Page 25 of Wicked Knight 2

“He will come for me. You can be sure of that.”

“The only thing I can be sure of, princess, is that it’s time for bed. Since Prince Charming isn’t here, I guess I would have to do.”

“What?” I made to face him, but he kept me in place.

“I didn’t get married to sleep alone. Take off your dress,” he whispered in my ear.

“You can’t be serious. Not in your condition.” I should’ve given him a bigger dose of those pain killer. Fuck. Maxim was making me forget myself and my Hippocratic Oath. Right now, all I wanted to do was hurt him, and make him feel true trepidation. “I’m not having sex with you.”

He laughed and released me. “Is that what that whole display was about?” He pointed at the door barely hanging from its hinges. “You couldn’t decide if you wanted me or not.”

“What? How dare you? You have some nerve.” I glared at him with tears in my eyes and burning cheeks. When he’d said it was time for bed, he hadn’t meant he wanted sex. Only that he wanted to go to bed…most likely to sleep.

He furrowed his brows. “There are clothes in there for you. As beautiful as you look in that wedding gown, I can’t imagine it’s that comfortable.”

I glanced down at his pants. “What are you going to wear?”

“I sleep naked.” He unbuckled his belt and pulled to remove it.

Before he took off the rest of it, I darted toward the walk-in closet. He was toying with me. By now, I had no doubt that he planned to hold this sex thing over my head. Especially after I was stupid enough to let him know how much it terrified me, how much I feared him.

Just like he’d said, there was a whole section of his closet filled with women's dresses and tops and bottoms with the tags still on. I quickly glanced through them before I moved to rummage through the drawers. Whoever did the shopping had thought to buy matching sets of bras and underwear, even socks. But no pajamas. I picked up a piece of lacy lingerie and gaped at it.

“Are they serious?”

So my options were, wedding gown or teddy?

I tossed the sexy garment back in the drawer and went looking for a T-Shirt. When I didn’t find one that was long enough to cover all my bits, I took one of Maxim’s. I looked at my reflection in the full-body mirror to make sure I was fairly decent, then returned to the suite.

Maxim had already turned off all the lights except for both bedside lamps. I padded across the floor, hoping Maxim couldn’t hear the drumming in my chest. When he didn’t bother to look up from his book, I slipped under the covers and stayed at the very edge of the mattress.

“I don’t bite.” His voice rumbled.

“Better safe than sorry.” I pulled the comforter all the way up to my neck. “I sleep with the light on.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, but he stayed focused on his book. “As you wish.” He reached for his lamp and turned it off.

The space between us was big enough that he was left in his own little circle of quiet darkness while my side was bright and filled with jittery energy. I sat there with my heart pumping hot blood through me. What the hell was I supposed to do with this? This couldn’t be the rest of my life. I didn’t know where I was or how to reach the outside world. This man could keep me here for years.

“What exactly is your plan anyway?” I shifted to stare at his dark profile.

“Go to sleep, Donata,” he ordered.

CHAPTER9

Know Your Enemy

Donata

The first night I slept in Maxim’s room, I slept like a newborn baby. But that time, Maxim was unconscious and on the far end of the suite. His form on the other side of the bed kept me on high alert. Who could sleep next to a stranger? I inched closer to the edge of the mattress and the dim light of the bedside lamp.

Sometimes when the faint rays of sunshine poked through the tall windows, I drifted into a waking dream. My eyes fluttered open for a moment toward Maxim, but he was gone. The shower in the en-suite turned on and then off. I curled into the pillow and listened for Maxim’s movements.

When the sheet over my hip slipped off me, I sucked in a breath. He hovered over me for what felt like hours before he ran his fingers over my hip and my underwear. Sunlight spilled into the room and made the back of my eyelids turn bright red. But I didn’t dare open my eyes. I couldn’t face my new husband.

“Wait for me,” he whispered. “I won’t be long.”

I released a breath and slowly shifted my body toward him. But by then, he had already gone. I sank into the comforter again and fell into a deep sleep. Now that he was gone, the agitated feeling in my chest and in the air around me lifted.

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