DINNER PASSED QUICKLY, and Camilla returned to pick up the dishes, prompting Jesska to give Kaspar a reminding glance to speak with her.

“You know, I’m beat,” she said. “I’m going to head to my room.”

“Stay, baby,” he said.

“I should leave you alone for this.” She smiled. “Come find me later.”

He frowned, but then shook his head and kissed her quickly. Jesska walked out the door, surprised by Jóvin, who was lurking.

“Hi, Jóvin,” she said with a smile.

“M’lady.”

“You’re never going to call me Jesska are you?”

He smiled and used his keycard to open her door. “No, m’lady.”

He held the door open for her and Jesska headed into her suite, relieved Jóvin didn’t follow her. She walked into her bathroom, filled up the large soaker tub, and set her phone next to it while she removed her clothing. Pinning her hair on top of her head, she poured in the jasmine oil Kaspar had bought her, removed her makeup, and then slid into the heat of the water.

She’d almost fallen asleep again when her phone buzzed and, without opening her eyes, she answered it. “Hello?”

“What are you doing?”

“Taking a bath.” She heard Kaspar let out a long breath and she grinned. “Naked.”

“Yes, it’s generally a good idea to be naked while taking a bath.”

She giggled. “Stop picturing me naked.”

“No,” he said, and Jesska heard the smile in his voice.

She sighed and sank lower in the tub. “Did you talk to Camilla?”

“I did.”

“And?”

“And we have come to an agreement. How long are you going to be in the tub?”

She rolled her eyes. “Depends on how long it takes you to tell me about your agreement.”

“She doesn’t want another day off.”

“What?” Jesska frowned. “Why not?”

“It’s complicated, elskan.”

“Did you get all kingy on her?” she accused.

“Kingy?” he asked.

“Yes. All condescending and kingy.”

“I’m her king, sweetheart.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you have be a jerk.”

“Jesska, I’m not having this conversation with you,” he said.

“Why not?”

“Because matters of the Crown do not concern you.”

Jesska forced herself not to swear, her indignation coming out in the form of a hiss.

“Jesska,” he said, sounding irritated.

“I’m sorry, Sire. I was out of line. Again, I apologize. I totally forgot my place.”

“Elskan.”

“I’m going to bed after my bath, Kaspar, so if you’ll excuse me, I have some relaxing to do. Have a great night.” She hung up and dropped the phone on the floor.

Jerk. Big fat jerky, jerk, jerk. Kingly, entitled, big fat jerky jerk, jerk.

Her phone buzzed again but she ignored it and closed her eyes in an effort to relax. She forced her mind to the moments when Kaspar had been an ass in an effort to drown out the many more moments he’d been sweet. There weren’t very many instances where he’d been an ass, and her spiral lasted all of six minutes or so, when she heard a knock on her bathroom door. She squeaked, sitting up and attempting to cover herself, wishing she had bubbles for strategic coverage.

“It’s me, baby. I won’t come in,” Kaspar said.

“What are you doing here?” She craned her neck to see if she could see him. Luckily, the door was still closed. “How did you get in?” she asked. “Never mind. Stupid question. Don’t answer that.”

“You finish your bath and we’ll talk when you get out.”

“Just go back to your room, Kaspar.”

She heard him sigh. “We obviously need to talk, so I’ll wait for you to finish.”

“Well, too bad for you, I’m never getting out of this bath.”

“You’ll get cold and your skin will shrivel, elskan, so you’ll need to dry off at some point.”

“You don’t know my obsession with tubby time, Kaz. I could be here all night.”

He chuckled. “Baby, I’ve been waiting a thousand years for you. You don’t think I can wait out your bath time?”

She tried to ignore the sexy way his voice sounded when he said “baby,” especially accented. And she tried to ignore the fact he’d waited a thousand years for her... ’cause that wasn’t sexy as hell. But she couldn’t ignore the shiver than ran down her spine as she heard him moving around her room. She heard the pop of a cork and the clink of glasses that meant wine.

It also meant making out on the sofa after drinking said wine and then cuddling until she fell asleep. Which then meant him carrying her to her bed and kissing her sweetly before leaving her, because he was a gentleman and he’d vowed they wouldn’t make love until their bonding night, but that didn’t stop him from whispering exactly what he planned to do when he did finally make love to her. Jesska groaned and turned the hot water on with her foot in an attempt to block out his words.

“Did you say something, baby?” he called.

Sexy, gorgeous, sweet, romantic, jerky jerk, jerk.

“Nope,” she snapped.

“Do you want some wine?”

“Does a bear shit in the woods?” she grumbled to herself.

“Baby? Do you want wine?” he repeated.

“Nope,” she called. “I’m good.”

