Page 47 of The King's Fake Bride

“If you don’t want to end this, then what do you want?”

“You,” he says, his voice barely more than a whisper as he looks down at me. “Always you.”

My heart skips a beat as our eyes lock on each other. With the way he’s staring at me right now, my pulse is a runaway train.

“Why is wanting me so horrible to you?”

“I lose everyone and everything I care about. For the last few years, it’s been nothing but death and desertion. And we have a timeline.”

“We do.”

“This is only supposed to be business between us. And then it started morphing into having fun together, and if we keep going, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to walk away when this all ends.”

It feels like the air has been forced from my lungs as he stands in front of me, bracing himself with a hand against the tree on either side of my body.

I don’t touch him, waiting to see what he does. Needing him to want me as much as I want him.

The moment is ruined when he takes a step back and shakes his head. “I can’t keep doing this, Amy. We need to set solid boundaries with each other, and we need to stick to them. I can’t keep toeing this line with you and thinking that this relationship might end in something other than both of us getting what we want and walking away.”

A lump lodges in my throat, and I take a shaking breath, trying to figure out what to say to him.

We’re in two very different places and that has been evident for a long time, but it seems like a starker comparison now.

Our wedding is in less than three weeks, and I’m getting married to a man who is standing here and telling me that this is never going to be anything more than what it already is.

And I need to find a way to be okay with that.

“All right, well, we’re adults. Adults like to have fun. Like we said after the club, this doesn’t have to be anything serious. Sex and friendship. Nothing more. To be honest, I don’t plan on staying in Katastinia once the contract is done.”

The words taste like ash in my mouth, making it dry as I fight back the tears that prick the corners of my vision.

Thankfully, it’s too dark for him to see what I’m sure are glassy eyes and splotchy cheeks.

What little emotion there was drains from his face as he tugs on the robe, loosening it and sliding it down my shoulders to puddle on the ground.

“All sex. No feelings. Not when we both know that this is still going to end as we planned.” Xander says the words like they’re the law, his gaze searching mine.

I force myself to be cold as I nod. “No emotions. Just sex. And you need to make more of an effort to look like we’re together. The staff are talking, and it’s only a matter of time before it reaches the media.”

“I’ll come to the chambers and sleep in the bed.”

“I’ll build a pillow wall for you before I go to sleep every night.”

Xander recoils like I’ve slapped him, but the look is gone quickly and his lips are on mine.

I slant my mouth against his, fingers sinking into his hair as he scoops me up before lowering us both to the ground. He kisses his way down my neck and chest, tugging on the ribbon between my breasts.

He groans as he pulls it open, the sheer fabric falling away. “You’re so beautiful, you know that? Spending the night in bed with you is going to be torture.”

I roll my eyes, reaching for his shirt and tugging it up over his head. “I don’t know. I think not touching you would be a worse punishment.”

Chuckling, he takes one of my nipples into his mouth, the sharp sting of his teeth against the sensitive peak sending a rush of lust through my body.

He cups my other breast, pulling it between his fingers and pinching until I start to writhe beneath him. His low moan increases the arousal between my legs.

Xander switches to the other side, repeating the process as my thighs press into his hips hard.

Arching my back off the ground, I grind into him, needing more.

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