19. The Wedding Night
1693 Words
Tasmina
“Good evening,” he said, his deep voice filling the room despite him saying it quietly.
“Good evening.”
My voice was barely a whisper as he strode in, removing the gold cuffs from his arms. I didn’t move, rooted to the spot as he removed his rings, leaving in only the jewellery that adorned his ears.
“You are very quiet,” he said, striding towards me with purpose.
“I… I’m not,” I insisted.
“If I remember correctly, you are a self proclaimed babbler. You certainly kept me up many a night,” he said.
He didn’t smile, but there it was again. That playful tone, that glimmer in his eye.
“Actually, you kept me up. If you care to recall, it was you who linked me first.”
“Was it? I’m not so sure,” he mused.
“It was! I was lying in bed after I had met you for the first time, after I had marked you with the needle, and you said to me that… you would serve me for the rest of your life…”
“You seem to remember every little thing about that day, Tasmina.”
He sounded pleased and I realised just how much I had given away.
“Yes… well. Something along those lines…” I said, faltering.
His eyes narrowed again like a predator, his pupils growing wide as he looked at me. I wore a simple, white cotton dress that had once belonged to my mother.
“You are taller,” he said, gruffly.
“I didn’t realise you were measuring me,” I replied, quickly.
“And more beautiful than you were then,” he retorted.
I felt my face burn and I had no response.
“How many market sellers have fallen in love with you then, Tasmina?” he asked, his eyes glinting.
“I told you, they don’t fall in love with me, I’m just an excellent haggler.”
“I see.”
Without me noticing, he had slowly made his way towards me until he was merely an arm’s length away.
He took a step forward and I took an involuntary step back. Anger flashed across his eyes for a moment but he hid it well. Not well enough, though.
“You are angry,” I murmured.
He shook his head quickly.
“No, I am not angry. I have… I have waited a long time for you,” he murmured.
Two years to be exact.
“I… I haven’t done this before,” I whispered.
This time, he smiled, his grin stretching irresistibly to the left side of his face.
“Nor have I, Tasmina.”
My brows went up in surprise.
“But you’re the Crown Prince of Zamee. I heard rumours of you bedding women from here to Bulan.”
He grinned.
“Rumours started and spread by Queen Maha. Princes of Zamee hardly remain celibate for long… if I had… people would have grown suspicious. Eventually, we would have been found out sooner than either you or your Mama were ready for.”
I grew quiet. I had heard the rumours and theyhad pained me. But I had accepted that despite the fact he was my mate, I had no control over the Crown Prince of Zamee.
“So… you haven’t…”
“F*cked anyone? No, I have not. I told you, I would wait for you. And I haven’t wanted to until…”
His eyes roamed over my body as the rest of his thoughts were left unsaid. Goddess, I wanted to touch him. But fear of the unknown coursed through me.
“Do not fear me, Tasmina,” he said, his deep voice suddenly gentle. “We will do nothing that you are not ready for.”
I was taken aback by this.
“But I thought… on the wedding night, we had to…”
“Goddess, woman, I won’t force myself upon you if that’s what you mean,” he huffed, pushing his hands back through his beautiful hair.
“No, that’s not what I meant… I mean… I don’t know,” I said, suddenly flustered.
I wanted to touch him, I wanted him to touch me, and yet I was terrified.
“How about if… tonight, we just… talk,” he said, slowly.
“Talk?”
“Well, we’ve done it every night for two years, haven’t we?” he said.
I smiled shyly at him.
“Why yes, I suppose we have.”
He took my hand then and led me to the bed. I stiffened slightly as he sat on it and looked at me expectantly.
“Surely we can lie down and talk? I assure you, my intentions are pure.”
I looked at his body. Nothing about him was pure. His frame seemed to fill the space beyond his own body, his muscles taut and well used from years of training. He could throw me around the room and…
I shook my head quickly, dispelling those thoughts. Now where the bloody hell had they come from? I eased myself onto the bed beside him as he shuffled up. He lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling. I took one last look at him before doing the same.
A strange silence hung between us for a moment.
“So… how are you feeling?” he asked, rather awkwardly.
I couldn’t help it, I began to giggle.
“What?” he asked, indignantly.
At this, I laughed so hard that tears began to roll down my face.
“Ah, I’m sorry,” I said, trying my hardest to stop. “It’s just… we have spoken for two years like… well, like lovers. And now that we are face to face, you speak to me as though we have just met.”
I heard him chuckling as I gazed up at the ceiling.
“I suppose it is quite funny, isn’t it?” he said, laughing with me.
When he spoke again, his voice was soft, the way it had been in my mind when he linked me.
“But tell me, Tasmina. How are you? All this… I know it must be a lot to take in.”
I took a deep breath, thinking of Mama, thinking of the fact that I was now a married woman.
“A lot has happened in a very short space of time,” I agreed, quietly.
He reached for my hand across the bed and a warmth spread through my body at his touch, an irresistible headiness overcoming me.
“Speak to me,” he urged, his voice soft and yet somehow still commanding, bending me to his will without even trying.
I sighed.
“I wish… I only wish Mama had been here… to see. You would have liked her, I think.”
He chuckled softly.
“Believe me, Tasmina, I already did. It was an honour to meet her. I’m grateful I got the opportunity. Women like that only appear once every dynasty.”
I smiled at his praise of her. I couldn’t agree more.
“The day she passed… I’m sorry I didn’t link you… I…”
“No, please. You lost your father that day. Don’t apologise.”
“That is not why I didn’t link you. I… I wasn’t very close to my father. I suppose he loved me in his own way, but we weren’t like… you and your Mama. I didn’t link you because… I’m not very good with words. I usually leave all that to Rodin. I wanted you to be well… I didn’t want to be the one to bring you more pain because of something stupid I said to you.”
I smiled, staring up at the ceiling, thinking of what he had said to me when we had walked through the palace gardens.
“You’re far better with words than you think, Rikom.”
His hand squeezed mine gently and my heart skipped a beat.
“Well, as long as you think so, that is all that matters.”
We were quiet again.
“Why… why haven’t you had other women?” I asked, suddenly.
I couldn’t help it, I was dying to know and I couldn’t tell you for the life of me why. He was quiet and I could hear him searching for the right words.
“Well… between my education and training all day… and then talking to you each night, where would I have found the time?”
I felt a sharp pang of disappointment.
“Ah, so time was the issue.”
He was quiet again and I chanced another look at him. His eyes were scrunched up as he battled to find the words. By goddess, he was adorable.
“No… well… I didn’t want to, Tasmina. You’re the only woman I have ever wanted. It wouldn’t make sense to bed another when the only woman I wanted to share myself with would be mine soon anyway.”
And there it was, his apparently poor way with words melting my insides with their warmth. I also felt a small shiver down my spine at the way he called me his.
“And what about you? Why didn’t you take another lover?” he asked.
“Would you have cared if I did?” I challenged.
“I would have skinned him alive,” he growled.
I tutted disapprovingly but I was secretly pleased.
“Answer my question,” he said, his deep voice commanding.
There it was again, bending me to his whim with such little effort.
“I… I was waiting for you,” I said, finally admitting it out loud for the first time.
The truth was, I’d had many opportunities to take a bedfellow. Sometimes the pain to have him had been so strong, especially in the last few months, each time I thought of perhaps taking on a temporary solution. But something had always stopped me.
We spoke for a few more hours, about everything and nothing. When I fell asleep, I was still holding his hand.
- Writer
