“Who said I was going to choose Nikki as my queen?” Anger gushes through me that she could somehow believe that I’m capable of such deception, but I remind myself that she doesn’t know who I am. But I thought she felt what I did. I know she did. I saw it in her eyes. That only leaves one option. Someone planted that thought in her pretty little head. Yes. I would definitely have to keep her close. I don’t want people’s hate to fill her ears. I need to protect this innocence she has to her.

“The woman at the table. And Nikki sort of insinuated it.” Her bottom lip trembles, and I want to kiss it.

She looks away from me, and I can’t stand the distance she’s trying to put between us. I reach over and grab her waist, pulling her onto my lap and making her look at me. I need those eyes back on me. Her brown hair, now flowing freely, tumbles in glossy locks between our bodies.

“Nikki is the daughter of a friend of my father’s. I have never and will never have romantic feelings for her. I don’t even have friendly feelings for her. She’s cold and calculating. That’s not the type of queen my people need. That’s not the type of queen I need. I’ve never so much as touched her.”

“Then what was tonight all about? You were supposed to choose a bride.” Her eyes drop down to her lap where she starts to play with her fingers. I grab her hands and bring them to my lips. I kiss her fingers, trying to get her to relax. Her eyes come back to mine.

There is hurt in her gaze, and I gently brush my knuckles across her cheek to try to ease some of her pain.

“I was trying to appease my council, but I had no intentions of really announcing a bride. I thought I could, but deep down I knew I couldn’t go through with it. The ball was merely to appease the people and give them hope that I was finally taking a wife.” I lean forward and place a soft kiss on her cheek where my fingers were. “I never expected you to walk into my palace. Into my life.”

A spark of hope lights in her eyes, and I continue.

“My parents hadn’t met one another until the day of their wedding. And yet they were the happiest and most loving couple I’d ever witnessed. I wanted that for myself and my queen.”

“That’s crazy. Things like that aren’t real!” She bites her lip, and I can see that she doesn’t believe what she’s saying. There is a question in her voice, begging me to disprove her.

“Anything is possible, princess. Especially when I’m the one who makes the rules.”

That pulls a smile from her. “My family thinks that I live too much in a bubble, that things aren’t that sweet in the world.”

“I’d spend my life making sure everything was that sweet for you. I’d make sure nothing ever fucked with that bubble you’re in as long as you let me in it with you.”

She looks at me with so much hope in her eyes but starts playing with her fingers again. I grab ahold of them and rub my fingers along them, trying to calm her.

“Did you come after me because I could be carrying your child?”

She’s so delicate and innocent. How can she not see her true worth? That a man has not stolen her for himself already is my good fortune. I don’t know what I’ve done for her to fall right into my lap, but I’m grabbing her and never letting go.

“My Giselle, I would find you, no matter if you so generously gave me your body or not. You could deny my touch for a thousand years and I would still be at your feet waiting, hoping that one day you would grant me the pleasure. I’m yours, and I must be with you, no matter where on this earth you hide.”

Her whole face lights up, and the fear that was still lingering when I lost her for a few hours drains away as I soak in that sweetness shining out at me. “Do you really want to marry me?” Hope lines her words.

“Marriage is only part of what I want with you, princess.” I take her hand and kiss the center of her palm, then bring her wrist to my nose so I can smell her delicate sweetness. “I want to make you the queen of my kingdom. I want you to carry my seed and bear my sons. I want to possess your soul inside mine and be the center of your universe so that you rely on me and no one else for all that you want. So that you’d never think about taking more than a step away from me. I’m selfish when it comes to your love, and I will not share it.”

“Love?”

Her bright green eyes are waiting, pleading with me to give her what her heart wants. It’s the same thing mine is after, so it’s easy to hand it over.

“I love you, Princess Giselle. Be mine, be my queen. Forever.”

“I love you, too, Karim,” she says, and throws her arms around my neck.

Chapter 9

Giselle

I hold on tight to him, unable to let go. His hands run up and down my back and then start to play with my hair. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I really am where I belong, with someone who doesn’t care if I look at the world through rose-colored glasses. He’s not asking me to change, he’s just asking me to let him be with me.

I let all the things he said sink deeper into me. I bury my face in his neck, breathing him in. He loves me. My sisters would tell me to question it. That it’s crazy to fall in love with someone in just a few hours, but I don’t care. I know it’s true love because I feel the same way about him. That’s what this feeling has to be. It’s why I let him take me without even knowing who he was. Yet it feels like I’ve known him my whole life. I never want to leave his safe arms.