Melody Anne - Scorched

No matter what it took, he couldn’t allow her to leave with his children.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t only the children she carried whom Adriane didn’t want to leave. Rachel was becoming too big a part of his life. That was good, wasn’t it?

Only if he trusted her not to run.

He was beginning to fear the hold she had over him.

It was better for them both if she understood that he was the one in charge — the one she must submit to. No, he wasn’t going to be cruel to her, or make her life in Corythia a hardship, but he did need her to understand that when he expected something to be done, it was the way it would be.

So far, he hadn’t had much luck in convincing her of that.

“Rachel, we need to speak,” he said when he found her alone by the dessert table.

“This isn’t the best time, Adriane. Ari is going to cut the cake soon, and I don’t want to miss out on the bridal bouquet toss.” She bit down on a soft pastry and moaned her approval.

The sound escaping her lips instantly sent his blood into boiling mode, and he was worried his secrets below the belt would be quite visible to everyone at the reception.

Shifting to try to hide his reaction, Adriane took her arm, making her look up in surprise.

“You don’t need to catch the bouquet,” he said, his lips near her ear.

“Please don’t start in on the marriage talk again. You promised,” she snapped, pulling against his hold.

“Of course,” he said, though it was only to appease her for the moment. Soon, her family would be gone, and then they would be back on track to their wedding.

“Now leave me be for a while. I’ll speak to you after the reception is over,” Rachel said, quickly moving away from him as she licked chocolate off her fingers.

Adriane’s groin tightened even more. Soon. Very, very soon he would have her back in his bed. Could having a permanent erection without release prevent him from having more children? There was no possible way he would ask his physician.

He’d just have to take his chances.

Picking up a drink, he watched as Rachel approached her brother, who was now smiling and relaxed with his arm wrapped around his wife. Adriane couldn’t believe it, but he found himself feeling a twinge of jealousy over the other couple’s marriage vows.

Rafe had it much easier now than Adriane did. He’d managed to secure his bride to him permanently. But it would be Adriane’s turn soon enough.

* * *

Rachel’s stomach stirred as she walked away from Adriane. She’d been avoiding him after their almost intimate encounter at the musical performance.

One reason was the utter delight of being with her family again. The other was that Adriane made her feel strong emotions, ones that she refused to dwell on too much but which she found disturbing.

She absolutely didn’t want to marry him. And be queen? Get real. She was half American and there was no royalty in America. She wasn’t queen material.

“We’re leaving in a couple of hours, Rachel. Are you coming home?” Rafe asked as she approached.

Rachel had made a firm resolve to stay for a month, to really get to know Adriane. But now that she had the opportunity to leave with her family, she was wavering.

If she left right now, she feared her children would never know their father adequately. That wasn’t acceptable. Rachel had grown up with incredible parents, and she wanted all children — particularly her own — to grow up the same way.

Though she wouldn’t marry him for any other reason than love, which wasn’t in the cards, she did hope to be his friend.

“No,” she told her brother. “Now that you know where I am and can come rescue me the minute I call, I’m not worried by being here. I need more time with Adriane, time to find out if he’s a good man. We’ve fought so much these past two weeks that I don’t know him well enough. The week we were together in Florida seems like another lifetime ago. Then, he’d been attentive and such an amazing—”

“Stop right there!” Rafe demanded, his eyes widening in horror.

Both Rachel and Ari laughed as his mouth flopped open.

“OK. I won’t torture you, dear brother. But I do appreciate the cell phone. I will keep it well hidden, so if Adriane acts up again, I’ll call immediately for a rescue,” she promised.

Rachel had no doubt that she’d have to plan a sneak escape if she decided to leave. Adriane wasn’t going to allow her to depart easily, even though they did have an understanding. He was determined to have his children grow up in Corythia.

That just wasn’t acceptable. She would share the kids with him, but she refused to be told where she could live. She refused to be told what to do — ever!

“Thank you for all you’ve done, Rachel. I know your life has been chaotic and frightening of late, and still, you put all of that aside to give me the perfect wedding. I love you, dear sister,” Ari said as she left Rafe’s arms and enveloped Rachel in a happy embrace.

Both women’s eyes filled with affectionate tears.

“I have to give Adriane credit for a beautiful wedding,” Rachel said. “He really went out of his way. I am worried that I’m going to gain a thousand pounds during this pregnancy, though. I’ve practically moved in by the dessert table, and have to bite my tongue when someone comes up and takes one of my precious delectables. It’s ridiculous. I’m surrounded by mountains of food, and I want to hoard it all, not let a single morsel be consumed by anyone else.” She had to laugh.

“I wouldn’t worry too much, Rachel. You’re stunning, and even when your belly is sticking out a mile, you’ll still be the hottest woman in Corythia,” Ari assured her.

“Thanks. We’ll see if you still feel that way in about four more months,” Rachel replied.

“I don’t want to leave you here. It worries me,” Rafe interjected, looking around the room as if searching for danger.

“I’ll be fine, Rafe. I really will. If it gets too bad, just send mother back in. She can get me out while still maintaining peace. I swear, if they’d had her around before any of the major wars, they would have never started. All the generals would have just come together and smiled, singing campfire songs as she passed out cookies and her famous coffee.”

