Whatever It Takes: The Royal Romance (Excerpt)

Chapter 2

Karina flinched but quickly regained her composure, almost certain he was just mocking her. Still, the feeling of the cold blade against her skin, a single drop of blood rolling down her neck, and most of all his eyes full of contempt, it all made her shiver in fear. No, of course she didn’t want to die. But what choice did she have? “Whatever it takes,” she whispered to answer his question but also to remind herself of what was important.

Was that a slight hint of respect that flashed through his expression? No, that must have been just her imagination. But the dagger did disappear just as quickly as it appeared. “Do you know why I never married, princess?” He moved back to his original position, nonchalantly leaning against a pole, watching her from a distance.

Karina blinked a couple of times, surprised by the sudden change of topic. She didn’t know. The thing was a hot topic for gossip not just at the Levantian court. A man in his position surely didn’t have a shortage of potential brides to choose from, yet he remained single. “You haven’t found your one true love?” she replied, irony seeping from her voice.

“Love,” the king scoffed. “You and I both know love is for children, the poor, and the powerless. No, my reason is quite simple. I have some needs that I expect my wife to be willing to fulfill. But so far any woman that would be suitable and even eager to marry the king of Orellia quickly ran away as soon as I shared my expectations with her.” There were sparks of evil mischief in his eyes as he measured her body again.

Forcing herself to stay still, Karina raised an eyebrow. “Surely you could find a concubine that would fulfill your… needs.” She hesitated on the last word, trying hard not to imagine what it could encompass.

“Oh, is that how men treat women in Levanta? No, princess,” his voice hardened, “I’m a faithful man. Once I give my word to a woman, I wouldn’t have any other. Thus, I remain alone.” He pretended to sigh in sadness.

Of course he was going to make her ask. To try and pitch herself like an expensive breeding mare. Asshole. “I think you agree I’m suitable. The Levantian royal house is older than most on the continent.” She didn’t add ‘including yours’, but she did allow a short contemptuous smirk to appear on her face just for a split second. “I can’t say that I’m eager, but I can pretend to be if that is your wish. So why don’t you just share your ‘needs’ with me so we can move on with this?”

“I think you should save yourself the trouble and just go home. You’re not up for this.”

Karina’s eyes narrowed in anger. “You don’t know anything about me. I told you, I’m willing to do whatever it takes and I’m not taking no for an answer,” she hissed and took a deep breath, looking him boldly in the eyes. “I took you for a straightforward man. So why don’t you just stop this comedy and tell me what you want?”

“As is your royal wish.” He showed his teeth in a wide grin, making her wish she was far away from here. “But I am more of a show than tell kind of a man.”

Karina tried to shrug nonchalantly but her body was too stiff from fear. “Show me then.”

“Alright.” He seemed quite excited which scared Karina even more. “One thing you need to know first, though. I think you will agree that I have countless character flaws. But taking women against their will is not one of them. You tell me to stop, I’ll stop and you can go home safely. Do you understand?”

The intensity of his voice surprised her and she nodded slowly. As if she had a home to go back to. The country about to be invaded, her palace about to be burned down? Or she could flee, go into exile as her advisors suggested, seek asylum at one of Levanta’s unpredictable allies. And be what? An annoying guest? Someone’s concubine? Nobody would marry a princess without a kingdom. “I understand. Just get on with it.”

“And you said you aren’t eager,” he chuckled but his expression grew more serious. “Take your clothes off.” His command was stern, allowing no objection. He watched her with curiosity, clearly expecting her to gasp in shock, refuse, start yelling at him for demanding something so outrageous.

Karina did none of those things. She had expected this ever since she saw him staring at her with hunger in his eyes he didn’t even bother to mask. That’s why she was ready for it, her mind not allowing fear or anger to take over. She quickly kicked her dirty boots off and her shaking hands rose up to her neck, untying the strings that held her dress together. The suddenly numb fingers struggled with the knots, his intense stare didn’t help at all. Finally, the satin dress slid down her body, leaving her standing there in just thin underwear.

“All of it,” he said quietly, his eyes darkened by desire.

