"As are you," Sebastian replied. "Will you accept it?" She started to shake her head but he added, "You won it, fair and square. It is yours and only yours, belongs to you now."
"Why would you bet something so precious on a game?"
Sebastian fought the laughter inside to answer with the simple truth. "I didn"t think I"d ever lose it. I was arrogant and foolhardy. But it is yours, forever and always, and I would have it no other way." His voice was soft, curling around her into a cloud of contentment, and she couldn"t say no.
"I will accept it, thank you."
He stepped back from her and she felt the loss of his warmth in every single fiber of her being. She could not take any more of this his mere presence was seducing her. The longer she talked to him, the longer she looked at him, the more addicted she became, the harder it would be to kick the habit. She needed him away from her, now.
"The shirt you owe me?" she questioned.
Sebastian was so happy she"d accepted his gift, the first part of his plan falling into place, he wasn"t paying enough attention. "In the trunk," was his offhand answer, not looking at her as he placed the jewelry box on the table. By the time he turned back, she was on the floor, the tissue paper of his final package falling open.
"Really? Really?!" she seethed, balling the shirt up and throwing it at him. "Get out."
A string of harsh Sezynian words escaped him this could not be happening, he was so close. "Kat "
"No. NO!" The anger, at least, had chased away everything else at the moment. "What in the h.e.l.l makes you think that that"s okay? How many times do I have to tell you no before it gets through that thick head of yours."
"I " he began but was interrupted again.
"I am not someone that you can just keep casting aside and coming back to when you feel like it. You can"t bribe me with expensive gifts to do your bidding." She picked up the purple shirt from the floor, and held it up, the words "So I Still Need to Get Married . . . ?" clear as day across the front. "How many times do I have to tell you no before you get the hint? And what, now you"ve wasted all your time with proper, royal Sezynian girls and you need a back-up and oh, Kat"s around, Kat will do it."
"It"s not like that at all."
"Really?" Kat put more contempt and disdain into that one word than Sebastian ever thought possible. "Let"s recap, shall we? Every time you got tired of dating or trying, you"d propose to me. Let"s mock romance and love, hey Kisa want to spend the rest of your life hitched to me. I don"t have feelings but I"m really good at wiggling my eyebrows."
She started pacing the floor. If she stopped she was going to burst into tears, crumble into a million pieces. "You don"t want to get married. You never wanted to get married. So you"d hang around with me, your convenient commitment shield, letting you keep everyone at a comfortable distance. And now you"ve just gotten too good at doing it and you think I"ll just ride in and shield you again."
"That"s not what"s going on here."
"I am worth more than this. I demand more than this." She met his eyes, anger making her both bold and broken. "I deviated from the plan and I won"t again. I made some mistakes but that doesn"t mean that you get to capitalize on them. I"m not going to let you or anyone else play me for the fool again."
"Please tell me how I"m trying to take advantage of you?" Exasperation threaded through his words. "Last time I checked I wasn"t the one hopping beds or couches."
"Get over yourself Your Highness. It"s time to grow up."
"That"s exactly what I"m trying to do." His voice was desperate, skirting the edge of pleading. He had to make her understand.
"No it"s not!" She stopped, her loud declaration halting her in place. "You"re just trying to use me again. I"m not stupid I know you kept me around to annoy all the prim and proper people in your life."
"And because I enjoy your pleasant company, let"s not forget that."
"Are you mocking me?" She glared daggers at him. "Get out of my house."
"Not until you let me say what I"ve come here to say!" Kat paused before waving her arm, a mocking gesture that he had the floor. "You"re right about almost everything but there"s one other piece of important information. That this is not a game or a trick or any other type of transient distraction. You"re overlooking how much I want to be with you. How much I need you. How much I . . ." He hadn"t said it out loud not even to himself. Everyone knew but he"d never said it, the words had not crossed his lips. Until now. "How much I love you Kisa."
Her eyes widened in shock and her breath came out in a loud whoosh, his statement knocking the wind out of her. "That is not funny. That"s just . . . why would you even say that? That"s just cruel. I know you don"t believe in love."
"That was before," he said, reaching for her.
"Before what?"
"Before this." His hand made contact with her, his fingers curling around her arm as he stopped her from leaving the room. The minute he touched her it was hard to breathe, his thumb lightly caressing her wrist, making lazy trips across her skin. "Before you."
"Please don"t." The words barely came, escaped as a breathless plea. "You don"t believe in love," she protested, not able to pull her eyes away from his hand.
"I do now," he whispered, so close to her ear she could feel his lips move.
"I don"t believe you."
"Serdtse means heart. I meant every word mine is yours, only yours, forever and always."
"You just want to marry me so you can be King."