“I have to agree with you there,” Rafe said, reluctantly grinning at the thought.

“I want you both to go on your honeymoon, and I demand that you have an exceptional time. Do you understand?” Rachel said, pulling away from both of them to stare them down.

“Yes, Rachel, we will have a spectacular time,” Rafe said before turning a solicitous look on his wife. “We may even start to work on a cousin for your children,” he added.

Ari’s eyes widened before her lips turned up in a smile. “Do you mean that, Rafe?” she asked, as if afraid to hope.

Rafe’s grin fell as he saw the uncertainty in her eyes.

“We spoke of having children earlier. You still want them, right?” he asked as he pulled her close. Both of them forgot all about Rachel, who was standing there awkwardly, feeling that she was intruding on a special moment.

“Of course I do. You know that. I just didn’t think it was something we would be doing so soon. I thought you would want to wait until…” She seemed unsure how to end that sentence.

“Ari, I love you. More than I can ever express. I want you to have my children. I want to watch your stomach grow, and be at every doctor’s appointment. I want to run to the store for your midnight cravings...I want to do everything a doting husband is supposed to do,” he said, his hands moving down her sides, his thumbs caressing her very flat stomach.

“I think the honeymoon is a great time to start trying, then,” she said, joy radiating from her.

“Then we’d best use the new…items I’ve ordered…before you can’t fit into them,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

Rachel turned away, horrified. She didn’t know whether he was kidding or not, and she didn’t want to know. Her only thought was to get the heck away from him before she heard anything more.

Passing by Adriane, who must have had a target painted on her since he kept staring her way, she looked down, figuring that if she didn’t make eye contact, he would just leave her alone.

No such luck.

“Rachel, you can’t hide from me forever,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. She was shocked at how quickly he could move to her side.

“I don’t want to hide forever — just for tonight.” She passed on by and left the room.

Forget about watching the cake get cut. She needed five minutes alone.

The next week was going to be a long one. That was all the time she now decided she would give herself to learn more about Adriane. She couldn’t handle a full month. If she still didn’t have answers by that time, to hell with it. She’d just have to get to know him after the babies were born. Her hormones were too chaotic for her to even think right now, much less make wise decisions.

Mr. Do-It-My-Way-Always would just have to learn to compromise and come to her in the States.

Stepping into her room, Rachel shut the door with a relieved sigh. Then she shuddered. That was too much information to learn about her big brother — way too much information.

Adriane didn’t like to ask for help.

It went against everything he believed in. He was the king. He was respected and revered. He shouldn’t have to ask anyone to help him.

But Rachel obviously wasn’t cooperating at the moment, so that left him with little choice but to suck up some of his pride. He spotted Ari alone, which was a miracle, since her newly minted husband hadn’t seen fit to remove himself from her side most of the day.

He was going to go for it.

“Hello, Ari. I hope the day has been pleasant for you,” he said after he’d made a quiet approach.

“Oh, Adriane, you startled me,” she gasped as she took the glass of champagne from her lips.

“I’m sorry; that wasn’t my intention. Are you enjoying yourself?” He hated to waste time on pleasantries, but trying to soften her up.

“It’s been absolutely lovely, Adriane. I really appreciate all that you’ve done to make the day special,” she said in all sincerity.

“Wonderful. Would you mind taking a walk with me? I would like to speak with you alone,” he asked, offering his arm.

Ari hesitated for only the briefest of moments before accepting. As they walked outside, she looked him straight in the eye. He found it highly disconcerting. Could she see his very soul, if he had one? Though Adriane didn’t squirm, he found himself wanting to.

“How is life treating you as king?” Ari asked as they reached an ornate water fountain, the sounds of its cascading waters soothing in the twilight.

“All is well,” he said, his standard answer. Her eyebrows rose as she waited for him to continue. “Mostly, it is wonderful. I love my kingdom, love my people. Of course, I am responsible for a great deal,” he had to admit. There was a lot on his shoulders. Most of the time, it wasn’t a burden, but while dealing with this strange situation with Rachel, it was all a little bit much. Add to that his problems with Gianni, who had been strangely quiet the last couple of weeks, and he was about as highly strung as he could possibly be right now.

That his brother was not making a move was more frightening than his threats had been. The man wouldn’t just disappear — Adriane knew that — which left him wondering what Gianni was plotting next.

How he would love to have nothing more to focus on except for his business ventures. In years past, before his father’s final illness, Adriane had been carefree, worried only about making a few billion more to add to his and his country’s portfolios.

He missed that rush.

“It won’t take long for my husband to seek me out, so why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind,” Ari said.

Adriane was impressed with this best friend of Rachel’s. Ari had grown since he’d first met her; she now oozed confidence and faced challenges head-on. She was a good match for Rafe. Adriane wondered whether he and Rafe would ever again share an easy friendship, the way they had before Adriane had met Rachel. At the moment, it seemed doubtful.

“How do I make Rachel see there is no other choice but for us to marry?” he asked. If she was going to be blunt, then so was he.

Instead of being horrified by his words, Ari laughed, a deep, highly amused laugh. Adriane wasn’t sure whether he should be offended. He was pouring his heart out and she was almost doubling over with laughter.