The Sultan and the Storyteller: A Retelling of 1001 Nights (A Villain's Ever After) by Lichelle Slater

Author:Lichelle Slater [Slater, Lichelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: A Villain’s Ever After
Published: 2021-08-19T16:00:00+00:00

Eleven

Zayne closed the bedroom door behind us and I noticed my nightgown spread on one side of the bed and Zayne’s was left out on the other side. The day had been a rollercoaster of emotions from meeting Telama and spending the afternoon with Zayne, to eating dinner with Gerard and Ismae and trying not to hint to Zayne I was trying to figure out what was happening in the palace.

I was exhausted.

“I’m glad they finally realize we can dress ourselves,” I said with a teasing smile.

That earned a chuckle out of Zayne and he headed to the bathroom. “Perhaps we should wash off the sea before bed.” He glanced over his shoulder at me, and my breath hitched.

It was an invitation to join him.

Drawing a deep breath and holding my head high, I walked across the hand-woven colorful rug and into the bathroom. My hair definitely needed attention, but I gripped my hands in front of me. I had suspected something like this might happen, but I still hadn’t thought it would.

Zayne had already removed his shirt and had just removed his pants when I entered. He paused with his back toward me and I looked away, my cheeks blushing.

“I—I thought, maybe, you were asking me to join you,” I stammered.

“I was. But I see this makes you uncomfortable.”

The thought of making love to my husband didn’t make me uncomfortable, but I had one question first—“Did you really not consummate any of your other marriages?”

Zayne remained quiet for so long I actually looked at him again. He was staring at me, his brows slightly pinched, but he held a towel in front of himself to cover his lower half. “No. None of them.” He looked down and wrapped the towel around his hips. “I must add, your father reminded me today that marriages aren’t recognized by law without being consummated.”

I looked away to keep myself from staring any longer. My father had told him our marriage must be consummated? “Did you tell him we hadn’t done this yet?”

“Yes. I tell him everything.”

I got a sour taste in my mouth. “Do you think my father would request your removal from the throne?”

“I have a feeling you don’t know your father very well,” Zayne muttered.

He was wrong. I knew my father best.

What Zayne didn’t know was just how cruel my father could be. I’d witnessed firsthand his ability to manipulate my mother—shouting at her one moment, comforting her the next. He’d done the same thing, or worse, to me after my mother died.

“It’s not that you make me uncomfortable, Zayne. It’s that . . . affection was never part of my life, aside from my mother. And since she died, I’ve only had Kiara. I don’t want to disrespect you.” My stomach churned.

“I will respect your desire for privacy tonight.” I didn’t hear him move, but he was suddenly close enough to lift my chin. Zayne’s touch ignited fire in my heart and down to my toes. “As I spent time with you today, I remembered what peace feels like.

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