With This Ring

“Call me back in an hour,” I said into the phone.

“I agree to the marriage. Here are my terms,” she stated defiantly.

I picked up the one page document and glanced down it. There were ten items on it. None of them would be agreeable, of course, but one stood out more than the others. I flung the sheet away and it floated up into the air. I watched as her gaze followed the early afternoon wind catch her list of purposely unreasonable demands and carry it to its watery death.

She smiled and returned her gaze to me. “That’s okay, because I brought another copy … just in case you accidentally lost the other one. And there’s plenty more where this came from too.” She placed another paper on the table and secured it with my phone.

I held her gaze. Her animosity towards me was impressively fierce. I wondered if a day would come when I would see something soft in those emerald eyes when they settled on me.

I looked briefly away from her and got my thoughts together. “We cannot have an open marriage … and you definitely cannot have a child with any man you please.”

Her eyebrows rose. “This is a marriage of convenience. Surely you’re not expecting me to sleep with you?”

I leaned back against the chair. “Sit down, Freya.”

For a split second she hesitated. It was clear she hated being told what to do, even if it was something as simple as sitting down in a restaurant. With a tightly clenched jaw she complied.

“What do you want to drink?” I murmured.

“I’m not thirsty,” she muttered. “Can you please answer my question?”

“Not only do I expect you to sleep with me, I expect absolute loyalty from you. Any man who touches you will find himself in the same place as your list of ridiculous terms.”

“You expect loyalty while you fuck around to your heart’s content?” she snapped.

I frowned. “Of course not. I will honor our marriage vows.”

She exhaled sharply. “Look. I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t want to marry you, Maxim. There is no way any union with us in it will work. Anyway what kind of man would want to marry a woman who doesn’t want him? Can’t you see what a terrible mistake it would be?”

“The terrible mistake would be if we did not get married because of your childish and ridiculous insistence that you want to have the ability to go to the zoo without bodyguards. People who are born without limbs learn to paint with a brush held between their teeth. You will simply have to learn to work within the boundaries you have been born into, which mean bodyguards at the zoo.”

She straightened her shoulders. “Fine. In that case. It must be a marriage in name only. I do not ever want our marriage to be consummated.”

“I’m afraid that will not be possible.”

“Why not? If people without limbs can learn to paint why can’t you learn to live without sex? I’m ready to do it.”

I reached for my whisky and took a sip. “For two reasons. A: People without limbs have no choice. I do. And B: You will be required to produce heirs.”

She held my gaze without blinking. “Can you hear yourself? Can you hear what you sound like? We’re not in the dark ages of arranged marriages anymore, to any normal person what you are suggesting would sound insane.”

I shrugged. “I agree it is not conventional in this day and age, but since my motto is Never Follow, Never Explain, I have no problem with being outside the acceptable norm.”

“I can’t believe you would force me to be your wife,” she gasped.

“All you have to do is say no,” I told her quietly.

Her lips trembled. “You know very well I can’t, my father would kill me.”

For a split second, I thought of Igor’s ferocious eyes. Indeed, that would be her fate. It would have been so easy for me to walk away from this union. No one, not even my father would dare question my decision, but then an image of Freya flashed into my mind. Her legs open, her body arched, her head thrown back with ecstasy, and words formed of their accord and slipped out of my mouth.

“That is not my problem.”

Chapter Nine

Freya

I stared at him in shock. I couldn’t believe he’d just told me he wouldn’t help me even if it meant my father would kill me. Maxim’s cold, unfeeling eyes stared right back and suddenly the whole world fell away. The air between us crackled with the tension.

Then his gaze dropped to my mouth.

And suddenly my heart stopped beating. Something else began to infect my blood, running through my veins like poison. It was not hate, fury, or disgust, it was… pure insanity. I stayed frozen as something deep inside my belly woke up and opened its eyes. No, it can’t be. Not for him. He was the enemy. It would be an unthinkable betrayal of Anna. He was her killer. A monster. I felt as if I was suffocating. Without thinking, I was on my feet and running. My head told me I was making a scene, but I couldn’t stay.