Unspoken

The library was silent save for the whisper of turning pages.

Ana had come here to escape him to lose herself in ledgers and loopholes where his presence couldn’t poison the air. But fate, like Ivander, was cruel.

He stood by the window, backlit by moonlight, a half empty glass of whiskey dangling from his fingers."You’ve been avoiding me."

She didn’t look up. "Astute observation."

A rustle of fabric. The scent of bergamot and sin curled around her as he braced both hands on her desk, caging her between his arms. "Look at me."

"No."Her quill snapped under the pressure of her grip.

Ivander’s chuckle was dark."Still pretending?"His breath warmed the shell of her ear."I felt how your pulse raced at dinner. How your lips parted when my knee"

"Stop!"She whirled to face him a mistake.

Their mouths were inches apart. His eyes dropped to her lips, lingering on the spot she’d bitten last night. A muscle flexed in his jaw.

Ana’s chest heaved."This isn’t love. It’s madness."

"Then let me be mad."His thumb brushed her lower lip."Just once."

For a heartbeat, she swayed forward

then slapped his hand away."No more games your majesty."

Ivander stepped back pulling her closer to his body, his smile sharp as the knife at his belt. "Oh, Princess..we’re just getting started."

He left the whiskey on her ledger.

The glass still bore the heat of his fingers.

The first thunderclap shook the palace like the wrath of God.

Ana barely had time to register the shatter of rain against stained glassbefore the chandeliers flickered once, twice then plunged the library into darkness.

A gasp escaped her.

Then warmth at her back.

"Afraid of the dark, Princess?"Ivander’s voice curled around her in the blackness, closer than she’d realized.

She spun, her hands colliding with the hard plane of his chest."What happened?"

Lightning flashed.

"Aah."

For one fractured second, she saw him his pupils blown wide, his lips parted, rain streaking the window behind him like tears. Then darkness swallowed them again.

"The servants will bring candles,"he murmured. His fingers brushed hers as he reached past her for the desk."Unless you’d prefer to stay like this?"

Ana jerked away."I’d prefer if you make some distance your majesty."

His laugh was low, dangerous."Impossible."

The candles never came.

Instead, a harried maid guided them to the old wine cellar the only place with emergency lamps, thanks to the butler’s "priorities."

Ana huddled in her shawl as Ivander prowled the racks, selecting a bottle with infuriating calm.

"Drink,"he ordered, thrusting a glass of blood dark merlot into her hands.

"I don’t drink"

"It’ll warm you."His thumb traced the rim of his own glass."Unless you’d rather share?"

Another thunderclap. The lamp guttered, painting his face in devilish shadows.

Ana drank.

The wine burned.So did his gaze.

"Why do you pretend to hate me."He stepped closer."But your body.."His glass clinked against hers as he took it away."Your body wants me."

Ana’s breath hitched as he backed her against the shelves. Bottles rattled like the storm in her ribs.

"Thats not true"

"Prove me wrong,"he dared, his lips grazing her temple."Push me away."

Her hands flexed at her sides and stayed there.

"Liar"he whispered.

Then the lamp went out.

Darkness.

Then the slide of leather on silk.

Ivander’s glove, skimming up her arm.

"Tell me to stop."His breath scalded her neck.

She didn’t.

His fingers found her jaw, tilting her face up. "One kiss,"he bargained, voice rough.

"One kiss, and I’ll not misbehave."

Lightning flashed.

Their lips were a breath apart

"Your Majesty?"A voice called from the stairs.

Ivander cursed.

Ana hurriedly left the cellar.she walked inside her room.Dawn crept through Ana’s window like an unwelcome guest.

She hadn’t slept. Not after the storm. Not after the wine cellar. Not after the way Ivander’s breath had felt on her lips hot, whiskey sweet, and heavy with promises.

A knock startled her.

Isabella slipped in without waiting, her morning robe billowing behind her."You look terrible."

Ana groaned into her pillow."I feel worse."

"Because of the storm?"Isabella perched on the bed, her voice dripping with false innocence. "Or because my brother nearly kissed you in the cellar?"

Ana shot upright. "How did you?"

"The servants talk."Isabella tossed a small leather bound book onto the sheets. "But this..this they don’t know about."

Ana’s fingers trembled as she flipped it open.

"June 12th She turns sixteen today. I sent roses. White, not red I won’t frighten her. God help me, I’m becoming a poet."

Her breath caught.

"September 3rd – She laughed at dinner. That sound will haunt me longer than any battlefield victory."

Page after page, Ivander’s handwriting sometimes frantic, sometimes tender—spilled secrets she was never meant to see.

Then, the final entry:

"Last night, I almost ruined everything. She tastes like storm air and rebellion. I’d sell my soul to taste her again. But I won’t. Not until she begs me to."

The journal slipped from Ana’s grasp.

Isabella arched a brow."Still think he’s a monster?"

"I don’t know."I am sleeping goodnight"Ana said lay down in her bed.She was confused,she was surprised.All of the things that happened at once was giving her a headache.

Ana’s head throbbed by noon.

The storm, the wine, the sleepless night it all crested into a sweltering fever that left her shivering under three blankets.

The physician prescribed rest.

Ivander prescribed himself.

She woke to the scent of bergamot and worry, his broad frame hunched in the chair beside her bed, his usually impeccable cravat undone.

"You’re here,"she croaked.

His head snapped up. "You’re awake."A beat. Then, quieter."I brought lemon tea."

Ana eyed the steaming cup. "Poisoned?"

"If it were,"he murmured, helping her sit up, "I’d have used it on myself by now."

His palm cradled the back of her neck as she drank a tenderness that shattered her defenses.

She pulled away. "Why?"

Ivander stilled."Why what?"

"Why me?"Her voice broke."You could have anyone. Why chase someone who hates you?"

He exhaled sharply. "Because I don’t want anyone."His thumb brushed her cheekbone. "I want the girl who bit a king and didn’t apologize. The woman who outmaneuvers me at every turn."

Ana’s pulse fluttered. "Even if I never surrender?"

Ivander’s smile was a blade. "Especially then."

"Is that oranges?" "I am hungry"

"Let me feed you,You are weak."Ivander said feeding her.They were busy talking about some businesses when a note arrived from Spain.

Ana’s father had approved the marriage.

She stared at the parchment, her fever flushed skin going cold.

Ivander snatched it from her grasp, scanned it, and tossed it into the fire.

"No."

Ana blinked. "No?"

He knelt beside the bed, his eyes burning."I won’t have you because a piece of paper demands it."His fingers laced with hers."I’ll have you when you demand it."

The words hung between them a vow, a challenge, a beginning.

Outside, the last of the storm clouds parted.

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