Carrying the King's Pride(26)
Well, she had that wrong. This marriage might have been thrust upon him, along with everything else he’d acquired over the past month, but he’d be damned if he was going to sacrifice the physical aspect of his relationship with Sofía when it was the part they did so spectacularly well.
He turned on his heel and strode inside. Sofía was standing in front of the mirror, brushing her hair. It fell down her back like a dark silk curtain, contrasting with her honey-colored skin bestowed upon her by her Chilean heritage.
Heat moved through him. She was so beautiful, so desirable, what she had done to him, manufacturing a pregnancy, had no impact on his lust. It only made him want to have her more.
He deposited his glass on the coffee table with a deliberate movement. Sofía’s wary gaze met his in the mirror as he walked up behind her and rested his hands on her hips. “This looks fantastic on you, glykeia mou.”
She kept the brush strokes going, rhythmically over and over. “I put the nightie on because the maid took my T-shirt. I haven’t changed my mind, Nik. Get your hands off me.”
“No.” He lowered his mouth to her bare shoulder, scraping his teeth across her delicate skin. Her involuntary shudder made him smile. “Your body says yes.”
“And I’m saying no.” Her gaze speared his in the mirror. “You accused me of trapping you into marriage, Nik. You threatened to take my child away. As if you don’t know me. Until we regain our trust in each other, this isn’t happening.”
Fire heated his gaze. “So you fell into the trap of wanting more. I’m past it, Sofía. I’m moving on. You should, too. Why drag this out?”
She threw the brush on the dresser and spun around. “The only thing I’m guilty of is wanting to be closer to you that night, Nik. There was no risk in my mind. If you really want me to come around, then start wrapping your head around a real relationship where we actually communicate. We’re going to need it to get through this.”
His gaze darkened. “And what would you like out of that real relationship now that you have it, Sofía? Let’s get all our cards on the table. Would you like to talk like we did tonight? Are you looking for love perhaps? Or does your inability to make yourself vulnerable rule that out?”
“As much as it does for you,” she bit out. “A relationship is about respecting and appreciating each other. Knowing each other so we can support one another. And clearly you don’t know me at all right now. So we’re each going to have to learn how to drop our guards, to let each other in, to be in a relationship or this isn’t going to work.”
His lashes lowered. “Sex is a vital part of a relationship. Sex is intimacy.”
“It’s one level of intimacy,” she countered. “If I give in to you now, if I let you use sex as a weapon between us, as a way to avoid the issues we have, we are never going to confront them.”
His gaze darkened. “Love is a fantasy people like to believe in. It has no place in the real world. We’d all be better off if we acknowledged that and viewed relationships as the mutually beneficial transactions they are.”
“Transactions?” She lifted a brow. “I am certainly no expert here, given my poor track record, but my parents were in love, Nik. It was my mother’s love for my father that sent her into the spiral she went into. She loved him that much.”
“And that type of dependency we are to aspire to?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I honestly don’t know. What I do know is that this is not working. Will not work. So figure out if you want this to succeed. And how you plan to do it.”
He muttered an oath. Out of words. Out of everything.
She lifted her chin, her gaze on his. “What you said, in New York, about finding out what happens when winning isn’t enough anymore... I think this is your chance to get to the heart of that. To confront the demons you obviously have and figure out what drives you. Otherwise, you’re going to detonate like the bomb you are right now and I don’t think anyone, yourself included, wants that to happen.”
Turning on her heel, she stalked into the bathroom. He watched her go, clenching his hands by his sides. Why wouldn’t she just admit what she’d done? Why wouldn’t she just move on? He was willing to. He was being more than fair.
Diavole. He needed this thing with her sorted. Done. He could not fight battles on multiple fronts.
CHAPTER SIX
IN THE DAYS that followed Nik’s confrontation with King Idas, tensions continued to mount. The Carnelian king responded to Nik’s challenge to back off by mounting a series of military exercises off the coast of Carnelia, leaving the people of both Akathinia and Carnelia to watch in alarm as the two countries slid closer toward a confrontation.