Melody Anne - Scorched

For now, however, it would suffice to have her under his roof, where he could ensure her health and know her whereabouts. Where he could force her to communicate.

“Your country’s problems are not my concern, Adriane,” she said. At the hurt that flickered briefly in his eyes, Rachel felt a pang of remorse. She shouldn’t, though. The man had taken her against her will, and she had a lot of other grievances against him. If his feelings were hurt, that should be just too bad, because he’d been nothing but a bully since returning to her life. And yet…and yet she didn’t like to hurt anyone intentionally, and it was obvious that her words had done just that.

“I would like for them to be your concern, since they will be the concern of our baby,” he said after a long pause.

“I get that our child will be a part of your life. I can see that you aren’t going to accept anything less than being an active father, but that doesn’t mean the two of us have to be friends, or even have to deal with each other at all. Many children grow up happy when their parents aren’t together.”

“That’s just not how it’s done in Corythia, Rachel. You carry the heir. He needs to be raised to know and love his land,” Adriane insisted.

“Would you stop saying ‘he’?” she growled. “That is driving me crazy!”

Adriane’s eyes grew round, and then a grin split his face as he lifted his hand and brushed back her hair.

“I love that you have such spirit, Rachel. It’s unbelievably sexy,” he said, wanting so badly to reach over and take her lips. If he hadn’t feared that she might bite him, he would have done just that. Hell, it might have been worth it, anyway.

“Don’t try to distract me, Adriane. I’m angry with you,” she said, but he watched as her breathing quickened.

He enjoyed seeing that he still affected her as much as she affected him. But he also knew that she’d rather eat dirt than admit that to him.

“I like distracting you,” he murmured, his hand sliding down her face and then caressing her shoulder and arm as he sat down next to her.

“Adriane…” she warned.

“Yes?”

“Stop touching me. You’re making my blood pressure spike again.”

Adriane immediately withdrew his hand, though it was exceedingly difficult for him to do so. After the doctor had examined her again, he would be doing a lot more touching, in a lot more-intimate places.

“I will back off if you stop fighting me long enough to come and see our child’s birthright. Don’t you want to see his — I mean, the baby’s land?”

Rachel was furious, but as she had to keep her blood pressure down, and as they were already on the jet, she really didn’t have a lot of choices at the moment. Once they landed… Well, that was a different story.

“Am I free to leave the minute I want?” she asked, looking him in the eye so she could detect if he was being anything but honest.

“Rachel…” he began.

“I swear, I’ll call in the U.S. military, Adriane,” she threatened.

“Not if you can’t get to a phone,” he countered with a small grin.

“Oh, I have ways,” she warned him. She also had a family that would move heaven and earth to get to her. She wasn’t concerned about her rescue. She might have little choice but to play his game, but he’d discover soon enough that it was a game he would lose.

“We will discuss your departure later if you still feel like leaving,” he said.

Rachel knew exactly what he was doing. He was trying to pacify her with vague promises. OK, she would let him believe it was working. If he thought she’d surrendered to his will, it would be so much easier to make her escape. Still, she couldn’t help but make one more snarky comment, damning her plan as soon as she’d formed it.

“I’m not going to fight you any further right now, because I’m smart enough to listen to what the doctor has said. But don’t think it means that you’re off the hook, Adriane. When I get the all clear from the doctor, we’re going to have one hell of a battle. That’s a promise.”

Then, before he could answer, she stood up and moved to the back of the jet. She had no doubt that there was a bed aboard, and she was going to find it. All the fighting had drained what little energy she had left, and since she was stuck here, she was going to at least try to catch up on her sleep.

He tried to talk to her, but she just hummed as she walked away, finding a room and closing the door behind her. She was sure the king of Corythia didn’t appreciate her less-than-respectful treatment of him, but the poor sap would just have to get used to it.

Adriane found himself wanting to chase after her to teach her a few lessons on royal behavior. Her health was the only thing stopping him from doing just that.

As soon as she was better, though…

That thought made him smile as he kicked back on the sofa. Yes, they would certainly battle when she was back in full health, and Adriane was a fine warrior.

