forehead before kissing her there. “Why else do you think I was in the Temple of Hera? I certainly wasn’t praying for a kid.” He chuckled.
He bought a slave to be his wife because he knew he couldn’t keep one otherwise. That’s all. That’s as simple as it is. At least he’s being honest with me.
“To be…what…a trophy? While you gallivant around with others?”
“No! I want you to be my wife because I want you, silly. Why is this so hard for people to understand? First Kema, then Hugo, and now you,” he grumbled. “I’m going to start taking this shit personally.”
“Hugo?”
“He called. We talked. He disapproves of this. Immensely.” He tugged her into a hug. “Hope. I want you to be my wife. Nobody else. Not because you’re a slave, or because I bought you, or because it’s convenient. And I haven’t slept with anyone since the moment I saw you. I haven’t wanted to. Do you know how weird that is?”
“You first saw me two days ago.”
“I know, and this is super difficult! Do you understand?”
She chuckled. “No.”
“Well, it’s weird. And I don’t plan on having anyone else ever again. Nobody but you.”
“But why me?”
“Because when I saw you, I knew. I knew you were the one.” He whispered to her then, his voice quiet, but insistent. “I didn’t want to tell you this. Not yet. But you asked me not to lie. I love you, Hope.”
Oh.
Holy Hera.
She pressed away from him. “I…that’s…that’s a lot to absorb. It’s too fast.”
“I know.” He kept hold of her hand. The way he squeezed it said he wasn’t going to let go. “I know. We’ll take it slow. Ish. Slowish. As slow as I’m capable of, anyway. This is day…what did you say, three?”
“Two.”
“Great. I’ll schedule the wedding for next week then, and—” He paused as she wailed. “I’m joking! I’m joking, fuck, Hope, calm down!”
Suddenly, she was not only in his arms, but her feet weren’t touching the tile of the pool anymore. He had her up off her feet and against his chest, his arms wrapped around her tightly to hold her there. She shoved on him, but he didn’t budge. “Put me down.”
“No. I saw that look. You were going to run.” He wasn’t squeezing her painfully. She just couldn’t struggle. “You can go ahead and hit me again, but it won’t do you any good. I’m not putting you down. Not until you listen to me.”
She forced herself to take a deep breath. Letting it out, she tried to relax, and mostly managed. That seemed enough to satisfy him.
“All right.” He put her down but didn’t let her go. “That’s better.”
“What if I don’t want to marry you?”
“I’d ask you to give me some time to convince you. But if you decide you can’t do it, then I’ll set you up somewhere on the coast. I’ll buy you a lovely villa you can have all to yourself. And I’ll let you go.” The idea sounded like it pained him. “I didn’t want to tell you I love you. Not yet. I knew this would happen. But I just can’t keep my fat mouth shut. When I get excited about something, I’m like a kid during Panathenaea. I just can’t help it.”
“You’re honestly telling me the truth?”
“I am.”
“You’d just let me go?” He couldn’t free her; she knew that. But to buy her a villa? It was such a strange idea. “Really?”
“I don’t want to. And I’m going to ask for more than two days to convince you. But yeah. I would. I don’t want you to marry me if you don’t want to. If you honestly can’t love me back…I want to know.”
She placed her palm to his chest. “It’ll take me time to figure it out.”
What am I saying? What’s wrong with me? What does he do to me? This was madness. This was sheer and utter madness. He’s insane. But he’s been nicer to me than anyone ever has been before in my life. “You promise your hypnotism doesn’t work on me?”
“If it did, I’d have plowed you like the spring fields by now, trust me. I’d have doubled you over my table and made you cry out my name and then your own damn name to get me to stop f—”
Smack.
He sighed loudly. “Seven.”
She laughed. She couldn’t help it. He sounded so dejected. But her laughter brought a chuckle out of him, and he kissed her forehead. She smiled. Maybe he isn’t lying. Maybe