Claimed by the Elven King: Part Two by Cristina Rayne Read Free Book Online Page B

inside. At that moment, I very much felt
like a fish out of water. I didn’t need to be from the elven realm to know that
it was probably dangerous to commit a social faux pas even with a
servant. I mentally winced. I didn’t like the sound of that word at all and
resolved right then and there to never call anyone a servant but to think of
them as hotel staff, instead.
    “Are you sure you should be up?” she asked worriedly. “His Majesty
expected that you would not wake for several more marks, yet.”
    Her eyes fixed on my stomach for a brief moment, and I had an
uncomfortable suspicion that I knew what she was worrying about. The problem
was that I couldn’t really say she was wrong, given that I had already slept
with the king twice. To make matters worse, I felt my cheeks heat up at the
thought of everyone in the whole damned elven realm knowing that I had just
spent the last day being screwed into the mattress by their king. I had always
been a very private person, but it was beginning to look like complete privacy
would no longer be an option.
    “I’m fine,” I assured her quickly. Then hesitantly, “Maybe a little
hungry. My—lord husband—” I almost choked on the word. “—hasn’t had a chance to
show me around yet. Is there a kitchen, or is there someplace specific I’m
supposed to go to eat?”
    Lariel inclined her head gracefully. “I will have a meal prepared and
sent up. His Majesty sends his apologies, but he will not be dining with you
for the midday meal. Perhaps you would like to visit the royal baths while you
wait?”
    Probably a good idea since I likely smelled like sex and sweat. I felt
myself blush again as I nodded. Just how good was an elf’s sense of smell, anyway?
For all I knew, I probably reeked to high heaven, and Lariel was just too
polite to say anything until now.
    To my dismay, the large door I had figured earlier to be the main exit
had been locked after all—and from the other side, no less. Lariel had to call
out to what I presumed to be guards standing just outside to unlock the door. I
decided to pretend that it didn’t bother me at all. The last thing I needed to
do was to start the rumor mill before I could even get the lay of the land, so
to speak.
    There were two guards waiting on the other side of the door, both
looking as narrow-faced as Lariel, yet somehow a thousand times more alien than
either her or Sethian even, though they were beautiful in their own right.
However, unlike when I looked at Sethian, when I looked at them, something deep
inside my psyche shivered in alarm rather than awe. I was rather relieved that
after giving me a cursory glance, neither one of the guards looked at me again.
    “Saeria of the family Maelenas and her younger sister, Rinwen, will be
joining us sometime past midday,” the elf girl chatted as we, along with one of
the door guards, walked down a series of narrow corridors that all looked
identical and would probably be as difficult to navigate as a maze on my
own—which was probably the idea, now that I thought about it. Extra security
and all that. “His Majesty has also assigned them to serve as My Lady’s
ladies-in-waiting.”
    Being addressed in such an archaic way was driving home the reality of
my situation, and I found my anxiety levels rising again. I was now the wife of
a freaking elven king and was expected to bear his heirs. The thought of it was
infinitely more terrifying in the light of day without a mind overwhelmed by
mind-blowing sex.
    The royal baths was an area straight out of an expensive spa brochure, all
marble pools and a low-lighted ambiance made possible by several small oil
lamps littered throughout the huge chamber, but I had very little time to
absorb the extravagance of the place because I finally noticed that Lariel was
staring at something ahead of us—and her whole body had visibly tensed. My eyes
followed her gaze, and I saw that someone with white-blonde hair was lounging
in one of the