He melded their lips, effectively cutting off her words.
Ah, hell no! The words exploded in her head but were never uttered.
In seconds, he had her backed against the wall, pushed the hem of her dress up to her waist, pulled her panty aside, and surged up into her as though he would die from the wait.
She gasped.
He grunted.
She was overwhelmed by him, his familiar scent, the taste of him on her tongue, and the feel of him stretching the sensitive walls of her sex.
He deepened their kiss and drove wildly in and out of her with unrestrained desperation.
Tears rolled down her cheeks in unchecked emotions. Her entire body tingled and trembled with helpless desire. I love you! I love you so much! The words reverberated in her mind as she splintered in a mind-numbing orgasm.
His guttural roar echoed throughout the hall.
His violent climax triggered another orgasm from her. She collapsed listlessly against him, weak as a newborn baby.
“You disobeyed me,” he murmured a few moments later.
Saina felt as though she were still drowning in him. He remained lodged deep in her, hard and unyielding. While she was still euphoric from their loving, he was back to being a pissed-off husband. She felt his raw emotion of lust and anger come at her in thick waves, which only inflamed her arousal further. Being surrounded by him, his heat, his scent, his raw masculinity, it was as though she was in a perpetual loop of love and desire. She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, and getting her mouth to form words wasn’t even a possibility.
He released her slightly. She would’ve dissolved into a helpless pool if he hadn’t held her up and draped her, face down, over the hall’s porcelain-top table. The contrast of the cold surface on her overheated body was jarring, and so was the feel of his granite cock being thrust back into her.
“Your first appearance to our people was on the arm of another man?” he asked in a hard voice. He didn’t wait for a response and instead pulled out of her slick opening and then forcefully drilled back in again.
She cried out loudly at the sudden invasion into her already sensitive flesh. His aggressive treatment should have alarmed her; however, it only made her lust for more. She dug her fingernails into his biceps for purchase and met his thrusts with some provocative thrusts of her own.
He gripped her ass to stop her, letting her know that his intent wasn’t on pleasuring her, but punishing her.
Good luck with that. She was too hot for him and hooked on him for punishment in this manner to work.
His anger was even more palpable, and so was his lust. Their minds merged, and she lit up as though she were the Fourth of July. And it seemed so did he. His lust fed her own. She filled her thoughts with her love for him, whispering and chanting her declaration in her mind and pushing it into his.
“No,” he muttered. He tried to fight it, but that’s not how it worked with them. It was impossible to fight their connection and he knew it. He pistoned into her without finesse, without restraint.
Her hoarse cries echoed throughout the room as he relentlessly wrung orgasm after orgasm from her and himself. They fucked for hours. Every time she became coherent, his emotions pulled her back under again.
He dragged them both into a steaming shower and made love to her again under the streaming water. He carried her listless body to their bedroom, but he refused to let her sleep. Pinning her wrists above her head in one fist, he straddled her hips and bent over her, keeping her immobile on the bed.
Saina closed her eyes tiredly and barely contained a yawn.
“Have I reminded you of who you are?” he asked her coolly.
“I don’t need reminding, husband.” She raised her head lazily and brushed her lips over his. “I think you need to remember who you are, my husband, the father of our baby, and King of Calison.” She kissed him again. “Where have you been? Why haven’t you called or come to see me?”
He stared dispassionately down at her, and not a muscle on his face moved for a long moment. And then he glared down at her. “You know where I was and why. Don’t play games!” He breathed in and out deeply as though trying to calm himself. “Would you like it if I had taken another woman to that ball?”
She hissed at the outrageous thought. “You wouldn’t dare,” she said in a stunned whisper.
“I wouldn’t fuckin’ dare? You walked into a ballroom filled with half the fucking citizens of Kenton, wearing my fuckin’ colors and on the arm of another man and I wouldn’t dare?”
The hurt in his voice made her heart ache. “Thorne,” she began shakily.
“The only thing I want to hear is that you’ll stay the fuck away from him.”
“Thorne…”
“Stop fuckin’ calling my name and say it. Say you’ll stay away from him.”
“I love you,” she said softly. “You know this.”
“Yeah, well, you have a funny way of showing it.”
She tried to kiss him, but he turned his head, and her lips only grazed his cheek.
“Say the words, Saina.”
“How do I stay away from someone I work with? This is stupid,” she scoffed. “Look at me dammit! I’m four months pregnant with your child. Who the hell would be interested?”
Thorne covered her slight baby bump and enlarged breasts with his palms. “You’d be fuckin’ surprised,” he murmured. He touched her tenderly, reverently. “Say the words, Saina.”
Saina rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. “I will try my best to not go out with Tarik again. How’s that?” she asked mockingly.
“You’re obviously not taking this seriously.”
“How can I take this seriously? When have I ever shown an interest in another man? While you, on the other hand…”
He released her and rolled to his feet to stand at the side of the bed.
“What are you doing?” Saina asked in alarm.
Thorne didn’t answer her. He crossed the room and entered a state-of-the-art closet. The closet immediately responded to the occupant by displaying only articles of clothing and footwear applicable to Thorne. “Casual night,” Saina heard from her perch on the bed.
