A Wicked Truth

by M. S. Parker

  Nami's fingers tightened around mine. Kai and Tomas didn't know the worst of it. I hadn't told them all the things I knew Tanek had done, only that he'd been abusing her. That meant the king and queen didn't know.

  “He's in jail,” Queen Mara said. She smoothed down Nami's hair. “And he will never hurt you again.”

  King Raj turned to me, still on his knees. “Thank you, Reed, for saving my daughters when I was too blind to see what was happening.”

  I didn't know if this was the right time, but I wouldn’t go another moment without saying it. If they knew that Nami and I had slept together when we'd first met, and it seemed like they did, they needed to know the whole truth of it. “I love her.”

  Nami's hand squeezed mine almost to the point of pain. She clearly hadn't expected that, but she didn't look angry at my confession.

  “Do you?” Queen Mara's voice was cool, but not cold.

  “I do.” I made the words firm as I turned to meet the queen's eyes. They were Nami's eyes, almost the exact same shade of blue-green. “And I'll protect her with my life.”

  “From what we hear, you almost did just that.” King Raj stood. “And we won't forget it.”

  “Neither will I,” Nami said softly. Her parents looked at her. “What I want to know is, with all this talk of being sorry coupled with what you owe Reed – have you learned anything?”

  The atmosphere immediately changed and I could feel the tension radiating off of all three of them.

  “You say you'll never forgive yourself for what happened,” she continued. “But that doesn't mean anything to me if you're not willing to change.”

  “Change?” King Raj's voice was soft.

  Nami lifted her chin. “You forced me to marry a man I didn't choose. A man who beat me. Raped me. Repeatedly.”

  My fingers were nearly numb from how hard she was squeezing my hand.

  The queen made a noise, confirming my previous suspicion that they hadn't known about the rapes.

  “All because of tradition.” Her voice was steady, but I could feel her body shaking against mine. “You never once asked what I wanted. Never asked my opinion on anything.” She looked at her mother and then at her father. They both flinched at the look in her eyes. “And this is what happened because of it.”

  “What do you want?” Queen Mara asked. “What can we do?”

  “Annul my marriage.”

  Okay, that one took me off guard, and judging by the look on her parents' faces, they hadn't been expecting it either though I wasn't sure why I was surprised. Of course she wouldn't want to stay married to Tanek. I just hadn't realized that her parents had any power to control that.

  “Annul the marriage,” Nami repeated. “And let me choose. Choose my own life.”

  “And if we do,” King Raj said slowly. “If we let you choose, what will your choice be?”

  “I will be Queen,” Nami said. “I accept that responsibility.” She took a deep breath and then added, “And I choose him.”

  My heart gave an unsteady thump.

  King Raj looked at me, a stern expression on his face, and then turned to his wife. She nodded and they both looked at Nami.

  “Agreed,” King Raj said. “Let us discuss where we go from here.”

  Chapter 18

  Nami

  I put my hands on the edge of the sink and bowed my head. The bathroom was full of steam, my skin still glistening. The hot water had done a great job of easing the knots in my back and shoulders, but my whole body was still tense. The past few days, hell, the past few weeks, hadn't been easy, but today had been what Americans would have called a roller coaster of emotions.

  Joy at seeing my parents. Horror and humiliation when they said Kai and Tomas had told them about what Tanek had done, about the truth behind mine and Reed's relationship. The surge of love hearing Reed say that he loved me and he'd protect me. A mix of feelings so complex that I couldn't explain them or sort them as my parents asked for my forgiveness, acknowledged that they owed Reed. And then surprise at my own boldness when I challenged them.

  They would annul my marriage, had promised to make the necessary calls that very afternoon. By the time we returned to Saja tomorrow, I would be free of my vows. Free to publicly choose Reed.

  I swallowed hard. If he still wanted me.

