She looked at me with this strange expression. “Willow?”
I didn’t know how to respond right away, so I stayed quiet for long seconds.
“I want you to be happy, not doing something because you want to protect me.”
I shook my head and smiled. “It’s not just about that.” I wanted to be honest with her. “It’s not just that,” I whispered again, feeling my cheeks heat, knowing she’d be able to see my reaction clear as day. “I’ve wanted him for a long time.” I didn’t bother telling her that it was crazy to have feelings for a man so strongly, one who was my ruler, one who I’d never even personally met.
“You think you can love him?” My mother’s words were out of love; I could hear it in her voice.
I looked down, not wanting to admit that I probably already did. The feelings I had for Victor might not be rational but they were real. I lifted my head and looked at her again. “Yeah, I think I can, Mom.” I think I already do.
Chapter 3
Willow
My heart was thundering, this rapid beat against my ribs. I was sure it would burst right through at any moment. I had one hand held around this simple yet elegant bouquet, my other hand curled into a tight fist at my side. The gown I wore wasn’t anything extravagant—surprisingly—but was formfitting and flashy compared to my standards.
The plunging neckline started at the end of my breastbone, jewels that were priceless snaking up and around my neck. Victor had picked it out, something he said he’d envisioned me in a dozen different times. I couldn’t help how my entire body became warm; no doubt a blush was stealing over me. There were a few people behind me fluffing up the train, one beside me fixing my hair, and another on the other side of me adding more lipstick. I was being pampered and prepped and I felt so out of place.
And then the double doors were opened and I stood there staring down the long, ornate hallway, King Victor waiting for me at the end. Rows of bodies filled the pews, and the balcony above, curling around the entire room, was the same. People I didn’t know, aristocrats and even royalty, watched me, a commoner.
I could see my mother sitting in the front pew, but as soon as I entered the room she stood, as well as everyone else. The music started playing but my heart was beating far too loud and I couldn’t hear anything else.
Taking a deep breath, I walked toward Victor, everything in me strung tight. This was really my life, my reality. I was about to marry a king, become his queen, the ruler amongst the people I’d walked side-by-side with my entire life.
And before I knew what was happening I was standing at the front of the altar, looking into King Victor‘s eyes, knowing this moment would change my life forever. I glanced over at my mother and I actually saw happiness on her face. Could she see how this moment affected me, how this wasn’t just an arrangement?
I supposed essentially it was, a proposition made to me by my king. But I cared about him, more than I probably should have given the fact I hadn’t thought I’d ever be in his life.
How things had changed.
As the officiate started the ceremony everything around me turned into a blur. Victor had my hands in his, and the feeling of his thumb moving along the back of my wrist was strangely calming and intimate. Amongst these hundreds of people I felt like it just him and me sharing this moment.
He took a step closer to me and I inhaled the masculine scent of his cologne. Or maybe it was just his natural aroma, one that had me instantly wet and needy. A part of me couldn’t believe I was actually going through with this, agreeing to be his and only his. But another part, one that was far stronger, kept telling me this was right.
It felt like perfection and I was right in the middle of it.
And so here I was, about to become the queen.
* * *
King Victor
She was mine officially.
I didn’t wait to be “allowed” to kiss my bride. I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers, claiming her in front of the audience, letting them all know that Willow was mine and mine alone.
There was nobody else around despite the roomful of people. With Willow right in front of me, the scent of her perfume filling my head, making me drunk, I knew I’d made the right choice. Never had a woman affected me the way she did. And as soon as I’d seen her, those flowers surrounding her, that smile on her face, no other woman compared.