Page 79 of The Reluctant Heir

Kaine is sitting at the desk with a large book open in front of him, but he’s not looking at the book at all. When the door opens, his eyes move to mine immediately. He jumps up from the desk and makes his way over to me.

I shut the door behind me and turn to face him, readying myself for whatever he’s about to say to me.

“Why?” Kaine asks.

I raise an eyebrow. “Why what?”

“Why, out of all the choices, did you choose him?” Kaine clenches his jaw. “Why him, Madeline?”

I open my mouth to respond and then close it.

I don’t know how Kaine wants me to answer his question. After a moment of debating with myself, I decide to just go with the truth. I feel like the truth is the best option in this scenario.

I put a hand to the base of my throat. “I like Damek. Out of all the potential marriage candidates, he’s been the nicest. He knows that I don’t want to get married right now. And instead of trying to force me to marry himnow, he’s argued with his dad to give me time to get to know him. He’s a good guy. And since you told me that I have to marry a royal, he’s the only one I would consider. It’s this or running away.”

Kaine looks at me, his glacier blue eyes full of pain. He closes them and turns away from me.

That isn’t what he wanted to hear.

Tears press against my eyes and a sob escapes my throat. Kaine abruptly opens his eyes to look at me and he relaxes his tense muscles, taking a step forward.

“I’m sorry, Madeline. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s all of this.” I wave my hands. “This marriage alliance. The whole six months thing. It’s all too much.”

Kaine puts his arms around me and pulls me into his embrace. It reminds me too much of our kiss yesterday, but his touch is comforting. I allow him to wrap me in his arms. I lean my head into his chest and I squeeze him around the middle. We stay like that for a long time before Kain tugs me over to the loveseat. We both take a seat.

“Talk to me,” he says, not pulling me into his embrace for a second time.

I take a deep breath. “Did you know that succubi are really picky about who they marry?”

He shakes his head. “No. I admit, I don’t know much about succubi and incubi society.”

I sniff. “Usually, a succubus will date for a long time. Even for us, marriage is a forever thing. So, it’s not unusual for a succubus to date an incubus for a couple of years. They want to be sure before taking the step of marriage.”

“Do you really need that long to decide?” Kaine asks. “I’ve never been married before, but it seems like that is something you should just know after only a few dates.”

“Maybe.” I shrug. “But it’s just the way succubi and incubi society works.”

“Do you want a couple of years to date before marriage?”

I nod then shake my head. “Yes. No. I don’t know. I honestly don’t know what to do. I don’t know what is right or wrong when it comes to this situation. It’s overwhelming.”

“And I made things worse for you.” Kaine rubs a hand at the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. I promise that I will be supportive of your relationship with Prince Damek. Even I can admit, that he’s a good candidate. His clan is probably the strongest one to offer an alliance. Your marriage will mend ties between our clans, which is something we need.”

My heart feels lighter at his words.

Kaine approves.

He sighs. “And I promise to keep things friendly between us. No kissing. No fake dating. No embraces. We’ll just be friends. I’m your advisor. Anything more than friendship would be inappropriate.”

I wipe at the tears on my face. “I’m okay with us being friends.”

Friendship is more than we’ve had before now. Our relationship has always been more… antagonistic. This is better than anything I could’ve hoped for.

“Damek will make a good husband for you,” Kaine says, after another long pause. “He’s already in love with you.”

I shake my head. “No, he’s not.”

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