Page 22 of Untouched Queen by Royal Command

‘Would you like a virgin?’ she asked.

‘Are you serious?’

Her fingers paused over the keyboard. ‘Ah…yes? Historically—’

‘Let’s keep it modern day.’

‘The question stands,’ she offered quietly. ‘Some things are best left to those who enjoy initiating others. Do you want a virgin or would you prefer someone who brings adequate experience to sexual matters?’

‘It’s not important!’ Said no scaly possessive alpha beast ever.

‘Okay.’ Another pause. ‘Thank you for answering.’

‘You’re blushing,’ he told her darkly. ‘All virgin brides aside, how can you possibly think yourself ready to do some of the things in these pictures when you’ve never been touched?’

His virgin courtesan. The idea was ridiculous.

Beyond ridiculous.

No wonder it kept him awake at night.

‘Bodies can be prepared in advance for just about anything. It’s the endorphins.’ Sera stared at the screen, delicate colour still filling her cheeks. ‘More specifically, increased levels of oxytocin can act as a natural pain inhibitor. Additionally, minds can be manipulated to respond with pleasure to dominance, submission or many other…things.’

All of a sudden the idea of a virgin concubine wasn’t ridiculous at all, and it was burning hot in this room built for pleasure. ‘So you think you’re ready for anything?’

‘I hope I am. To be otherwise would be unacceptable. Disgraceful.’

‘On what planet is not being ready to partake in an orgy or whip a man bloody disgraceful?’ She had a flawless knack for rousing his temper. ‘Dammit, Sera. I have no idea who you’re answering to!’

‘I answer to you.’

‘The hell you do! Otherwise you’d be gone from here, as requested! Do you even understand the Pandora’s box of problems you bring with you? That I’m trying to work through while keeping you protected?’

‘I don’t need protecting.’

‘You say you’re innocent. The innocent always need protecting.’ He stood abruptly and stepped away from temptation before he did something unforgivable. ‘Read out the remaining names,’ he ordered, and she did, her voice becoming steadier as she went. He had her remove several more names from the list, because he’d met those women before and they weren’t for him. He found himself circling the sofa, and then moving further afield, looking at other tapestries and sculptures, other furniture sent to grace a courtesan’s workplace.

Over and over, his feet returned him to the centre of the room where she sat, his gaze drawn to the pleasure wheel at her feet. Where would a virgin trained as a courtesan even want to start when it came to serving someone sexually?

Finally the names stopped coming and his reason for being there ended.

‘It would help if you could give me some additional ideas of what you’re looking for in a wife,’ she said.

Good question, but he didn’t really have an answer for himself, let alone one he’d ever voiced to anyone else. He was so used to not voicing his innermost thoughts. ‘Why? So you can sell a list of my private wants and needs to the highest bidder?’

‘I would never do that. No courtesan of the High Reaches would ever betray your confidence. Above all else, it is the rule that governs us.’

He wanted to believe her. And really, what would it matter if people knew what he was looking for in a wife? The basics, at any rate.

‘Resilience is important,’ he offered, and wondered why it was easier to talk to her than just about anyone. ‘There’s no point choosing a wife who’ll crumble beneath the pressures and constrictions placed on her. She’ll be bound by duty to Crown and country. She’ll have to cope with extensive press coverage wherever she goes. I want her at the centre of things, right by my side, and she needs to be stubborn and curious, observant, intuitive and good with people she barely knows.’

Now that he’d started, he didn’t know how to stop confiding in her, because he had thought about this. He’d thought about this long and hard and it was good to finally say some of it out loud. ‘Above all I want to know what’s going to keep her at my side when the going gets tough. Because it will. My mother loved my father above all else and he loved her. This country benefitted greatly from their love match. My sister loves Theo and he loves her. Liesendaach wins. Sometimes I doubt I have the capacity to be in love with another person in that same way. And yet I can see the benefits. The strength in it. I’m not against it.’

Too much.

Too much revealed.

He turned away to study yet another tapestry that hung on a nearby wall. She had no comment for him other than the tapping of computer keys.

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