He was angry. As he traipsed back to his room, he wanted to throttle the girl. This was all her fault. By her stupid decisions, she had trapped him into marriage. When she awoke, he was going to give her a piece of his mind.
But as he entered his chamber a few moments later and crossed to his bed, he found her still shaking like a leaf. He had locked his door. Now he shed his boots and pulled off his coat and shirt. And he climbed into bed with her. There was nothing for it. He couldn’t figure out any other way to warm her up. If she died in his bed before he could marry her, they’d accuse him of murder.
He slid between the sheets and reached for her. He pulled her up against him. Her whole body was one large flame. How could she possibly be cold? He wrapped his arms around her and pulled the blankets up over her.
A moment later, he heard a sound that terrified him. She was wheezing.
“Jina,” he whispered.
He pulled away from her to gaze down into her face. It was even paler than before. Now two dark circles had formed under her eyes. Those eyes fluttered open, but they seemed to stare unseeing at some point behind his head.
“Jina, you need to drink some tea. Please,” he begged.
She was really scaring him. Suddenly, he didn’t care if he had to marry her. He just didn’t want her to die. Here. In his bed. In his arms.
He had a sudden flash of her as she’d been the other night. Fierce. Protective. Of him. Then hurt. By his callous actions. And his unkind words. His fiery temper had damaged her. He hadn’t meant for it to. Yet, still, it had.
She groaned and pushed weakly at his chest. “Noooo. Go ‘way!”
He sat up and dragged her with him. He picked up the tea and held the cup to her lips.
“You must. It has medicine in it. It will make you feel better.”
She shook her head then leaned it back against his shoulder as her eyes closed again.
“Please, Jina. Please drink it. For me.”
“Why should I do anything for you?” she gasped, miserable. Her eyes filled with tears. “You hate me.”
Shocked to his core, he stared down at her. “I don’t hate you!”
She nodded. “Because I’m not pretty. Or feminine. Or demure,” she panted.
“For crying aloud! Can we discuss this later?! After you haven’t died because you drank the tea!” His temper was fraying. This time because he was terrified. If she got dehydrated, she could easily die. “You must drink. Either drink it yourself, or I’m going to force it down your throat. And I don’t think either of us will enjoy that!”
She cracked her eyes open and stared up at him. “I hate you,” she spat out. “You…men…all think you can control us. But I’m…going to…prove you wrong.” She shoved at the cup in his hand and sloshed half of its contents out onto the covers.
His fury spiked. He set the cup down on the table. Then he pushed her down onto her back and straddled her. He grabbed her wrists with one hand and used that hand to hold her arms up over her head. With his free hand, he grabbed the cup and held it up to her lips.
“Drink!” he roared at her.
Suddenly, all the fight left her. On a good day, he would be so much stronger than her. But today, he felt like a giant overpowering her with ease. She just went slack. She closed her eyes to shut him out. Her wrists went limp as she stopped fighting against the confining restraint of his fingers. She wheezed again.
Jungkook’s anger fled. He set the cup down on the nightstand. He released her.
“Fine. If you want to die, then die. But you are not dying in my chamber. I will take you to the queen. You can die on her watch.”
Her eyes flew open as his arms slid under her. “No! You can’t take me to her! She’ll get sick too! Put me down!”
He stood up, balancing her in his arms. “No. You don’t understand. If you die in here, I will be blamed. The king will have no choice but to chop off my head. I am not dying because you’re too darn stubborn.”
Towing her in his arms, he strode across his chamber.
“Stop!” she shoved at his chest. “Put me down! I’ll drink your stupid tea!”
He dropped her onto the ground and let go. She crumpled into a pile on the floor. She was too weak to pick herself up. She lay, miserable, on the cold, hard floor. She moaned.
Jungkook stared down at her. She was a pathetic creature. She wasn’t even looking up at him. Her head was bent, her body curled into the fetal position.
“Do you want to lie on the hard floor or in my warm bed?”
As he asked the question, she began to tremble again. Her teeth began to chatter. “I want…to go back…to my room.”
“You can’t,” he spoke ruthlessly.
She opened her eyes to gaze up at him. “Why not?” she cried out defiantly.
“Because this is your room now.”
She stared up at him as her body continued to shake with a vengeance.
“What?”
“We are to be married.”
She stared at him. Then she began to laugh. Great, shuddering sobs escaped her chest along with that laughter.
“Just kill me now, Jungkook! To be married to a man who hates me. What did I do to deserve such a fate?”
“You tempted fate repeatedly by wandering the palace in the dead of night. You constantly put yourself in harm’s way. I guess I’m your reward.”
She set her hot cheek against the cold floor and sobbed. How ironic was life? A week ago, such news would have been a dream come true. But not now. Now it was a nightmare…
