What she said was so true it made Luke pause to think about which part of last night did he admit that he kissed her out of necessity than need, then out of courtesy. What else did he tell her that could have emboldened her enough to keep still while he teased her with gestures more intimate than a smack on the lips? Callista once said that her older brother was talkative when drunk. He could not recall being drunk, but perhaps the drugs meant to help him recover had a hand on the matter. His recollection of the night was very vague, as if he was dreaming and the dream had dissolved into reality as soon as he opened his eyes. 

One memory was clear, though – a memory of her glowing complexion, how she tempted her like a flame tempted a moth, her warmth she shared with him after he gave into the flame. It felt like a dream, a manifestation of the desire he suppressed using his prejudices and biases. He was the queen’s son while she was a farmer. What she said was true, that she did not need to tell him to stop. He should know when to stop.

“I did it for your own good,” he admitted, sitting on his heels thus restoring the distance between the two of them. Did he also confess that he would do it again given the chance? That the touch of her lips, of her warmth, was something he looked forward to being with again? 

But Luke had a reputation to uphold. He was born to be the next ruler, but before he could rule over his people, he needed to be able to rule his emotions. The noble houses did not associate themselves with peasants, because the peasants were uneducated, ungrateful, lazy, useless, full of complains, they would not survive without the lords and ladies governing over them. Rhiane Black was a peasant who was a product of the pointless breeding ritual of the royal family. She was supposed to be everything a peasant was, but the more time he spent with her the more he was convinced that she was different. Or maybe what he was taught was wrong. 

Luke ran a hand through his damp hair. What would their political allies think of him when they found out about the thought he was considering right about now. The high society loved scandals. His secret affair with the actress entertained the lords, the ladies, their sons and their daughters much like his engagement to the peasant entertained the general public. The difference was that Sophia Keller was accepted by the upper class, while they look at Rhiane Black as nothing better than the mud stuck on the soles of their boots. 

She sat before him, breathing heavily despite the calmness of the voice that escaped her lips. Her cheeks were lightly flushed and she was not running away. If it was not Rhiane who was in front of Luke, he would have taken the body language as a go signal from the woman. But Rhiane neither asked him to stop or asked him to proceed. She had ran away from his kiss only to initiate one days after. She was a living contradiction that sent mixed signal to Luke. Did she want him or did she want Tobias?

“Is that what you really want?” He asked, his voice low. Luke was many things, but he was not disrespectful to women. If she did not want him to touch her as much as he should not be wanting her, then he would not force himself onto her. There were others who would willingly give in, why would he bother with one who denied him? “I don’t want to make it his duty to ‘attend to your needs’ it doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. Besides, if you get pregnant by that man, there’s little I can do to save either of you. What is it that you want?”