Conquering the Queen by Ava Sinclair Read Free Book Online

you from the training.”
    She smirked. “Do you really think this show of kindness will make me yield?”
    Xander ignored her comment and walked over to the table. He’d had food brought to her, along with the message that while she’d still eat from his hand publicly, in private Avin would now be allowed to eat on her own. Now he observed that she’d eaten the bread and fish and leeks, but the tomatoes—firm, red, round slices—sat untouched.
    “You did not finish your food,” he said.
    “I lost my appetite for tomatoes the day a rotten one hit me in the head,” came the reply.
    Xander glanced up. “It’s hardly the tomato’s fault.”
    “No,” she said. “It’s the king’s.” Another smirk. “I’ve lost my appetite for him, too.”
    Xander approached her now. Avin stood her ground, and he could see that she was struggling to affect a cool demeanor.
    “The former statement I believe,” he said. “But the latter I know to be a lie. When I examined you under the physician’s watch, I felt a familiar wetness.”
    Her hand flew up before she could stop it and Xander caught it easily.
    “No, my brave little pet. It is not for you to strike me.” Xander took hold of Avin’s collar and led her to a wall. Reaching up, he pulled down a small tapestry that had hung there since she was a child. Two chains with manacles were now attached to the walls, and before Avin could pull away, the king had taken her right wrist and secured it above her.
    Xander used his body to pin her against the wall as he secured her left wrist to the other manacle. When he stepped back, he knew he’d made the right decision to restrain Avin for her first training session. The look in her eyes was feral, and her chest heaved against the rough fabric of her simple gown.
    It was, he realized, the moment of truth. He was silent as he stared at her—this beautiful former lover who’d betrayed him, this former queen chained to the wall of what used to be her own chamber. And he knew Cynric was right. How he handled Avin now would determine whether he won her true obedience or a begrudging compliance that would be obvious to any observer.
    Xander realized he wanted the former as much as he’d ever wanted anything, and his cock strained against his breeches at the thought of it.
    A king must keep control , he told himself, and stepped forward.
    She continued to glare as he took the small knife he’d removed from his belt to cut the top of her gown. The room was silent save for the sound of ripping fabric as he rent it from top to bottom.
    “Brute,” she said. “Is this the only way you can undress a woman now?”
    He stood from where he’d finished ripping the hem, surprised that she’d not kicked him. Xander gave Avin a small smile as he stared into her eyes—eyes that burned with an icy flame of her rage.
    “I am happy to destroy this gown,” he said. “It does not suit you. From now on, you will wear only the best gowns—gowns befitting a slave of the king.” He looked down. Her body was achingly beautiful. He was seized by a desire to see more of her, and was rougher than he intended when he cut the gown off her shoulders and pulled the two halves away, leaving her naked before him.
    She needed to eat more. Avin had always been tall and thin, but curvy nonetheless. She was still shapely, but her hipbones jutted out more than he liked. Her collarbone, too. He would, he told himself, have her obedient and eating. He would restore her softness, in both body and soul.
    Xander turned and walked over to a trunk at the foot of her bed. When he was readying her chamber, in addition to the installation of the manacles, he also went through her belongings—fine gowns that had hung unworn for long months in her vast wardrobe, jewels she likely would have traded for food had not his forces surrounded her city, trapping her inside. From what he’d been told, it was a worn and simple gown they’d stripped from her when she’d