She woke up to a feeling of comfort.

There was a nice scent around her, she couldn't quite tell what it was, but she liked it.

It was warm and the covers beneath her were soft, but she felt something hard against her back. Not

uncomfortably hard, on the contrary, a body she wanted to snuggle into, an arm draped around her waist-

Her eyes shot open and she let out a small squeal as she shot off the bed, frantically turning around to face whoever was-

Of course.

She took shaky breath and her hands clutched to the fabric of the sheets as last nights' event came back to her.

He was lying beside her, smirking up at her with his eyebrows raised as if he considered this situation to be very amusing.

She clasped on tighter to the sheets, dragging them up to cover herself as she tried to process what had just happened.

He had touched her.

What had he-

"What did you do?" she snapped, glaring down at him in a mixture of fear and anger.

"Well, I was sleeping. And if I recall correctly, so were you," he answered her, the amusement evident in his voice.

She stared down at him, blinking a few times as her anger only grew.

Seriously!

His gaze grew more serious, the mirth leaving his eyes and his hand shot out to pull her back onto the bed. Her eyes widened in fear as she recalled what kind of situation she was really in, what kind of man he was, as he leaned over her, gazing down at her.

"But trust me, love, if I had done what you were implying you would have woken up in the process."

She felt herself blushing as she froze, her heartbeat speeding up in both fear and something else she couldn't quite identify.

He lowered his hand to her cheek and slowly ran his fingers over her skin, causing a tingling sensation to spread through her body. It created a strange mix combined with the hollow terror claiming her chest.

"But now that you brought it to the table, I'm quite in the mood," he said, another smirk forming on his face and she gasped in horror, staring up at him in disbelief.

He couldn't be serious!

She moved her hands to his chest to push him away but he didn't let her, raising his eyebrows in feigned surprise.

"Get off me!" she spat, glaring up at him as she tried to wiggle out from under him.

"You're not helping your case," he said, smirking as he took a quick glance downwards and she stopped, freezing again. "Besides," he began, stroking her cheek again.

She held her breath, fear surging through her.

He was going to do it. He was going to touch her against her will, take her virtue.

She had no idea what this man was capable of, but she had seen some of it the day before.

He ran his thumb over her lower lip and all she wanted to do was escape somehow.

"You're my betrothed. Why not?" he asked.

"Not officially," she spat, trying to push him away again.

"Not yet," he countered, not moving from his spot, as if she wasn't even trying to get him off her with all her might.

Her mind raced, trying to quickly come up with a way to get out of this situation.

"If I am to be your wife you should at least try to treat me with some decency. How do I even know whether you are going to hold true to your promise? None of this should happen before marriage, it's not right," she rambled, staring up at him as confident as she could despite the fact that her heart beat like a drum in her ears.

He raised his eyebrows, his eyes darkening a little.

"You doubt the truthfulness of my promise?" he asked, his voice cold and she felt fear take hold of her again.

No! She forced it down. She couldn't be weak in this kind of situation, not if she was going to spend all of her life with this man.

"How could I possibly trust you? I don't even know you," she snapped.

She saw his expression darkening a little more.

"I know you told me I shouldn't anger you but then don't make me say things that anger you," she said, her tone more compliant now. She had to somehow manipulate her way out of this.

For a moment that seemed like an eternity to her, he didn't respond at all, just kept staring at her.

Then, finally, he pulled away, letting himself fall back into the pillow.

"I apologize, love," he said in a mocking tone that made it clear that about the last thing he would ever do was genuinely apologize for something. "It appears I forgot my good manners for a moment there."

He sat up, rising from the bed. She realized that he was wearing nothing but pants, she got a good view of his naked chest. Embarrassed, she looked away.

But there was a small part of her that was at least halfway relieved, the part trying to find whatever was to save in this situation, bits and pieces she could survive on. At least he was handsome.

He pulled a shirt on while turning back towards her.

"We will have plenty of time for that soon. Last night I sent a messenger to your parents' court. As soon as he returns we are going to head for the kingdom of Forbes."

Her eyes widened. So soon?

"But didn't you say you were going to head back home yesterday?"

A smirk grew on his face. "Change of plans."

He headed for the door, then turned around one last time.

"You should bathe yourself and get ready for the journey. And eat," he said, his expression once again somewhere between serious and threatening.

With that, he left the room, closing the door behind him and she took a heavy breath of relief.

She should try and wrap her mind around this. Quickly.

She wasn't given a choice in the matter anyway.