"No," he said, putting a hand under her chin and drawing her gaze to his. "No. I want to marry you because the last week has been torture without you. Because I feel like I"m going crazy when I"m not near you. Because the thought of spending my life with anyone else is a future I just can"t bear. I want to, and am ready to, marry because of you."
"I can"t be a Queen. I can barely be a matchmaker." Kat looked away. It was useless; she could never be a country"s jewel or treasure.
"You don"t want to be Queen? Fine I abstain."
"What?" she gasped. She looked at him expecting to see humor; his eyes showed only conviction. "You can"t do that, let Violetta and everyone else win."
"I don"t care. Anastasia will take care of that." He paused to take a deep breath. "I love you more than I hate her. Let me spend the rest of my life proving it to you. Marry me, please, agree, because I"m not leaving until I hear you say yes."
Kat"s heart stopped. Everything she"d ever wanted a man who stuck.
Chapter 27.
A smile unfurled across Sebastian"s face the minute she entered the room. "You"re driving me crazy Kisa," he murmured.
"What, this ole thing?" she teased. She was wearing his Petrescu shirt, nothing else, chocolate hair cascading around her head in a messy crown that made his hands itch to touch her. It reminded him of their first night here in Sezynia and he couldn"t stop himself reaching for her.
"Such a wonderful way to start the day," the Prince said, pulling her close for a slow, intimate kiss. He let her go regrettably and went back to fixing his tie.
"What are you doing today?" Kat asked.
"Meetings followed by briefings and then, oh, I"m sure more meetings. So fun to be back home at the castle, isn"t it? I"ll be counting down the minutes until I see you at dinner." His comment was followed by silence and when Kat didn"t rush to fill it he glanced her way. She was staring at him with a slightly heartbreaking look. "What"s wrong?"
"Did I disappoint you?"
Sebastian was taken aback and turned, giving her his full and undivided attention. "Why would I be disappointed with you, Serdtse moya?"
Kat wouldn"t look at him, idly twirling the engagement ring on her finger. It still felt foreign there, surprised her every time she caught a glimpse of it on her hand. "Because we"re not going to be married before your birthday."
"That? No, perish the thought," he said. "I"m the one that lives in a country where a woman can"t rule or even get married without parental sanction before thirty. What a beautiful little gem that was that Prince Vlad dug out of the history books, no? Did I ever tell you that Violetta is a scholar of Sezynian traditions and folklore; bet she never knew it would come in so handy."
Sebastian reached out a hand towards Kat and she stepped to his side immediately. His eyes were so full of love that her heart almost stopped. "I feel responsible still. My mother . . ." Years, almost a lifetime later, and the thought of her mother still had the power to destroy her. When would her soul stop trembling at the thought?
"No." His voice was solid, allowing no room for argument. When she didn"t meet his eyes, he slipped a hand into her hair and turned her face towards his. "No. After everything you told me, I don"t want you finding her."
"I don"t want to invite her back into our lives." It had taken so much out of them to cut ties the first time, so much time to try and heal over the wounds. That woman, broken and selfish, with little regard for the needs or feelings of everyone around her, still ranting at walls because it suited her more than putting food on the table she didn"t get to be part of the happily ever after. Not for the price of a signature.
"Then you don"t have to. There are official ways to get around needing official sanctions. Antiquated parental consent is not going to stop me." The corner of his mouth quirked up. "And it"s going to be the first thing I change when I"m King let them eat wedding cake." Skepticism still rode high on her face and he kissed it away, his fingers brushing against her scar as he pulled her close.
"What if you lose the throne because of me?" she whispered as they pulled apart. Kat was, for the first time in her life, blissfully, unflinchingly happy. Sebastian was everything that she wanted, everything that she needed, and she knew that she was getting ready to start a life people would kill to have. But she wasn"t used to believing in happily ever afters and she feared that it would all just turn to heartbreak in the end.
Sebastian sighed and slipped his arms loosely around her waist. "I win the throne, I lose the throne. None of that has any blame on you."
"But the rule is married by thirty and you won"t be."
"Look at me," he insisted, having to cup her chin and raise her face towards his. "The whole point of that is to have royals settled and I am. With you. No matter if we"ve made it official yet, that will come soon enough. I talked to Baba and its fine."
"You said you needed someone to impress your grandmother."
"And you do! She was very impressed at how well you called her a goat." Kat smacked him in the arm for that and stepped out of his embrace as he laughed.
"I"m serious!"
"So am I!" He glanced back at the mirror. "I would give it all up for you, you know that."
Kat leaned back against the wall, hoping her leisurely pose would influence the rest of her. "I know. But I don"t want you to end up resenting me. That"s not how I want our life to go."
