Page 26 of A Throne for the Taking

Ria swallowed hard in an attempt to ease her painfully dry       throat. Yes, it had been one of the conditions of the arranged marriage, how       could it not have been? Which had been exactly why she had been so desperate to       get out of that arrangement. To get away from the horror of being tied to a man       she didn’t love; to keep her freedom. Only, it seemed, to lose it all over again       with the terms that Alexei was tossing out to her.

‘And we do at least have huge chemistry between us. Come on       Ria, admit it...’ he added when he saw her eyes widen, heard the swift intake of       breath she was unable to hold back. His eyes went to the other side of the bed       in which she still lay, drawing attention to the crumpled pillows, the wildly       disordered sheets. ‘There is a real flame between us. You know, you’ve felt       it.’

It was more than a flame. It was a raging inferno. She didn’t       need the state of the bed to remind her of how it was. Remembering last night       and the way she had gone up in flames in his arms, the wildfire that his kisses       had sent raging through her, she had to admit that there was no way she could       deny this. Her whole body still throbbed with the aftermath of their shared       passion and the heat he had stirred in her blood through the night had burned so       hard that she almost imagined that the sheets would scorch where she touched       them.

His implication was that this would make it easier to have that       ‘real marriage’. To create that much-needed heir. It could have done just that.       It should have; it really should.

She wanted Alexei so very much. Being with Alexei, making love       with him, was her dream come true. The fantasy she had let herself indulge in in       her teens, as she fell in love with him with all the strength of her young,       foolish, naïve heart.

But that was also what made the thought of this so terrible. To       have been tied into an arranged marriage with Ivan would have been bad enough.       But then only her body and her mind would have been involved. Not like with       Alexei. With Alexei there was the risk to her heart—her soul.

Because she also knew, when she faced the truth, that there was       no way she was making love with Alex every night. He was simply having sex,       giving in to that flame he had said burned between them. Throw a child—his       child—into the mix and she was done for. It would be lethal emotionally, totally       destructive.

‘It will be a real marriage—with everything that entails. As       king, it will be my duty to have an heir, so naturally...’

‘Naturally...’ Ria choked, earning herself a cold, flashing       sideways look from those deep, dark eyes.

Any child they created together would be so much more than       that—at least to her. But that thought caught and twisted her nerves at the       prospect of exposing a child to the toxic mix of hunger and distrust that their       marriage would be. The temporary marriage that he had insisted was all it was       going to be. It made her stomach clench in nausea, pushing bitter words from her       uncontrolled mouth.

‘Another child for you to neglect?’

She flung it at him, hard and sharp, her own bitterly divided       feelings tightening her voice and putting into it more venom than she actually       felt. The truth was that she didn’t even know if she really felt that bitterness       or not. She didn’t even know what she should be feeling.

‘Another child that might...’

She couldn’t say the word. It might only have three letters in       it, but ‘die’ had to be one of the most terrible words in the world.

‘I would not neglect her.’

Alexei’s eyes had turned translucent, like molten steel, and       yet cold as frost in the same dark moment. Ria felt a terrible sense of wrong       twist deep inside. There was something here that she didn’t understand.       Something she couldn’t put her finger on and the danger in his expression, in       his tone, warned her that she was somehow treading on very thin ice.

‘This child would not be neglected,’ he continued, each word       snapped out, cold and brittle. ‘It would be too important, too—’

He choked off the word, leaving her wondering just what he had       been about to say. Too significant? Too essential to his plans for the future?       His role as king?

‘He or she would be cared for, treasured, watched over every       moment of its days.’

‘Because they would be the heir that you need so much.’

‘Because I would have you to be its mother—to take care of       it.’

How could something so quietly stated have the force of a       deadly assault?

‘So that is my future role as you see it? As a brood mare       first, and then a nursemaid to your heir.’

Something new blazed in those molten eyes, colder and harder       than she would have believed possible. She couldn’t imagine what she had said to       put it there. After all she had simply agreed with what he had declared he       wanted from her, making it plain that they both knew where they stood.

‘You don’t value that role?’ he demanded, low and harsh. ‘You       think Ivan would have offered you anything else?’

‘I think that you and Ivan are two of a kind. That you would       both use me—use anyone without a second thought—to get what you wanted. Well,       don’t worry—I’ll do my duty.’ She laced the word with venom and actually saw him       wince away from her attack, his eyes hooded and hidden. ‘After all, you’ve       probably achieved all you ever wanted already.’

‘Achieved what?’ His dark brows snapped together in a hard       line. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

‘Well, we’ve made lo—had sex—what, a dozen times now? And you       have been scrupulous about using contraceptives—each time but one! I could well       be pregnant already with the heir you need. Another nine months and the baby       will be born—you’ll be crowned king, settled on the throne, and have everything       you want. And I’ll be free to leave.’

She tried to make it sound airy, careless, but the misery she       felt only succeeded in making it seem cold and hard, ruinously so. Alexei       obviously took her at her word.

‘And you could do that, could you? You could leave your child?       Hand it over to be brought up as a prince or princess, the heir to the       throne?

He sounded harsh, brutally critical. How dared he? How dared           he imply that she would abandon her child when       he had neglected his baby in that heartless way?

‘No, I could never do that—but then you knew that already! You       can guarantee that I will never leave, as long as I have a child to care for.       That’s how you know that you have me trapped so completely.’

She had never seen him look so, white, so totally bloodless,       his skin drawn so tight across his cheekbones that she almost felt they might       slice it wide open, leaving a gaping wound. His jaw clenched too, a muscle       jerking hard against the control he was forcing over it, and for a moment she       flinched inside, wondering just what he was going to come back at her with.

But no such retort ever came. Instead, after a moment seeming       frozen into ice, Alexei was suddenly jerked into movement, as his phone on the       side table buzzed in timed warning of an upcoming event.

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