daughter return at once. With arranged marriages, everything is supposed to be laid out on the table at the beginning. Both sides know what they are getting, and what they are giving. But it is very difficult for me, because I saw the possessive gleam in my son’s eyes. Believe me, I would like him to fall in love with astrong, intelligent woman like Princess Serena. I am most impressed with her. I want him to have this marriage, if indeed the two of them are meant for each other.”
“You would be willing to intercede for Cade if you saw that the two of them had mutual ground to build on?” Vi asked.
“For that I would be willing to intercede,” Rose admitted. “I, too, remember the feeling of wanting a love to last beyond all expectations that it should.” She sighed, her eyes misty with memory. “It is exquisite beyond all compare when the heart sees its mate in another soul.”
I F HER PRIDE WAS a bit tattered, Serena was determined no one would know it. She would not force Cade to stay in a marriage he had found himself in unexpectedly. She had dreamed of a prince for too long to be unwanted.
She tied on a half apron similar to the one she had seen Rose wearing, and began to peel the potatoes that were set out in a bowl atop the kitchen counter.
“We have a cook,” Cade said as he came into the kitchen. “You don’t need to do that.”
“I will do it,” Serena said, “as your mother did the cooking this afternoon. I saw the apron she wore when we arrived, and I saw her peel a potato. I can do it.”
The glance Cade sent her was puzzled. “My mother likes to cook.”
“You think I do not? I like to cook.” If she hadn’t in several years, and nothing more than popcorn in the dormitory, it was her business to know and not Cade’s. Of course, the knife she was using to peel the potatoes did not move as smoothly as it had for Rose, who had cut off the skins in deft, even swirls. The potato seemed to squirm in her hand, an unwilling ally in her show of pride.
“You are going to end up getting a tour of an American emergency room like that,” Cade warned. “Let me show you how to do that before you cut yourself.”
“Men do not peel potatoes,” Serena said, ignoring his request but trimming the vegetable more slowly.
“This man does whatever he likes,” Cade said, putting his hands over hers as he stood behind her.
Serena froze. Never had a man stood with such proximity to her! Her father’s palace guards, indeed her own servants, would be shocked. “You mustn’t stand so close,” she said, embarrassed and unable to pay attention to the lesson she was supposed to be receiving as the peels flew into the sink.
He hesitated, the sure stroking ceasing. “I am not standing close, Princess. Not as close as I hope to one day.”
She could feel his breath on the back of her neckwhere she had pulled her hair up into a long ponytail suitable for kitchen work. Tingles stormed her arms and legs. “You must forgive me, but I am not used to such familiarity.”
“You asked me to consummate our marriage,” he pointed out. “That seemed very familiar to me.”
Heat flushed into her face as she recognized laughter in his tone. “A consummation would be merely an act to legitimize our union.”
“Hmm. I don’t think that’s what you’d say when we were through consummating, as you like to call it, Princess.” He put the potato, cleanly peeled, into an empty bowl and reached for another, his hands still on top of hers with every movement.
She stiffened as he began moving her fingers with his in the orchestrated peeling motion that left another potato neatly exposed, its skin lying in the sink in one long, circular ribbon. Her emotions felt like that, easily peeled from her to reveal a virginal heart.
No. She was a princess. She could restrain her emotions as she was accustomed to doing. “What do you think I would call it, Prince Kadar, other than consummation?” she asked icily.
“You would be willing to intercede for Cade if you saw that the two of them had mutual ground to build on?” Vi asked.
“For that I would be willing to intercede,” Rose admitted. “I, too, remember the feeling of wanting a love to last beyond all expectations that it should.” She sighed, her eyes misty with memory. “It is exquisite beyond all compare when the heart sees its mate in another soul.”
I F HER PRIDE WAS a bit tattered, Serena was determined no one would know it. She would not force Cade to stay in a marriage he had found himself in unexpectedly. She had dreamed of a prince for too long to be unwanted.
She tied on a half apron similar to the one she had seen Rose wearing, and began to peel the potatoes that were set out in a bowl atop the kitchen counter.
“We have a cook,” Cade said as he came into the kitchen. “You don’t need to do that.”
“I will do it,” Serena said, “as your mother did the cooking this afternoon. I saw the apron she wore when we arrived, and I saw her peel a potato. I can do it.”
The glance Cade sent her was puzzled. “My mother likes to cook.”
“You think I do not? I like to cook.” If she hadn’t in several years, and nothing more than popcorn in the dormitory, it was her business to know and not Cade’s. Of course, the knife she was using to peel the potatoes did not move as smoothly as it had for Rose, who had cut off the skins in deft, even swirls. The potato seemed to squirm in her hand, an unwilling ally in her show of pride.
“You are going to end up getting a tour of an American emergency room like that,” Cade warned. “Let me show you how to do that before you cut yourself.”
“Men do not peel potatoes,” Serena said, ignoring his request but trimming the vegetable more slowly.
“This man does whatever he likes,” Cade said, putting his hands over hers as he stood behind her.
Serena froze. Never had a man stood with such proximity to her! Her father’s palace guards, indeed her own servants, would be shocked. “You mustn’t stand so close,” she said, embarrassed and unable to pay attention to the lesson she was supposed to be receiving as the peels flew into the sink.
He hesitated, the sure stroking ceasing. “I am not standing close, Princess. Not as close as I hope to one day.”
She could feel his breath on the back of her neckwhere she had pulled her hair up into a long ponytail suitable for kitchen work. Tingles stormed her arms and legs. “You must forgive me, but I am not used to such familiarity.”
“You asked me to consummate our marriage,” he pointed out. “That seemed very familiar to me.”
Heat flushed into her face as she recognized laughter in his tone. “A consummation would be merely an act to legitimize our union.”
“Hmm. I don’t think that’s what you’d say when we were through consummating, as you like to call it, Princess.” He put the potato, cleanly peeled, into an empty bowl and reached for another, his hands still on top of hers with every movement.
She stiffened as he began moving her fingers with his in the orchestrated peeling motion that left another potato neatly exposed, its skin lying in the sink in one long, circular ribbon. Her emotions felt like that, easily peeled from her to reveal a virginal heart.
No. She was a princess. She could restrain her emotions as she was accustomed to doing. “What do you think I would call it, Prince Kadar, other than consummation?” she asked icily.
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