His chuckle penetrated the thin door and she closed her eyes again. She heard the click of the television and then heard Chris Harrison say, “It’s time for the rose ceremony.”

“Oh my god, Kaz. Not even the Bachelor’s going to get me out of this tub,” she said.

The volume increased and Manny called out “Rosa.”

“Wait. What?” She frowned. “Did he just say Rosa?” she called.

“I’m sorry, baby. I can’t hear you,” Kaspar called.

“Will you accept this rose?” Manny asked.

“He better not have said Rosa! She’s a total bitch!” Jesska snapped.

The television got even louder. “Sorry, baby. I really can’t hear you over the television.”

She let out a frustrated growl and pulled the plug on the tub. Big fat creative knows how to push my buttons, jerky jerk, jerk.

Climbing from the tub, she wrapped the towel around her and stomped into the living room. “He did not just say Rosa.”

Kaspar paused the television and turned his head, his gaze sweeping her body, then a slow, sexy, I-want-to-peel-that-towel-from-your-body smile formed on his face and he rose to his feet. “Yes, Manny picked Rosa, elskan.”

“Well, he’s a dumb shit,” she said, and turned back toward the bedroom.

She’d made it all of four inches before she was pulled up against him, his mouth gently kissing her shoulder.

“Hi,” he breathed.

She squeezed her eyes shut. “I should get dressed.”

“Okay. You get dressed and we can talk.”

“I hate you so much right now,” she said.

“I know, baby. It’s a good thing I love you enough for both of us.”

She walked into her bedroom and closed the door with a satisfying slam. Pulling on undies, yoga pants, and a T-shirt, she took a deep breath and then another... and then another, still debating on whether or not she was going to hide in her bedroom or hash things out with Kaspar.

She continued to debate for several minutes before pulling her door open and finding him grinning at her from where he stood just against the door frame, his arms folded across his chest.

She frowned and pushed past him. “I’m just getting some wine and then I’m going to bed.”

“No, Jesska, we’re going to talk.”

“There’s no point in talking.”

He caught up to her and grabbed her arm, turning her gently to face him. “We’re going to talk. Whether you want to or not. Neither of us is going to sleep until this is resolved.”

She frowned up at him. “Well, until you’re no longer all kingy and shit, this can’t be resolved.”

Kaspar smiled, squeezing her arms. “I have been king for half a millennium. I don’t know how to be anything less than kingy...” He laid a finger over her mouth to stop her retort. “But, I will try to be more sensitive to my staff and listen when you have important things to tell me.”

She wrinkled her nose, pressing her lips together in a thin line.

“I will also try to listen even when you don’t have important things to say.”

She gasped. “Are you trying to tell me that you think my words aren’t important?”

At his sarcastic smile, she huffed and bit back her own smile.

“I think everything you have to say is important, sweetheart. But sometimes, I need to hear what you have to say when we’re alone... not in front of my staff.”

“I have never contradicted you in front of anyone.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, one time... maybe. And only in front of Austri.” She played with a button on his soft Henley T-shirt. “But in fairness, he’s always around.”

Kaspar smiled. “And that will change, I promise. We need to find out who and what the threat is first.”

“I know.” She sighed. “I’m sorry I was a shrew. I know I have a lot to learn about your life and how you do things and that I can’t expect to be part of every decision, it’s just really weird for me. I’m a normal American girl, and we tend to speak our mind. Well, I do, at least.”

He smiled. “And I love that about you, elskan. We’ll figure it out, it’ll just take some time.”

“Okay,” she said with a smile.

“I have news.”

“That sounds ominous.”

Kaspar led her to the sofa and pulled her down onto his lap. “Cameron and I have been discussing Jason.”

“How long have you been ‘discussing’ him?”

“Since the day he showed up at your house,” Kaspar said.

“Of course you have.” Jesska narrowed her eyes. “So, what does Cameron say?”

“Jason is back in jail... not prison... county jail for now.”

“Do I need to be a witness again?”

“I believe a statement will suffice, since he’s confessed.”

“What?” She gasped. “Confessed to what, exactly?”

“The letter and the threat when he came to your house. He also confessed to stabbing Seth.”

“Out loud? Like, told them in words what he did?”

“Yes, baby.”

She widened her eyes. “You made him do that.”

“Excuse me?”

“When you had him against the wall. You hypnotized him or something.”

Kaspar gave her a gentle squeeze. “I compelled him to tell the truth, sweetheart. I didn’t make him do anything he shouldn’t.”

“I know.” She blinked back tears. “He’s never admitted what he did.”

“And now he has.”

Jesska pushed herself off of him and stood. “Will I have to see him again?”

“I don’t know. Right now, the statement will do.”

