Page 20 of Married to the Beast

He liked the idea of nourishing her creativity—of giving her room to grow. His new bride was like a flower that had been raised in a small, cramped corner that was dark most of the time, he thought. He wanted to get her out into the sunlight and give her a place to bloom. He wanted to see her fulfill her potential.

It didn’t occur to him that he was thinking of her as his bride or that he was picturing their relationship as a long-term affair. He only knew he wanted to see Aleena happy and watch that beautiful smile spread across her lovely face again and again.

10

ALEENA

After the tour of the study which had an entire women’s shelf and her new husband’s promise that she could read and write as much as she wanted to, Aleena didn’t think she could be any happier. But then he showed her to a bathing room that was absolutelyhuge.

It had a vast marble soaking tub as well as a large shower stall and a steam unit. There was even a whole row of bathing products all lined up at the edge of the tub for her to try.

I can soak in the tub and read any one of the Salana books I want to!she thought as she surveyed the room with excitement.Or I can take a book down to the Sun Room and lay on the moss and read it there.And maybe if her new husband really did get her a journal, she could write stories in the Sun Room as well.

Just the thought that the big Kindred didn’t mind if she wrote made her feel almost giddy. She’d always had stories swirling around in her head, from the time she was a little girl. Setting them down on paper would be such a joy.

Truly she must be the luckiest girl in the world!

We’ll see how lucky you feel once he finally gets around to changing the color of your eyes,murmured a little voice in her head.

Aleena pushed it away—she didn’t want to waste any time feeling frightened or uneasy. So far her new husband had been extremely kind to her and he had promised not to hurt her. She decided she would take him at his word.

It was getting closer to evening by the time they finished touring the home where they would live together and Aleena’s stomach was beginning to growl. She’d been too nervous to eat breakfast so she’d only had a bite of the Joining Loaf and a sip of the Joining punch all day. It suddenly occurred to her that one way to thank Bear for being so kind would be to make him a magnificent feast with some of the gourmet ingredients downstairs.

“My Lord Hus—I mean, Bear—are you hungry?” she asked, looking up at him.

He nodded.

“I could eat. We didn’t have much at the Joining ceremony.”

Aleena felt a flash of shame.

“I’m sorry about that,” she apologized. “A true Joining ceremony ought to have a big feast afterwards, but my stepmother wanted to, er, keep expenses down.”

Bear arched one dark eyebrow.

“Mmm-hmm, I understand. But don’t worry about it. What would you like to eat? Should we go get something? Or do they have delivery here?”

“Go get something?” she asked, confused.

“Sure.” He shrugged. “Don’t they have restaurants here?”

“Well…yes. But they are only for special occasions. Generally, a wife is supposed to make dinner for her husband every night. And any other meal he wants too,” she added.

Bear frowned.

“Do youliketo cook?”

“I do!” She nodded quickly. “I was thinking I might make something really good from the fancy ingredients that were left for us in the refrigeration unit.”

“Well…if you actuallywantto cook—” Bear began sounding doubtful. “I mean, I don’t want you to think that all the domestic chores are on you.”

Aleena was already nodding her head.

“Yes, of course! I would love to make a meal for you, my…Bear,” she said quickly.

The big Kindred smiled.

“I think I like that…’my Bear,’” he rumbled.

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