Fantasyland 01 Wildest Dreams(71)

Yes, oh yes, he did exactly that.

The freaking, dickhead jerk.

And, by the way, Viola was very pretty and she didn’t look a thing like me.

Ugh!

I also thought this was a great idea because it would mean delaying being alone with Frey, something I did not want because I was pretty certain I couldn’t strangle him to death but if I was lucky I might get in a well-aimed kick that if I did it as hard as I wanted, might mean the end to everyone’s hopes that he’d provide a future king.

I also thought this was a great idea because a mug of warm, liquid chocolate sounded pretty good regardless of the dinner sitting like a weight in my stomach (as, everyone knew, chocolate in any form sounded good no matter what) and a place called Esmeralda’s sounded worthy of exploration.

I opened my mouth to agree wholeheartedly with this idea but my freaking, dickhead jerk of a husband got there before me.

“I’m afraid not, Atticus. Finnie explained she was tired prior to us joining you for dinner. So now I think it’s best if my wife and I retire.”

I turned stiltedly to him, tipped my head back and glared more daggers at him.

He looked down at me, completely impervious to my mental daggers then crossed his arms on his chest.

“Understandable, Drakkar,” Dad mumbled then I felt him coming close to me as he continued to mumble, “It’s been a long day for you both.”

I wiped my face clean, turned to him and smiled what I hoped was close to genuinely as he leaned in and kissed my cheek distractedly.

But as his lips brushed my skin, I felt their touch like they were lasers. I closed my eyes at the beautiful pain and kept them closed as I memorized it.

Then he moved away and I opened my eyes to see Mom gazing at me, the skin around her eyes and mouth soft, her expression, however, was blank but I could tell she was thinking, about what, I didn’t know.

Then she moved in and I braced because although she’d been okay during dinner, I didn’t know what to expect.

But I would have never expected her to give me a warm, albeit very short hug and say to me during it, “It’s so lovely to have you back, my dear.”

Then without further ado, as my mind imprinted the feel of her arms around me, they bid Frey a far less familiar but still relatively friendly yet definitely watchful (see? way weird) goodnight and they took off.

I watched them go.

Great.

Frey grabbed my hand and started dragging me to the stairs.

Great again!

I let him because I wasn’t going to fight him out where servants, such as, say, Viola could see. I let him because it was undignified to struggle and Mom taught me never to lose my dignity and all that jazz but I was a princess in this world so that had become a moral imperative as everyone knew all princesses should do their utmost to keep their dignity. And, lastly, I let him because it sucked but I knew if I fought I would so totally lose.

He dragged me up the stairs and directly to my rooms, in through the door and he closed it behind us softly then leaned against it, arms crossed on his chest.

I had walked in several steps and turned to him and, seeing him settle, I crossed my arms on my chest.

Then I spoke.

“I’m afraid after living the simple life for nearly two months, all that rich food and wine have made me unwell, husband,” I informed him, chin up, shoulders straight. “Although it was served with great skill,” I watched his eyes flare as he caught my meaning, though it would have been hard to miss, “it’s not sitting well in my stomach. I’ll thank you to leave me to my bed and find your own chambers…” I paused then finished, “immediately.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw scarily before he returned in a quiet, deadly voice, “You’re my wife, Finnie. What’s yours is mine and that includes your bed.”

“All right,” I returned instantly, “however, tonight, considering I feel unwell and this place is gargantuan and highly populated, I’m sure for my sake you’ll be able to find somewhere else to sleep. Or, perhaps, not sleep depending on whose bed you fall in.”

That muscle ticked again, it scared the freaking beejeezus out of me mostly because the air in the room was stifling from the heat of Frey’s anger but I ignored it and held his eyes.

This lasted a long time and I was about to give up and look away when he spoke again in that soft, lethal tone.

“I will take the time to explain a few things to you, wife. And I’ll take this time before I peel off that charming dress you’re wearing to finally discover what you wear under it and after that I’ll peel off what you wear under your gowns to finally see the entirety of your charms. And after that I may or may not take my time to finally enjoy the entirety of those charms.”