Read Online Hers to Command by Patricia A. Knight - Free Book Online

smothered laugh. She smiled weakly. “I hate that I still blush.”
    Patricio leaned over and took her hand. “My dear, I suspect all those lovers, those lords and ladies that he bedded, they were just a spit in the face of his parents and the king. If you want him as husband and consort, be brave. Ask him.” His face sought hers. “Do you?”
    “ I have not decided.” She stood and smiled at Patricio. “I won’t take any more of your valuable time, Elder Patricio. Thank you.”
    After the elder had bowed and left her apartments, Fleur rang a small hand bell and a page appeared at her door.
    “ Yes, Your Highness.”
    “ Ask Conte DeTano if he will speak with me in my chambers, please.”
    The page bowed and went to deliver his message.
    It was perhaps an hour later when her guard tapped lightly. “Your Highness.”
    “ Yes, Eric.”
    “ Conte DeTano is here.”
    “ Please admit him.” She watched from her seat on the chaise as Ari strode into the room.
    “ Your Highness.”
    “ Conte,” she smiled. “Please, sit.”
    “ I prefer to stand if it is the same to you, Your Highness,” he replied curtly.
    “ It is not. I dislike having you loom over me like a bomb about to explode.”
    A laugh startled from his lips and he smiled as he sat down in the chair Patricio had vacated.
    He is so handsome when he smiles.
    “ My second-in-command sent me some troublesome news today. I am out of sorts. I didn’t mean to direct my temper at you, Your Highness.”
    “ Apology accepted. I would like it very much if you would call me Fleur. You did before.”
    “ Yes, well. Being balls-deep between your legs creates a certain intimacy,” Ari said with a wicked grin. “If that is your wish, Your Highness, Fleur, it is.”
    Heat crept up her cheeks. He says the most unexpected things. Taking a deep breath, she regrouped, handing Ari the scroll. “Tell me about this.”
    He scanned carefully as he unrolled the stiff parchment. He stopped midway, then rolled it back up. With a soft chime of medallions, he re-tied the ribbons, placing it on a low table beside him. “What is it you wish to know?”
    Oh dear. She studied his austere expression, trying to decide on a diplomatic way to start. “Why is marrying me so distasteful that you would flee the planet for fifteen years?” She winced inwardly. Tactful, Fleur—very subtle.
    Ari’s eyes narrowed and his fingers started drumming on the arms of the chair. He rose and paced to the window, then stood looking out.
    “ It was not the thought of marriage to you that was distasteful. What was distasteful was the thought of a marriage to anyone based solely on my genetics. It is how you breed animals, not people. I am not a stud horse to be bred to Patricio’s favorite mare.” His back stiffened. “My apologies. I did not mean…”
    “ Please, Ari, sit down,” she interrupted. Patricio’s ‘mare’? Ouch.
    “ I prefer to stand,” he responded curtly, not moving from the window.
    She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “I am not used to speaking to someone’s backside half-way across the room. Will you at least turn around?”
    He glanced at her over his shoulder and a smile flickered. He turned. “I didn’t want to ‘loom’.” Laughter lurked in his eyes, and a half-smile lingered on his lips.
    He really is quite extraordinary. A soft laugh escaped her. “Thank you.”
    He nodded and folded his arms across his chest , then crossed his legs at the ankles as he leaned back onto the windowsill. The heavy muscles of his arms and chest stretched his black knit sweater, and the black leather leggings tucked into his over-the-knee boots left little for her to imagine. Such a handsome man.
    S omething about the way his eyes explored her body sent heat up and down her spine then straight to her lady-parts. She remembered the weight of him as he lay atop her. She remembered looking up into his gold-flecked eyes, feeling his mobile lips caressing her cheeks, feeling the