this marriage is a lie, including the ceremony itself. He’d never agreed to it—the Coalition had forced it on him without his permission. If he was a commoner, well, she deserved what she got.
Yet, having left everything that mattered to him—his home, his family, his careers—he was damn well going to get something in return, and empty sex wasn’t going to cut it. No matter what had got him into this mess of a marriage, his goal was to make Keira his, body and soul. But that wasn’t going to happen with him bound and trussed like a steer.
He rubbed her back with his free hand. “I’ve lost the feeling in my left arm. We need to get these cuffs off.”
Keira lifted her head to look at him. “The release is on the wall and we can’t reach it.” She bit her lip. His heart swelled at her hesitation. How could he go from intense dislike to a major crush this fast? “I will have to summon my guard to set us free.”
Like sex-rescue 911, he thought. Keira was a lot of things, but “a proud woman” had to be near the top of the list. It would be embarrassing for her, having her staff find her like this. One look at their queen straddling him, her robes shoved up to her knees, and him, spread-eagle and wearing nothing but an expression of total arousal on his face, and they’d know they’d been up to. “Well, on the positive side, it would smash any doubts as to whether we’re going to consummate our marriage. No one will have to worry about curses. There might a few rumors floating around to our sexual preferences, though. Or perversions? Kinky games in any case.” He started to laugh, thinking of what the staff would think. “Whatever you do, don’t call Rissallen. Please.” He imagined the expression of shock on the acerbic prime minister’s face and laughed harder.
Keira’s eyes shone with held-in laughter. “He’s the last person I will summon here. No. Prime-Admiral Zaafran is.”
“Don’t worry. We’re not calling anyone. There are a lot of secrets in this palace and I intend to keep the details of our wedding night one of them.”
She tried to pull her arm from the cuff. It whirred, cinching down. “What are we going to do then?”
“Let your arm go limp.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Your arm—hold it still and watch what happens to the cuff.”
She hesitated then did as he said. The cuff loosened slightly. “Now, pull your hand out—very slowly.” She got farther than he had the first try.
Her eyes narrowed. “This is not good that one can escape the cuffs so easily.”
“I beg to differ. I thought it was very good.”
“But we use these to hold prisoners. No one escapes.”
“Maybe I’ve made some friends amongst the eunuchs. They adjusted the cuffs so I could.”
She reacted with a disdainful huff. “My servants are always making mistakes.”
He wasn’t so sure. “All the ones I’ve met seem intensely loyal, intelligent and efficient. When they make their so-called mistakes, they may be doing it deliberately.”
“So they wanted you to escape?”
“Or at least give me a head start.”
After a few more moments of concentration, she freed herself from the cuff. The cable swing wildly. “Go!” he yelled at her. Keira rolled out of the way. The cable whirled around Jared’s wrist. Back to square one.
Keira crawled back to him, her hair wild and tangled. “You set me free,” she said. “You could have trapped me, captured my other arm, but instead you let me go.”
“Of course I did. Now go release the cuffs.”
“You don’t understand. My life is not my own. Every last detail is orchestrated by others. No one has ever given me a choice before.” She lifted her robes and straddled him. “No one until you.”
For the first time, the full force of the passion she exuded like hot lava was directed at him. Her thighs were hot and soft. Her wetness was almost too much to take. “Keira,” he warned. He strained against the urge to raise his hips and plunge into her. “I can’t take much more of this. I’m just being honest here—” He caught a glimpse of slender, sleekly muscled thighs before she tilted her hips and took him inside her.
Her snug, wet heat came as a shock. If she was a goddess then he’d just had a religious experience. It was definitely transcendent, being inside her, and he almost exploded with the sensation. “Keira…” He groaned, lifting