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of islands was small. The two men knew each other rather well.
    While he was saving his sister from what she feared to be a doomed future, he hadn’t taken into account that Isabella might feel the same way about a life spent with him. During their afternoon adventure on the boat together, he had felt a stirring between them. She had certainly responded well enough to his touch as he fingered her and brought her to pleasure over his knee. And he had thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon of sparring with her wit.
    However, now that they were wed, he considered the fact that perhaps he had misjudged the situation with Isabella. The fire he’d seen in her still burned brightly, and he wondered if she truly hadn’t wanted to marry him. He knew among the royal families that arranged marriages were common, and as children, they were raised to accept that they had greater duties to their countries than to their own fanciful dreams. Isabella didn’t seem to have been taught those responsibilities, however. Did she still dream of some romantic love to come and sweep her off of her feet, hand-feeding her chocolates and grapes for the rest of her life? While he ought to love his queen, he had no designs for romance. They would learn to live peacefully together, and if that meant his wayward wife would spend the first few months locked in bedrooms and kept under his thumb, then so be it. They would find a peace together.
    “There’s only one room?” Isabella walked into the suite he’d reserved at the Blackstone Hotel overlooking Michigan Avenue.
    “One bedroom, yes, but as you can see, there is a living room as well as a small office.” He nodded to Julian to leave them.
    “That’s what I meant, only one bedroom. Couldn’t you get a bigger suite?” She dropped her purse on an end table and walked to the window to look at the view.
    “This is large enough, since you’ll be sharing my bed every night.” He removed his suit jacket and slipped his tie from the collar. He hated wearing the damn things. Her eyes fixated on his tie as he maneuvered it through his collar and it hung from his hand. The image of having the black fabric wrapped around her eyes—taking away her vision so that she could only feel him—popped into his head, making his pants once again uncomfortable.
    Her face flushed, and she turned away abruptly. “It’s a nice hotel. Rafe usually makes us stay at the Four Seasons.” She continued to look out the window, but he could see the soft pink hue on her cheeks.
    “I have a dinner meeting this evening. I know you didn’t have a lot of time to pack, so I thought you might like to spend the afternoon shopping?” He saw her chest puff out at his suggestion and wondered how he could have upset her by offering to buy her a new dress.
    “Have you heard anything about the woman I saw this morning?” She turned concerned eyes upon him.
    “Not yet.”
    “They are looking, aren’t they? Your men.” As an accusation, it irritated him.
    “I told you it’s being looked into.” He took a steady breath. The idea of bringing her along on his trip had been to get to know her better, to help them find a middle ground. So far, they weren’t making any progress. “I’ll change and then we can go.”
    “You’re going to come with me?” Her eyes widened.
    “Of course I am. After we find you a suitable dress, we’ll come back here and have that talk I told you about. “
    “What talk?” She herself didn’t look convinced by the lying question.
    He laughed quietly. “You know which one. The one that addresses your earlier disobedience.”
    She crossed her arms over her chest and opened her delicate mouth to begin a defense or protest. He didn’t really care which. He ignored her completely and stalked into the bedroom to change into a more relaxed outfit, one that would stop choking his dick every time he thought about having her naked and writhing beneath him.
     
    ***
     
    Isabella had a beautiful laugh.