The undergarments followed the dress on the floor and Karina stepped aside from the small pile of her clothing. Her first instinct was to try and cover herself with her hands, but somehow she knew he would order her not to. Plus, she had nothing to be ashamed of. It was him who should be ashamed for using his position to take advantage of her. Her eyes rose up to meet his, daring him to continue.

He seemed impressed. “You surprise me, princess.” He grabbed something out of the trunk at the side of the room and slowly walked over to her, shaking his head when a longer strain of pitch-black hair fell into his eyes. “Your hands.”

She gulped upon seeing a long piece of rope in his hand. “You are that afraid of me?” Her voice was far from strong anymore but she raised her hands and allowed him to tie her wrists together.

“You do seem quite intimidating,” he mocked her, but his voice was hoarse and heavy. He flicked his hand and the long end of the rope flew over a wooden beam supporting the roof. As he pulled on it, Karina’s arms were forced up, leaving her nearly hanging mid-air, balancing just on her tiptoes.

There was not much discomfort in her life up until now. Of course there wasn’t, she was a princess, there were crowds of people waiting to cater to her every need. She never even fully realized it. Now, in this incredibly uncomfortable and even painful position, she had to bite her lip not to scream out loud. Knowing it was only going to get worse from there didn’t really help. Who was she kidding, there was no way she could go through with whatever he was going to do to her. At least she thought that until she looked up into the king's smug face. Seeing his expression, his contemptuous smile, remembering all his insults. No. She was not going to let that bastard win.

From all those hungry looks he gave her she expected he would start touching her, especially now when she couldn’t fight him even if she wanted to. Karina was a virgin, naturally, as a girl from a noble family, she was supposed to be saving her virtues for her wedding night. But that didn’t mean she was completely oblivious to matters of s*x. She knew what goes where, when, and why, there have even been some careful (and secret) experiments with boys from the court. But standing there bare naked and helpless in front of a complete stranger, that was definitely a new experience. A terrifying one.

The king didn’t go straight to her, instead he walked back to the trunk, searching through it for a moment until he found what he was looking for. He returned slowly, watching her like a lion would watch its prey, his dark eyes hypnotizing her. That’s why she didn’t see what was in his hands until he was standing right in front of her. Only then she looked down and inhaled sharply. A belt. A long piece of leather, one of its ends already wrapped around his hand. Crap. No one would ever dare to strike her, not even when she was an unruly child. She had no idea what to expect but his smirk confirmed it was not going to be pretty.

He moved to her side, the loose end of the belt rocking there and back. “Just say the word,” he whispered.

“f**k off,” she muttered, afraid that if she opened her mouth more some other words might come out.

He gasped for air in pretended surprise. “Princess! I would not expect such a vocabulary from a highborn lady. And,” he chuckled, “that was not the word I meant. Shall we?”

Karina didn’t answer, just closed her eyes and bit her lip even harder. How much could it hurt? The belt swooshed through the air and made a smacking sound on her butt. Turns out it could hurt quite a lot. She thought she was prepared for the pain, but it still made her scream out and forced tears into her eyes. Some people do this to their own children on purpose? Bastards.

The king waited, certain she would ask him to stop. She was certain she would ask him to stop. But she couldn’t. Plus, it was only pain, nothing permanent. Her father always used to say that pain was good because it meant you were still alive. The belt could strike her a hundred times over and she would still survive. It was just going to be damn uncomfortable. She was going to win this, if only to wipe that smirk off his face.

When he realized she was not going to say anything a disgruntled sound came off his lips. He struck her again and again. Karina cried out every time but refused to say a word.

“Who are you kidding, princess?” he was standing right behind her, purring into her ear. “Why don’t you save yourself from this suffering and just run off? This is not a life for you. You can’t even take it once, how are you going to do this for the rest of your life?”

Karina shook her head. “Could you please stop…,” she had to pause to catch her breath, “...talking?” She couldn’t see him but could imagine his victorious smirk vanishing. It was probably not a good idea to anger him, but she couldn’t help herself. “I mean, seriously? I thought you were the strong, silent type of guy, but boy, you really love listening to yourself, don’t you?” Her chuckle was cut short by another scream of pain.