, and I could feel my nipples tighten and bead against the fabric of my t-shirt. That’s when I realised that I had wound a leg over his hip in my sleep.

He raised his knee a little and settled it firmly against my crotch. I couldn’t help the involuntary movement of my hips that rocked my core against his knee a little. I could feel myself getting sopping wet, and I knew he could feel it, too.

I could feel His Highness’s watchful gaze on me and wondered what he was thinking. This should have felt strange because we were practically strangers, but it didn’t. It felt natural.

“Do you need time to get to know me first, Shivina?” he asked gently.

Every cell in my body urged me to say no because… well… because my body was on fire for him. I needed him. I craved him far too much to think about the consequences of what we were about to do. Unfortunately for me, His Highness took my silenceto mean that Ididneed time to get to know him before I jumped into his arms.

With a sigh, he moved his knee away from my core, and I almost cried because I was so close to the edge. One more stroke and I would have come. But nothing had gone my way since I woke up yesterday morning, so why would it be any different today? And now that the haze of lust enveloping me had receded a little, I had to admit he was right. Damn him!

He pushed my leg off his hip gently, his fingers trailing paths of fire wherever he touched me.

“It might be better if I slept on the sofa in the sitting room,” he murmured.

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