Page 40 of Crowned for His Son

‘Yes!’ A nanosecond after she blurted that she realised what it had sounded like. ‘No… I don’t mean it like that. It’s just…’

She stopped, words failing her as she shook her head.

Her insides clenched as something deadened his eyes. ‘Well, you’ve hidden your abhorrence well. The staff are all impressed with your poise.’

‘The staff, huh?’

‘You want a more personal opinion?’

No, she didn’t. She absolutely didn’t.

‘It wouldn’t hurt to hear what the man I’m to marry thinks.’

He sauntered closer, and it was only because she was watching him so closely that she saw that he wasn’t as cool and confident as she’d thought. His probing eyes were a little too fevered. He was putting extra effort into the confident stride that commanded the entirety of her attention.

‘You have handled every interaction and interview as if you were born to the role. Almost as if you’ve been practising for years instead of weeks.’

A twinge tugged hard at her chest, and the notion that this had taken a sour turn was sobering.

‘Are you insinuating something? If you are, I’d like you to spit it out, please. I’m not in the mood for guessing games.’

Something gleamed at the back of his eyes and the quiet storm brewing within his aura crackled like the distant rumble of thunder.

‘Only that it seems you’re surprised at what you’ve been capable of. I’m saying perhaps you needn’t be.’

‘Because you think this is what I’ve secretly wanted all along?’ she demanded. ‘An elevation to some higher status in life?’

‘I’m saying hold your nose if you need to. The rewards for this slight bump in the road will be worth your while.’

Her eyes narrowed, and a peculiar feeling expanded in her chest when she realised that, in his own enigmatic way, he wastalking her round. That he was perhaps even quietlydesperatefor her to go through with this marriage. Which was…mystifying. And strangely warming after being locked for so long within the desolation of cold rejection. But…what if this was an illusion?

‘Why are you so hellbent on this happening quickly? I’ve already accepted that Max is yours. And I’m sure whatever DNA test you did has confirmed it?’

‘Sí, it did.’

‘Thenwhat?’ At his tense silence, she pushed harder. ‘You want something else? Tell me what this is really about!’

His eyes darkened, dropped to her mouth, and a new sensation started in her chest. Spread throughout her body. That chemistry he’d touched on—the one that had become buried beneath the hectic schedule of readying not just the palace but the entire kingdom for a royal wedding—was suddenly awakening into stinging life, bringing with it an unexpected surge of feminine power as she read his desire loud and clear.

The laughter that spilled from her was just as unexpected as it pulsed with that power and with her own surfeit of need.

‘That’swhy you’re pushing for this to happen? You’re sexually frustrated? Or is it just that I happen to be the unwanted woman fuelling that sensation?’

His nostrils flared and his eyes glinted in that way she was coming to recognise as Azar Domene priming himself for a skirmish. Why that sizzled her blood was a circumstance she wasn’t going to wrangle just at this moment. She fought to remain still as a head-to-toe tingle took hold of her. As he closed the gap between them, bringing the forcefield of his magnetism and that terrifying intoxicating scent of man and sandalwood with him.

Molten eyes raked her face. ‘You think I don’t want you?’ he breathed, disbelief tingeing his deep voice.

‘You’re a king-in-waiting and I’m the woman you’re stuck with because I gave birth to your son. It isn’t a stretch to imagine you’re just making do with what’s in front of you.’

She realised she’d been backing away while he advanced, and gasped when her back touched the wall.

‘A sound deduction,’ he said. ‘But you’re forgetting one thing.’

The boost of confidence made her tilt her chin in challenge, to meet his blazing gaze full on. ‘What?’

‘The first time we met I was just a crown prince and you were a hostess. None of this…baggage was between us. And yet you felt strongly enough about me to give me your virginity.’

Her mouth dropped open on a hot gasp. ‘You were my first?’

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