Throne of Power (Throne Duet #1) by Rina Kent

But is he really getting on my nerves if I secretly enjoy this side of him?

“Can we go now?” I ask.

“Not yet. I need to know how my beautiful wife is today.” His voice drops with seduction. “Did you have a good night’s sleep with my cum inside your tight cunt?”

“Stop it.”

“Why? You didn’t mind when you were moaning ‘harder, Kyle’ in that fucking sexy voice of yours.”

My blood flows to my ears and my core at the same time, and even though I try to fight the effect, I can’t. Truth is, a strange sense of arousal invades me when he talks in this brazen way that has zero cares about the world. The only people who matter to him are the two of us.

“So?” He nudges me with his elbow. “You didn’t answer my question. How are you this morning?”

“Sore,” I whisper.

“You’ll be sorer as soon as I get you in our room.”

“You’re still recovering, Kyle.”

“I’m as immortal as the devil. You don’t have to worry about that.”

That’s the problem—I do worry. I worry he already escaped two bullets and that the third will definitely take him away.

I push those ominous thoughts out of my head by focusing on him.

My husband.

My previous guard who turned into my husband.

I don’t know if it will ever be normal. After all, we’re not a normal couple. We didn’t start the ordinary way, and our world is anything but a fairy tale.

However, after he told me why he left me—because he thought I was cold toward him—something inside me softened. It might have to do with that or the promise he made about not leaving me again, or the fact that he put his life on the line for me—not once, but twice.

He was ready to face death on my behalf.

A part of me, the part that was trained by Dedushka to be naturally doubtful of everything, tells me I shouldn’t trust Kyle this readily. I shouldn’t put my life in his hands like I did once upon a time.

But the other part—the twisted, screwed-up part that falls into his arms every night—wants me to stay with him every second of the day. That part misses him when I don’t see him for a few hours. That part lets him consume my body like it’s always been his to feast on.

And he does feast on me.

Kyle’s stamina knows no limits, not even when he’s wounded and bandaged and far from being entirely healed.

It doesn’t matter whether he brings me pleasure with his dick or his toys. Both have the ability to provoke sides of me that were hidden, up until now.

I know people say the physical and emotional aspects are separate, but they’re not for me. I never once thought my body was disconnected from my heart, so ever since the first time Kyle stimulated my body, he touched something inside my chest, too. With every unapologetic fuck, he lodged himself in even deeper.

We sit at a bench underneath a large Ailanthus tree, and I place the basket between us. The sky is clear, the occasional cloud blocking the sun now and again.

“Is there poison in it?” he asks with a playful gleam.

“If you want poison, I can gladly get it for you.”

“Hey.” He pinches my cheeks and keeps his hand there as he speaks. “Don’t be offended—I was only kidding. Has anyone ever told you you’re uptight, or are they too scared of you to say the words?”

“I’m not uptight. I’m just realistic.”

He releases me, but not before stroking my cheek. “Which is another word for uptight, but I digress—only slightly, though.”

“Stop being passive-aggressive.”

“I’m British, Princess—passive-aggressive behavior is in our nature.”

Shaking my head, I retrieve the pancake container and slide it toward him. Kyle takes a bite, and I wait with bated breath for his reaction. He doesn’t wince, so that’s a good sign. However, he pauses chewing.

“What? You don’t like it?”

“No. It’s just…it brought back a taste from a long time ago.” He smiles a little. “My mum used to make these and even had her own special recipe.”

“Dad used to make them. He said that before he made his fortune, he was a broke student and pancakes were a luxury breakfast he had whenever he got paid from his part-time job. In a way, they became special to me, too.”

“Do you think you would’ve had a different life if you stayed by his side?”

“Probably. But if I had, Reina wouldn’t have survived here, and I wouldn’t have met Dedushka. I spent the most exciting days of my life with him, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. At the same time, I missed Dad and Reina all the time. It doesn’t make sense, I know. On the one hand, I loved Dedushka, Sergei, and Ana, and on the other hand, I wanted Dad and Reina.”

“It makes perfect sense. You just wanted your entire family with you. That’s why you can turn heartless when it comes to protecting them.”

I stare at him for a beat, incredulous. I never thought he’d be able to figure out my angle this easily.

He’s too observant sometimes, and it’s both scary and comforting. Right now, it’s definitely leaning toward the latter.

I retrieve a piece of pancake to stop myself from reaching over and hugging him. We silently eat for a few seconds. The sun peeks out from between the clouds and glares down at us. Kyle places both his hands in front of my face, shielding it from the rays until the sun disappears behind another cloud.