“Let us get one thing straight,” he said. “This is not a hotel. This is my bedroom. This,” he added, tossing her down with no gentleness whatsoever onto the center of his bed, “is my bed. I do two things in this bed. I have sex and I sleep. If you intend to stay in my bed, you will partake in both of those things with me. Otherwise feel free to find a more suitable accommodation.”
Again, he resisted the temptation to look at her body, though he imagined she was currently spread out for him like a particularly delectable buffet. But he intended to scare her off, not violate her in any way.
She wasn’t still for long. She scrambled across the mattress and buried herself beneath the blankets, shielding her body from his view. “You,” she said, her voice shaking, “are terrible.”
“We are to be married,” he said. “Nothing I’ve done or said should be all that shocking.” He knew full well he was being shocking; he just didn’t care.
“I don’t know you.”
“But you will know me quite well in only a couple of months’ time. We could start now.”
“We shall not!”
“Then you shall vacate my bedroom. I find that I am quite tired.” He reached up, grabbing hold of the knot on his tie and loosening it.
Her eyes went wide, her hands curling tightly around the white comforter on his bed, digging sharply into the material like claws. “You wouldn’t,” she said, her shocked tone spurring him on all the more.
He kept his eyes on hers as he tugged his tie off and cast it to the floor before undoing the top button on his shirt. “As I said, I find I am quite tired. This is my bed. I have already given you the list of activities performed therein.”
He undid a second button on his shirt and watched as her eyes grew even rounder. He undid another, then another, moving closer and closer to the bed. He found his own heart was starting to pound harder. He would not touch her. He knew this would end with her running away before he had to. Still, that didn’t stop the blood from firing harder and faster through his veins.
His mind might be well aware that he was a modern man who would never take advantage of a woman in such a way, but his body clearly hadn’t gotten the memo. All he knew was that he was a man, and she was a woman. A very beautiful woman.
And in that moment he started to forget exactly what he was doing here.
He undid yet another button on his shirt, and suddenly she rolled to the side, wrapping the blanket around her body and landing on the floor. She stood up, the blankets concealing her curves. Her dark hair was wet, stringy and partly covering her face. And with all that, she was still trying to look imperious. “All right. You may arrange separate quarters for me.” She turned to the side, kicking the excess fabric from the comfort her out of her way. “I am going to dress. When I return I expect for things to be arranged.”
He laughed at her retreating form, and her shoulders grew stiff, her frame all but vibrating with rage.
He took his phone out of his pocket and made a call to his brother’s chief of staff, letting him know that the princess was ready to be shown to her room. Zara returned before the staff came to escort her away. She was dressed in a pair of soft pink pajamas that looked as though they belonged on a much younger, much less venomous girl.
“Am I leaving soon?” she asked.
“Listen to you. Quite impatient to go now.”
“You make a very persuasive argument.”
He chuckled again, amusement at her open hostility irresistible. He was not used to this reaction from women. But then, he was not used to being engaged to a woman. A woman who clearly didn’t want to be engaged to him any more than he wanted to be betrothed to her. “Most women don’t run away from me when I start taking my shirt off.”
Her lip curled. “I am not most women, you will find.”
He rubbed his chin, eyeing her figure, certainly not displayed to any advantage by the flannel she was currently wearing. “This may be a problem, as I expect you to be very like a woman when it comes to our marriage. You must be both a wife to me and a suitable public display for my country.” And he had to be the prince his brother needed him to be.