Page 32 of Wickedly Yours

Luna resumed pacing in front of me across the floor, her white furball winding under her feet. “If I’m going to—” she swallowed like she had to push out the words, “marry you, it should be an even exchange. What are you getting out of this, anyway?”

She turned to look at me. That pretty pink blush spread over her cheeks.You, I thought,I getyou.

“I have my own reasons for needing a wife,” I spoke.A queen.“But if you’d feel more comfortable making a deal, that can be arranged.” I waved my hand, a contract appearing out of thin air.

I stepped closer, grasping her chin between my thumb and pointer finger, bringing her eyes up to meet mine. “Lay out your terms, Moonbeam.” Her breath hitched, and I knew she couldn’t deny the physical attraction between us any more than I could. It was intertwined in our DNA, buried in our biology. This need we had for each other overruled everything else.

What I wanted more than anything was to hoist her up into my arms and deposit her onto the counter. To take her to bed like I had so many times these past few weeks. Losing myself in her body those nights was the only thing that seemed to keep me sane.

She blinked, looking away in a haze. “My terms?”

“For ourcontract.”

Luna bit her lip in concentration. “How long will the marriage be for?”

Forever.“Until you no longer need me.”

“Oh.” Then she nodded. “I guess that makes sense. Once the threat is gone, we wouldn’t need to be married anymore.”

“Right.” I cleared my throat because I hoped it wouldn’t come to that. That I could win her over. That I could make her see that life with me wouldn’t be so bad. That I would make every one of her dreams come true.

“I don’t want to be a prisoner.” She crossed her arms, a pouty look spreading over her face. Did she know how much I wanted to kiss it off her face? “I do not want to be locked up, unable to leave my room.”

“Of course.” I made a face. Did she really think I would do that to her? “You will have full access to the palace as long as you have a bodyguard with you.”

She winced. “I don’t want a bodyguard.”

“You don’t have an option.” If someone else was with her, I would know she’d be safe.

Luna crossed her arms over her chest. “I can protect myself.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Can you?” Just thirty minutes ago, she’d been trembling with fear.

“Yes.” She jerked her chin up in the air. “My magic…” She twitched her fingers, gaze dropping to the floor. “I know it’s there. I can feel it. But I’m just… terrified of letting it out.”

It wasn’t a surprise to me—I knew she had power. It called to me in her veins. The fates had chosen her for me, after all. But finding out she didn’t know how to wield it was a shock. “Did no one ever teach you?”

Luna shook her head. “I didn’t want to be different. The other girls in my coven had normal gifts: potion brewing, animal communication, spirit sensing, that kind of thing. AndI… I got weird light powers and visions. So I forced it down and did my best to learn how to block everyone out. How to create shields around my mind.”

“I can teach you.” I offered, wrapping a hand around her arm to still her.

“You can?” She blinked. “How?”

I flashed her a saccharine smile. “I might not be a witch, but I am surprisingly indestructible, Luna, and I have magic of my own.”

Shadows that begged to explore every inch of her. Maybe this way, they could.

Luna seemed to contemplate that for a moment, finally nodding. “What do you get out of this?” She repeated her words a whisper in that tiny apartment. If I hadn’t been so close to her, I might not have heard them.

Trailing my finger across her jaw, I tilted my face down to brush my lips against hers. “You.” I let the word linger with all the sexual promises it offered, tangling in the air like sin on my tongue.

Pressing a kiss to her lips, I let it say all the things I couldn’t.

I’d tell her the rest—in time. She wasn’t ready for the other part I required from her. Not yet, anyway. I needed her to trust me first. Needed her to realize I wasn’t the bad guy.

NINE

luna

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