Rafe paced the small room while he waited for his family. It was supposed to be his wedding day, the day Ari would become his wife, the day he’d have her for all time. He didn’t deserve this day — but, miraculously, Ari had said yes, and she was going to be his.

Though not today.

Instead, his tuxedo was rumpled, his tie cast aside, the top buttons of his shirt undone, and fury rolled off him in waves. How dare Adriane take Rachel! The man would pay for this betrayal.

“She’ll be fine, Rafe.”

His heart calmed at the gentle sound of Ari’s voice, and at her sweet touch as she wrapped her arms around him from behind and smoothed her hands up his stomach, resting them on his chest.

“I’m sorry our day has been ruined, Ari,” he said softly as he turned, pulling her closer to cradle her head against his chest.

“It’s not ruined — just postponed. I could marry you wearing cutoff shorts and a tank top in a grungy courthouse in front of a hung-over justice of the peace. It’s not the wedding that matters, Rafe. It’s having you as my husband for eternity,” she said as she lifted her head and looked deep into his eyes. “Or at least the next eighty years.”

“I’m so grateful you saw through the bad, Ari, so happy that you have forgiven me. I love you beyond the limits of speech, and I will have you as my wife. Thank you for putting the needs of Rachel above everything else. Most brides wouldn’t be so accommodating,” he said as he leaned down and ran his lips across hers in a brief kiss.

“Rachel is one of my best friends, and she would do the same for me. I could never have a wedding without her being there, even a courthouse wedding. I honestly don’t care where we marry as long as the people we love are with us. Let’s make sure she is well, and then we will become husband and wife.”

Rafe ran his fingers through her silky hair, his eyes trying to convey to her all the emotions bottled up inside him. How he loved this woman.

“Son?”

Rafe turned to find his mother and father standing by the door, their eyes dimmed with worry, and everything was brought back into focus. Being in Ari’s arms soothed him, but right now, he didn’t need to be soothed, he needed to find answers, and seeing the strain on his family members’ faces prompted him to find those answers fast.

“I’m sorry, Dad, for springing this on you. We had no idea what was going on until Ari and Lia came to check on Rachel and found her gone. Here’s the note that was left by Adriane. I’ve done business with him for years, and he recently ascended the throne after his father passed. I was unaware that he’d ever met Rachel,” Rafe said with disgust, and he handed the note over to his parents.

After a brief pause, his father looked up, almost shell-shocked.

“Why…what…I don’t understand,” Martin said, the note hanging limply from his fingers.

“I don’t either, Dad,” Rafe said, helplessly. It wasn’t like him not to have the answers. He was always the one on top of every situation. To be put in this position of weakness now infuriated him all over again.

“Let me try to explain,” Ari said, releasing Rafe and leading the group to a sitting area. She felt slightly awkward telling Rafe’s family what was going on with Rachel, but since Lia wasn’t back yet, she had to shoulder the burden.

“Please do, darling,” Rosabella said as she sat down.

“Rachel met Adriane, knowing him only as Ian, about three months ago while she was in Florida. They…uh…clicked,” Ari said cautiously.

“Clicked?” Rosabella asked.

“I don’t think you really want details,” Ari said, completely mortified and instantly blushing crimson.

“No, cara. I think that would be a little too much for me,” Rosabella agreed.

“They got along really well, and they spent the week together. Then Rachel left and started her job in Italy, thinking she was never going to see him again. Well, it turned out that Adriane had discovered a…um…well, a…broken condom,” Ari choked out, the red on her cheeks turning an even deeper hue.

Rafe scowled at her and she just shrugged. It wasn’t her fault that she was talking about condoms. If he had a problem with it, then he really needed to take it up with his sister. Ari was just the messenger, and she was filling them in on the essential facts with as little detail as possible.

“Yes, well, it turned out that the man who she thought was Ian was actually Prince Adriano, who now is King Adriano, though he goes by Adriane Graziani when in the States. That he has so many names is a whole other matter,” she said with a faint smile before continuing. “When he discovered the…um…unfortunate accident, he didn’t want to take a chance that a child might be created and he wouldn’t know about it. He apparently had Rachel watched. After she went to the doctor and had a positive pregnancy test, he showed up on her doorstep,” Ari said, speaking as quickly as possible to get through all the information that she had.