  I pulled the towel off of my head and let the wet curls tumble over my bare shoulders. I hung it up on the door hook and turned back to the sink. I had another towel wrapped around me and I took that off now. I looked down at my body. The bruises were nearly gone. I'd never bruised easily and they'd always healed quickly. It wasn't them I was looking at though.

  I was looking for other changes.

  “Nami?” Reed knocked on the door. “Are you okay?”

  “Fine,” I said. “I'll be out in a moment.”

  I pulled the towel back around me again, looked one more time at the little piece of white plastic, then threw it in the trash. After a moment's consideration, I covered it with a bit of toilet paper even though there were only two of us in the apartment at the moment. Halea might have gone back to the hotel with my parents, but I didn't want him finding out that way either.

  No, he deserved to hear it from me.

  I walked out of the bathroom and across the hall to the bedroom Reed and I had been using. The fact that my parents had left the two of us here, knowing we were sleeping together, was their way of saying I could make my own decisions. That they'd accepted my choice. In a few minutes, I'd know if my choice would accept me. I knew he loved me, that he was willing to go to jail for me, but this was different. For some men, this would break them.

  “Are you sure you're okay?” Reed came towards me as I stepped into the room. He took my hand, an expression of concern on his face. “You look like you're feeling sick.”

  I shook my head even though he was partially right. I did feel like I was going to throw up, but this time I knew it really was from nerves. The other times I'd told myself it was nerves, I knew now I'd been lying to myself. I'd probably known it then, but so much had been going on, I hadn't wanted to think about it. And I certainly hadn't wanted to think about the implications.

  “I have something I need to tell you.” For the first time today, my voice shook.

  “Nami, sweetheart, what's wrong?” He put his hand on the side of my face. “You're scaring me, love.”

  “I–” Words failed me and I ducked my head.

  “You can tell me anything.” He cupped my chin, raising my head so that I was looking at him. I could see the fear mingling with concern. “Even if it's that you changed your mind about me.”

  I shook my head, tears burning in my eyes. “I haven't. I love you and I want you. I wish I would have chosen you from the beginning.”

  “I wish that too,” he said, brushing his thumb across the corner of my eye. “If only to have spared you from the pain of what happened.”

  “It's not just that.” I took a breath and wished I had the courage to take a step back, the strength to say this without needing his touch.

  “Please, just tell me.”

  It was the desperation in his voice that did it.

  “I'm pregnant.”

  I waited, but other than a slightly stunned look on Reed's face, there was no reaction. No cursing. No pushing me away. Neither was there joy or excitement. I hadn't expected that though. Shock had been the best I'd hoped for. After all, I hadn't thought anything of it when Reed and I had made love those few times since he'd come for me, hadn't thought to tell him that we needed to use a condom.

  I was able to move away now and his hands fell at his sides.

  “There's more,” I forced myself to say it. “I haven't taken my birth control since we were in Venice. So when we've...and when Tanek...” Bile rose in my throat and I choked it down. The words that came out next were just as bitter on my tongue. “I don't know who the father is.”

  Tears streamed down my cheeks and I dropped my head, unable to lo
ok at Reed, to see whatever expression was on his face. Rejection. Disgust. Even pity.

  Then his arms were around me, pulling me against his bare chest. He held me tight, making soothing noises that had no words. His skin was hot and I welcomed the heat, my own body cold from my confession.

  “Do you know what I know?” Reed's voice was soft, but there was no hesitation, no wavering. “I know that it doesn't matter whose DNA that child has, I am its father.”

  I caught my breath and looked up at him, not daring to hope that I was understanding him correctly.

  “I don't care if this is too fast or if people think I'm crazy.” His expression was fierce. “I love you, Namisa Carrmoni, and if you'll have me, I want to marry you.”

  I wanted to say yes so badly, but I couldn't. Not when I knew why he was saying it. Maybe we would get there in some distant future, but I didn't want it to come like this.

  “I won't let you do that,” I said.

  “Won't let me?” he asked.