"Oh Kisa," he murmured, "that could never happen. I would never ask you to do this and I"m outraged that they have put you in a position where you even consider it. You are the bravest, strongest, most remarkable woman I have ever known and I would be lost without you. Fate brought us together, whatever happens with the throne will be. With you, as King or as Prince, I could not be anything but happy."
Kat straightened, walked forward, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him into a seductive kiss. "Good answer," she murmured, "very, Very, good answer."
"Mmm, you taste so good," Sebastian said, his teeth slipping slowly along the side of her neck. He lifted her up onto the corner of the counter, running his hand over her bare leg as their lips crashed together again. He rested his elbow on her raised knee to lose his fingers in her hair.
"Don"t you have someplace to be?" Kat asked with a laugh as he slowly started undoing the b.u.t.tons on her shirt.
"Nothing nearly as important as this."
"What is it with you and bathrooms?"
He gave her a devilish grin. "I think I"ll just have to show you." His hand dropped down to her other thigh, dragging it up around his waist, and he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her. She laughed and started removing his belt.
But they didn"t get much farther a knock at the door interrupting their intimate moment. "Sir," Sergei"s voice called a moment later.
Kat sighed in frustration and leaned her head back against the wall. "You need to teach him some things about privacy or I"m going to start calling him worse things than goat."
"Sergei," Sebastian yelled, loud enough so the man could hear him in the other room, "whatever it is can wait. I"m indelicately indisposed with my fiancee at the moment." Kat brought a hand up to cover her eyes at that comment, shaking her head slightly at how infuriating her prince could be. "I"ll be with you in five minutes." Kat held up her hands and he clarified, "Fifteen minutes. I"ll be with you in fifteen minutes."
"Sir," Sergei said, his voice all seriousness, "Queen Ekatrina is requesting an audience."
Sebastian moved into the doorway of the bathroom, a look of shock on his face as he met Sergei"s eyes. Kat popped into view a second later, her head leaning around the doorframe, shirt gaping open but none of them caring. "Sebastian, it is time."
"Sebi," Anastasia said with a look of panic on her face. He released Kat"s hand to give his sister a hug. They had dressed in five minutes and made their way through the castle to Baba"s wing. A group of them stood around the entrance to her study, fifteen at least, all called there for the same purpose.
"This just seems too soon," the Princess said.
"This could be a good sign. Baba knows and she is ready to tell us." Sebastian released his sister, who returned to Roman"s arms, and took Kat into his own.
"I just don"t know if I am ready to hear it," Anastasia said.
"Baba will make the right choice. Weren"t you the one that insisted Petrescu woman were d.a.m.n smart and I shouldn"t doubt it." That brought a smile out of her.
"And look at me, minus manners still. Kat, it is so wonderful to see you again."
"I am thrilled to be back," she said, looking up at her fiance. He kissed her quickly before she continued. "But I"ve been here for days where have two been hiding?"
"Hiding," Roman affirmed.
"I angered the King a bit so we"ve been laying low at the vineyard."
"What happened?"
"Let"s just say that I could no longer hold my tongue."
"So she talked," Roman elaborated, "to a journalist we recently met. Very lovely interview on the morning news about why King Viktor was wrong with his economic focus for Sezynia"s future."
"What?" Sebastian couldn"t stop a laugh. Heads turned to look at him but he didn"t care. "That is why he has been in such a foul mood? You didn"t Stasia?"
"Oh no, I very much did." She nodded her head, looking just the tiniest bit chagrined. "He lets Prince Vlad lead him astray. I could not reason with him, maybe the people of Sezynia could. I just told them the facts and my opinion. I made very careful not to speak ill of him, or anyone else, but he was still less than pleased."
"How I wish I was here to see that."
"The interview has gone viral," the Princess said.
"Not the interview, the aftermath. I would have loved to see the two of you go toe to toe over this one. Louder than when you brought Roman home?"
The Princess nodded her head in agreement. "Good job brother. You"re not Anastasia"s biggest mistake any longer." Sebastian shook his shoulder good-naturedly and the four of them laughed.
Before anything else could be said, the doors opened and Baba"s secretary called to them. Sebastian squeezed Kat"s hand and entered; Sergei right behind them. "Sergei will translate for you," he said as Baba appeared, King Viktor and Queen Anya with her, their stony faces giving nothing away.
They formed a line before her, like contestants on a reality show waiting for their fates. Other family members had turned thirty and Baba offered them their official placings, granting them fiefdoms and t.i.tles. None were surprises, all mere formalities.
It was half an hour before she called her three grandchildren up Anton, Anastasia, Sebastian and began to talk in a slow, weathered voice.
"She is telling them that she has made a decision," Sergei translated in a whisper to Kat. "But as is our custom, she wants to hear who they would choose, if they could choose who sits on the throne."