His arms, outstretched in a frantic gesture to emphasize words I was hardly listening to by then, I knew could hit me harder than Adelind or Cristyne ever could have…but I knew he wouldn’t. I had the strange feeling that he should be embracing me and that my head should be resting on his shoulder, under his chin. I imagined myself for a sinful moment caught up in his muscled arms, both of us sharing a lover’s embrace. I blushed and, for possibly the first time in my life where a real and tangible man stood before me, I felt a dampness between my legs that seemed to call for Jared’s touch.

Suddenly, Jared’s passion seemed to deflate and I was startled out of my trance. “Look, Marina, I know I don’t have as much to offer as a prince and that this estate isn’t exactly a palace. Your life would be better with a prince in it. You would be the future queen. You would have power and wealth and finery that I could never give you… I suppose it would be silly of me to think you would maybe,” Jared paused.