  “I won't have you marrying me just because I'm pregnant.”

  He shook his head and released me, taking a step back. “If you don't want to marry me, Nami, all you have to do is say it. I would never force the issue.” He looked away. “I just thought, that since you said you wanted me, that you chose me...”

  “I do,” I said. “And I did choose you.”

  “Then why won’t you marry me?”

  The question was so sad that my heart broke. “I do want to marry you. I just don't want it to be because...”

  I didn't get to finish because Reed's mouth was covering mine, swallowing my protests. The towel fell to the floor and his hands were on me, running down my back to my ass and back up again, leaving burning trails of fire along my skin. His tongue slid between my lips, curling around mine and drawing it into his mouth. I moaned, everything else forgotten but the feel of his chest under my hands, the way his teeth were scraping against my bottom lip.

  I made a muffled squeak as he picked me up and felt him smile. He lowered me to the bed, finally releasing my mouth so that he could kiss his way down my neck. His lips danced across my skin, up my breasts, pausing to circle my nipple with his tongue, then moving to the other one. I expected him to either return to my mouth or move lower to the aching place between my legs. Instead, he stopped at my stomach, placing a kiss just above my bellybutton. He ran his fingers across my skin, his expression thoughtful as he looked at my stomach.

  “Is that really the only reason?” he asked softly, not looking up at me. “You don't want me to feel obligated?”

  “Yes.” I reached down and ran my fingers through his hair.

  He looked up at me, his eyes deep pools of black. “I love you, Nami. And that has nothing to do with...this.” He spread his hand across my stomach. “I want to marry you.” He smiled softly, his fingers moving slowly over my still-flat belly. “Not in spite of, or because of.” He leaned forward and kissed my stomach again. “I want to have a family with you. It doesn't matter to me that things are moving faster than I'd thought they would. It's what I want because it's you.” He looked at me again. “What do you want, Nami?”

  I gave him the truth. “You.” I cupped his chin, using it to pull him back up my body.

  “Then marry me,” he whispered against my mouth.

  “Yes.” I pulled his head down so that our lips crashed together.

  His hands moved down my body as we kissed and then I felt his cock between my legs, pushing against me. He pulled his mouth away long enough for our eyes to meet and me to nod my consent. Then he was sliding inside me and the world was reduced to just the two of us. Our bodies moving together, hips rising and falling in perfect sync. The pleasure was building fast inside me, driving me towards the inevitable explosion. And when it happened, Reed was there with me, calling out my name.

  This was what I wanted. Not only the sex, but the completeness that came with joining with someone who knew me, understood me on some level that no one else did. Reed wasn't just a great lover, he was my other half. He made me a better woman. He was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, the man I wanted to be the father of my children, no matter what biology said.

  I didn't know how the people of Saja would react to any of this, but for the first time in my life, that wasn't what mattered. For the first time, I was going to have something I wanted.

  Chapter 19

  Reed

  We left Philadelphia Friday morning and Nami didn't ask why I hadn't gone to see my parents before we left. I'd been a little worried that she would think I didn't want them to know about the engagement or the baby, but she seemed to understand that I wasn't ashamed of her but rather didn't want to deal with all of the shit that would inevitably follow a visit to my parents.

  I did, however, take her with me into the bank where I'd kept a small safe deposit box with a few things I didn't want to take with me as I traveled. One of those things was my grandmother's engagement ring. It hadn't been expensive enough for Britni, but I knew Nami didn't care about that. The moment she saw the ring, her face lit up and she held out her hand.

  Judging from the expression on her parents' faces when we met them at the airport, the ring came as no surprise. Halea, however, was thrilled. We took a private plane back to Italy and she spent at least half of it talking to Nami about what the wedding would be like. The queen joined in, assuring Nami that before the plane landed in Saja, the marriage to Tanek would be annulled. The only question was how long we wanted to wait before we held the wedding.