“Are they going to need me to testify at his new trial?”

“Cameron seems to think there may not be another trial,” Kaspar said. “Unless he recants his confession.”

Jesska wrinkled his nose. “Could he do that? Does your ‘compelling’ wear off?”

“I buried it deep in him, sweetheart. So, no, he will not be able to lie.” Kaspar rose to his feet and took her hand. “And we are doing everything we can to make sure he doesn’t.”

“We?” she asked, staring up at him.

“I am taking on a few of the expenses in order for Dalton and Cameron to investigate things the DA was ill-equipped to do so before.”

She shook her head. “Seriously?”

“Já, baby. Does this upset you?”

“No!” Jesska slid her arms around him. “It makes me think I might be falling in love with you.”

“You are already in love with me.”

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

“You’re right. I am. For ages.” She sighed. “Thank you.”

Kaspar chuckled, rubbing her back and kissing her hair. “I would do anything for you.”

“Yeah, I’m picking up on that.” She smiled up at him. “On a similar subject, I have something for you.”

“You do?”

She nodded and pulled away from him, heading into her bedroom. She returned with a little wooden box she’d bought at the Saturday Market. “I was going to wait for the right time, but I think the right time’s now.”

“It’s beautiful,” he said.

“That part’s not for you. I mean, it is if you want it, but it’s what’s inside that’s significant.” She opened the lid. Sitting inside were Seth’s rings and the chain. “I realized on Sunday that I no longer need them.”

He studied her and she bit her lip.

“Is that weird?” she asked.

“Is what weird?”

She closed the lid. “That I’m telling you this? It’s weird. I’m sorry, Kaz. I just felt like it was important to tell you.”

She turned away, but found herself pulled up against him and kissed until she couldn’t breathe. Kaspar kept his mouth on hers as he pulled her on top of him on the sofa and slipped a hand into her hair, holding her closer.

Jesska dropped the box onto the floor, freeing her hands so she could hold on to him. When she was sure they were at the edge of the point of no return, he broke the kiss, settling his forehead against hers and taking several deep breaths.

She licked her lips and smiled. “So... not weird?”

He laughed, dropping his head back on the armrest and giving her a squeeze. “It’s the most beautiful gift I’ve ever received.”

“Really?”

He nodded, stroking her back. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, and settled her cheek against his chest. She heard the steady beat of his heart and he held her for several minutes, words unnecessary in the quiet of the room.

“I love you,” he whispered.

She set her chin in her hands so she could smile at him. “I love you, too.”

“Can I give you my gift now?”

She sat up. “You bought me a gift?”

He nodded, sitting up beside her and sliding his hand into his pocket. “The Kalt Einn don’t typically do proposals, because the binding is usually somewhat immediate, but we absolutely do rings.”

He slipped something on her finger and Jesska gasped. A large emerald-cut diamond sat proudly in the middle of four other diamonds, stepping down in size, in platinum. It fit her perfectly, and she blinked back tears.

“Is this you asking me to marry you?” she joked.

“Yes, Jesska. Will you marry me, even though we’re going to be bound, so the question is somewhat rhetorical?”

“Wow. Romantic.” She giggled. “Yes, love of my life forever and ever and ever. I will marry you.”

Kaspar grinned. “If you don’t like the ring, sweetheart, we can choose something else.”

“Not like it?” She rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding me? If I would have designed the perfect ring, it would be this.”

He smiled. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you. I love it.”

Kaspar’s phone interrupted their celebration. Jesska sat back and frowned.

“It’s your brother.” Kaspar answered the call. “Hello?”

He paced the room as he spoke to her brother. Maybe spoke wasn’t the right word—shot off one-syllable words was more accurate. As Kaspar continued to grunt and give the occasional “yes” and “no” answers, Jesska studied her ring. She couldn’t even begin to guess how much it cost. She was pretty sure the diamonds were perfect, and they sparkled even when the light was dim.

“Jess?”

“Hmm?” She glanced at Kaspar, who was now off the phone and grinning at her.

He chuckled. “I’m done.”

“What did Cam want?”

“His team has been working to decode the flash drive. They’re onto something, so it’s possible they’ll have answers in a day or two.”

“Oh, wow. That’s great,” she said.

“I will pick my brother up tomorrow, and then you and I can go out if you like.”

“Oh, I made plans with Amanda for a girls’ day. I figured you’d be busy with your family.”

“He’s your family now.”

“I know, but you have stuff you need to talk to him about without me. I wanted to give you time to do that.”

He smiled. “Then dinner with everyone tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” she said. “For now, though, I’d like to make out with my fiancé.”

Kaspar chuckled as he sat on the sofa and pulled her on top of him. “Your wish is my command.”