Page 33 of Outcast’s Vow

Baptiste makes a dark sound in the back of his throat.

“I’m meant to consummate this marriage.”

He’s trapped, and he’s proud of it.

Well, if I am also to be trapped, then I won’t be passive. I will keep my dignity.

“That’s up to me,” I say, “not you.”

“A moment ago, you were just saying we have to do this.”

“Well, in this marriage, I’m going to say no to you for a lot of things,” I tell him. “And I’m saying it now. Get used to it.”

He clenches his jaw.

“You really are a pampered princess, aren’t you?” he hisses. “Now you’re the one toying with me.”

“You really don’t know anything about me, do you?” I retort.

“Why should I?”

“Do you even like me, husband?”

“What does like have to do with anything?”

“Oh, yes. I nearly forgot about your total lack of emotions. How love is a foreign concept to a great logical thinker like you.”

“Precisely.”

“So this is simply a routine, cold interaction for you? Fucking your wife?”

“You’ve hit the nail on the head there.”

“It doesn’t even get your heart pumping?”

“Nope.”

“I think you’re lying.”

Baptiste snorts in derision.

“Whatever you say or do can’t affect me, Highness.”

Yeah, he’s so wrong about me.

This man needs to be taken down a peg. If words won’t shake him, maybe action will.

“Is a pampered princess as bold as this?”

I unclip my dress and drop it, letting it fall to the floor around my feet.

The air immediately shifts as I’m exposed for the first time in front of my new husband.

Naked, I meet his eyes. Shock flickers across his face as he soaks in my body. His jaw seizes again, nostrils flaring. The mask slips.

“You seem tense, husband,” I remark. “Have I got your attention at last?”

There’s a long pause. He’s devouring me, and what I see behind his eyes terrifies me in an electrifying, stirring way. It’s pure, unfiltered desire.