  I felt Nami's eyes on me when her mother asked the question again. I looked up from where I'd been on my phone, reading all the emails I'd ignored over the past week. My parents were responsible for at least half of them, some business, some personal. I supposed they figured that at least this way there was a chance they'd get to have their say. I put all that aside though. My parents could wait.

  “Whatever you want,” I said quietly. I understood what she was asking and I would let it be her decision. If we married quickly, then announced the pregnancy in six weeks or so, we might be able to pass off the child as having been legitimately conceived on our wedding night, just born early.

  I didn't know what Saja annulments required, but there was a chance that they were the same as American annulments which, as far as I knew, required a marriage not be consummated. In my mind, consummation meant consent, but I didn't know about the laws in Saja. If an announcement of the marriage being annulled meant that the people of Saja believed Nami and Tanek hadn't slept together, then they would believe that the child was mine.

  It was mine, I thought fiercely. Nami was mine. My family.

  “We would like to marry as soon as possible,” Nami said. “There is no need for something lavish. As we all know, that does not guarantee a happy marriage.”

  “We will be arriving late and we will need to adjust to the time change,” King Raj said. “But if you wish, we could conduct the ceremony tomorrow.” He looked at me. “Do you have any specific religious affiliations that you wish us to include?”

  I was surprised by the question. While the king and queen were honoring their word about letting Nami choose what she wanted to do with her life, I'd expected them to tolerate me, especially since they knew little about me save that I'd had sex with their daughter before she'd been married to Tanek. Well, that and the whole rescuing thing, which I sincerely hoped made them think better of me than the rest.

  “My family attended church back in Philadelphia, but it was a social thing. They go because it's expected of them. I'm happy to follow whatever customs Saja follows.” I smiled at Nami. “Nami is my family now.”

  I saw her hand go to her stomach and wondered at how quickly the gesture became natural.

  “And speaking of family,” she said.

  I was a bit surprised she was going to tell her parents and Halea, but I'd meant what I'd said. I would support what she wanted.

  “I'm pregnant.”


  Queen Mara's mouth tightened for a moment, her eyes going from Nami to me and back again.

  “Who is...?” The king was obviously thinking the same thing, but couldn't quite bring himself to ask it.

  Nami's eyes met mine and I knew she’d let me decide this one. It wasn't even a consideration. “I am.”

  “For certain?” King Raj gave me a cynical look.

  “Yes.” I stood and walked over to Nami. I reached down and took her left hand, raising it to kiss her ring. “They're both mine.” Her eyes shown and she tilted her head up so I could kiss her lips. Mindful of the eyes on me, I kept the kiss chaste and brief. Still, it sent electricity through me and I had to remind myself that I only had to wait until tonight, tomorrow night at the latest, and I could indulge in a more thorough kiss. That and more. I ran the back of my hand down the side of her face. I'd never get enough of her.

  “Tomorrow, then,” Queen Mara said. “We have plenty of time on the journey home to plan a wedding.”

  “And a nursery.” Halea was beaming. “I wonder if it is a boy or a girl.”

  I left the sisters to talk with their mother and went to get a drink for myself and the king. I had a feeling, with all of the wedding and baby talk, King Raj and I were going to need a drink. Him, because of the events of the past couple days. Me, not because of my impending marriage or fatherhood. I wasn't nervous about either one, at least not about my choices. No, I was going to do something else that was freaking me out.

  I was going to send an email to my parents with an invitation to my wedding and an offer to pay for a private plane.

  By Saturday afternoon, I still hadn't heard from my parents and I put it all aside as I made my way out of the guest chamber where I'd slept last night. Alone, unfortunately, but understandably. Very little about this wedding would be traditional, but I could at least stay away from Nami until the ceremony. A ceremony where I would have no one at my side. My parents had made their decision and my conscience was clean. I'd leave Philadelphia and my family in the past. Today was about moving forward. New life. New home. New family.