She ran to the closet. She stood just inside the massive room, watching him with mounting fear.
With the press of a few buttons, an android female assistant presented him dark slacks and a dress shirt.
“Thorne, don’t do this. I only went with Tarik tonight to get your attention! You won’t talk to me. You don’t respond to any of my messages.”
He turned and stared at her with an uncompromising frown. “Didn’t I warn you about trying to manipulate me? And stop saying his fucking name!”
Saina jumped in surprise at the venom in voice. “I wasn’t trying to manipulate you. I missed you and wanted to see you. You won’t take any of my calls, and I haven’t seen you in weeks! You wouldn’t even come to my last medical exam.”
“I get all I need to know from your doctor,” he said coldly.
She sucked in her breath.
“I will be taking over your care from here on out.” His gaze darkened with worry. “The baby is getting too strong, and your doctor will notice the anomaly if he hasn’t already.”
“I feel stronger every day, and my own healing powers are more intense,” she told him, trying to stay calm as he continued to get dressed.
He nodded and then stared at her blankly.
She fidgeted nervously. “I promise I won’t go out with…” She cleared her throat. “I won’t go out with him again, but I’d be lying if I said I was sorry.” She closed the distance between them, stopping just in front of him, but not touching him in any way. “Tell me how to fix this? How to fix us?” she asked achingly.
He looked over her head and stared at the wall behind her.
She was terrified of touching him or saying the wrong thing. “Thorne, please come back to bed,” she whispered softly.
He brushed past her and strode into the bedroom.
Saina breathed a sigh, grateful that at least he hadn’t teleported.
He sat in an armchair in the darkened corner of the massive room.
It was impossible to see his face, but she wasted no time in crossing the room and climbing into his lap. When he didn’t push her away, she snuggled against him.
After a long moment, he curled his arms around her.
“I love—”
“Shut up,” he whispered.
She fell asleep waiting on him to make the next move.
***
Saina had just rounded the corner after visiting a patient who’d come into the hospital with a knife lodged in his skull when she saw her. To say she was surprised was a massive understatement. Following the seesaw night with Thorne, she was in no mood to deal with Anastasia. Although Thorne had stayed the night and held her while they slept, it was clear from his silent loving that morning and his brief grunt masquerading as a farewell that he was still pissed with her. Saina had refused to beg him again to be reasonable, and she was sure as hell not going to take crap from Anastasia now.
“Cough, cough.” Anastasia hacked loudly. “It seems I need the talented doctor that our king made a special effort to meet,” she smirked. The three male guards standing next to and behind her laughed as though they had an inside joke.
Before Saina could utter a word, Tarik suddenly appeared by her side. “That’s nice, Your Highness,” he said brightly. His voice was breathless from his obvious rush to get to her.
Saina smiled at his determination to come to her aid. It would’ve been so easy to fall in love with the gentle, beautiful man Tarik was turning out to be.
“I’m honored that you trust me with your care,” Tarik continued with his overly enthusiastic greeting.
“Ah…ah...I…” Anastasia stammered and looked at them in confusion.
“I will clear up that cough in no time. Come right over here into the examination room,” Tarik coaxed. Before Anastasia could utter a word of protest, Tarik had maneuvered her into the nearest exam room.
Saina wanted to laugh at the stunned look on Anastasia’s and her guards’ faces.
Tarik poked his head out of the room. “Get out of here,” he whispered. “You have five minutes.”
Saina snorted. “That’s more than enough time.”
“Good, I’ve already pissed off the king. Can’t have the ‘queen’ mad at me too.”
Saina frowned at his reference to the queen and using air quotes signs with his fingers. However, she took his advice and escaped to her locker.
A few hours later, Saina reluctantly tracked Tarik down. She had to tell him that they couldn’t be friends anymore. Until this situation with Thorne was settled, Thorne wouldn’t gain the confidence in their relationship to understand her friendship with Tarik. It was unsettling the sadness she felt at having to give up her friend.
“Thank you for the rescuing me again, twice in less than twenty-four hours,” Saina told him as she stepped into his office.
Tarik looked up from the papers and charts he’d been reviewing and smiled at her. “I will always be here for you, Saina.”
She felt ashamed at the naked emotion she read in his face. He loved her. Recognizing it made her heart ache for him. “Tarik…” Saina cleared her throat and then swallowed the lump that was suddenly clogged there. “I think you misunderstand,” she began softly.
Tarik smiled gently at her and shook his head. “I understand perfectly, sweet Saina. You love your husband, and from what I can tell, he loves you.”
Saina sucked in her breath. She was frozen with fear.
“Let me tell you a story.” His voice was almost apologetic. He waved his hand toward a chair in a cozy sitting area of his office.
Saina moved slowly toward the chair he indicated, already dialoguing the conversation she would have to have with Thorne later tonight.
“I come from one of seven children to my father and mother,” Tarik began. “I’m the youngest of six brothers, but we have a younger sister.” His dark gaze bore into her as he told his story.
Saina briefly envied him his siblings and wondered whether in any of the stories she’d been told of her parents whether they had ever had other children. She had no idea why Tarik felt the need to tell her this. All she really wanted to know was whether he’d guessed her and Thorne’s relationship.
“I love my family, Saina.”
That is not in any doubt, Saina thought. His genuine emotion for them spilled out of every pore in his body as he spoke about them.
“When I was ten years old, my mother gave birth to my little sister. From the time she opened those beautiful eyes on me, I knew ours would be a bond we could both rely on for eternity. Her first smile was for me, and although Mom insisted it was gas, I knew better.”
Saina smiled at his obvious love for his infant sister.
“When she learned to crawl, she came to me. When she cried, only I could soothe her. And when she took her first step, it was toward me.”
While she appreciated his storytelling, Saina was getting impatient for him to reveal what he knew about her and Thorne. “I’m sorry, Tarik, I don’t understand what this has to do with my love for my husband?” She frowned at him.
Tarik smiled. “I know. At first, I thought you were just playing a part and so was he, but last night I realized that neither of you knew.”
“Neither of us know what? And just so I understand, who do you think is my husband?”
“Not who I think he is, but who I know he is.” His voice softened with sadness. “That day when he came for you, you were in your favorite place, my arms. Until he came for you, I was the only one who could hold the two-year-old toddler without her throwing a fit.”
Saina gasped. “What are you saying?” She couldn’t prevent her voice from trembling with stunning emotion.
“Until that day, Saina, you’d never looked at anyone as you’d looked at him.” For the first time, Saina could hear the bitterness in his voice. “He swooped in, and everyone listened to him, yielded to him, and took my sister away without any protest! And you, as you’re doing now, opened your arms, let him take you, and then went along with whatever he wanted.” His voice had softened with sadness, and his gaze moistened with tears.
Saina had no idea that she’d been crying until she felt the wetness on her face. She smiled as she remembered Thorne’s angry face at her defiance. “Trust me, I’m certain he doesn’t think I do anything he wants.”
Tarik smiled too. “Yeah, from the murderous glare he was shooting at me, your assessment is probably true.” He suddenly sobered. “Our mother cried for months after they took you.”
Saina grabbed both of his hands and held on tight. “Are…are you truly my brother?”
“Yes, Saina, I am.” It was now his turn to grip her hands, and he pulled her toward him and clutched her hard against his chest.
“Wait…” Saina’s voice hitched with uncertainty. “How do I know what you’re saying is true? And how are you so certain of who I am?”
He silently tapped the wrist console he had on, pressed a few buttons, and a video of an older woman appeared on the screen.
Saina felt faint, dizzy with the information she was being bombarded with. The woman on the screen was almost an exact replica of herself, right down to the short hair she’d been wearing on Earth. The sight of her mother and the feel of her brother’s arms closing around her shifted her universe.
Saina went willingly into his arms, crying the entire time. He held her for a long moment as he told her about how their mother could finally lose that sadness in her eyes from the loss of her child. He told her of their other siblings, all of who were living in Europon with their families. At last count, there were thirty nieces and nephews that Saina would have to meet.
“Why aren’t you married with children?” Saina asked after h
e’d mopped up her face and had her laughing with some of the stories of growing up in Europon with siblings who were always pranking each other.
“I thought I told you to stay the hell away from him,” Thorne snarled. “You bi—”
“I wouldn’t finish that if I were you.” Saina had immediately jumped from Tarik’s embrace at the first sound of Thorne’s words and run toward him. She punched him in his stomach. “Don’t even think it,” she hissed.
“What am I supposed to think when I find you locked in another man’s arms behind closed doors?” he spat.
“You’re supposed to listen!”
“Sire,” Tarik started cautiously, only to be brought up short by the murderous glare directed at him from Thorne. “I know it looked bad, but…”
Thorne launched at Tarik and grabbed him by his neck, lifting him with one hand until Tarik was coughing for air and standing on the tips of his toes.
“Stop that!” Saina yelled. “Put him down! Thorne, stop it!”
“I warned you!” Thorne ignored her and threw Tarik across the room.
Tarik crashed into a wall and landed hard on the floor with a loud thud.
“You big idiot!” Saina screamed at Thorne and came to stand between the men. “I expect you to trust me.” She punched Thorne in his stomach again.
“Don’t hit me again,” he growled.
“Saina, stop poking the bear and tell him before he kills me,” Tarik said in strained pain-filled voice.
“I shouldn’t have to tell him a damn thing.” Saina held Thorne’s angry gaze defiantly. “He’s supposed to know that I would never cheat on him.”
Thorne looked uncertainly at Tarik sprawled on the floor and then at Saina. “You have ten seconds to tell me why I shouldn’t rip him apart for touching my wife,” he said softly.
“You really need to trust me,” Saina told him gently. “How could you think I would do something like this?”
“God, stop stalling,” Tarik muttered in exasperation. He stood slowly and moved cautiously toward Thorne. “I am her brother, Tarik, sixth son of Gordon Bahar, the King of Europon.”
“You’re her what?” Thorne asked
Tarik grinned at Thorne’s astonished expression.
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