And her heart gave a quivering flutter.
He was wearing black, like herself—a conventional black dinner suit and a slender black bow-tie tied neatly around the collar of a snowy white dress shirt that did nothing to hide the expanse of solid flesh bulging beneath it. He smelled different too—of something warm and spicy, sensual, very alluring—and she found herself suddenly overwhelmed by the sense of his dark presence—by the sheer maleness of the man.
By the power of his sexuality.
Oh, God.
‘Here,’ he said, bringing her eyes into focus on the small high-domed box he was holding in his hand. And she went perfectly still, her blood running cold as she recognised the box for exactly what it was.
No, she begged silently. Please, no.
But even as she made the aching plea Rafe sent the lid flicking upwards, and her heart quivered, then fell like a stone to her stomach as she stared at the contents.
An engagement ring—it just could not be anything else—sitting in the centre of a black velvet cushion. Even her novice eyes recognised the quality of the big oval ruby nestling in its circle of bright, sparkling diamonds.
‘Your hand, please, Shaan,’ Rafe requested quietly, with no idea of the horror she was feeling inside as he lifted the ring from its velvet bed.
As things stood between them now, they merely had a bargain, drawn up on practical grounds with a simple gold band to seal the civil contract they had both signed. But this—this beautiful ring of dancing fire suggested so much more!
Too much more.
It suggested love, romance, a hot, sparkling passion. It made a glowing, unmistakable statement of ownership—possession in the most intimate sense of the word.
But it was a lie—such a dreadful lie! Like the beautiful diamond ring Piers had given her!
‘Shaan?’ Rafe prompted when she made no effort to lift her hand.
She shuddered, feeling sick, compelled to look at him simply because she had become conditioned over the days to responding to that tone in his voice. But her eyes were dark pools of anguish when she lifted them to his, her soft mouth trembling in wretched appeal.
‘Please, Rafe,’ she whispered, ‘don’t make me wear it.’
‘Why not?’ he demanded in frowning surprise. ‘You’re my wife. It is expected that you wear my ring.’
‘Yes,’ she conceded. ‘But…’ She sucked in a tight breath of air, trembling so badly now that even her breasts quivered. ‘But it means nothing, does it?’ she burst out painfully, her eyes willing him—begging him—to understand what she was trying to say here. ‘I just can’t wear something as s-special as that when it means nothing!’
He said nothing for a moment, his eyes holding that pained appeal in her eyes until she thought she might pass out as the cruel clutch of emotion she was experiencing made her ribcage ache at the tight band of tension wrapping around it.
Then, quite ruthlessly, he said, ‘You wore my brother’s ring and that meant nothing.’
Shaan closed her eyes, almost swaying as that particularly cruel thrust hit home. ‘But I didn’t know it was worthless when I accepted it,’ she whispered thickly.
‘Which is not the case with this one,’ he brutally pointed out. ‘So give me your hand.’
A heavy sigh shivered from her. He was so immovable, so damned intractable! About as sensitive to her feelings as a wall of solid rock!
‘Shaan.’
Damn.
Her hand lifted. His fingers were warm and smooth against her own, steady where hers trembled, as he slid the lovely ring home. Mutely, she stared down at it. The dark stone flashed in what felt like mockery where it settled against her plain gold wedding band. The air around them began to throb with something that brought tears springing into her eyes, though she was bewildered as to what that something was.
‘Let’s go,’ he said, and stepped around her, leaving her standing there, frowning, wondering if she had misheard that new, roughened note in his voice.
* * *
It was a nightmare. The whole wretched evening was just another waking nightmare. A long, exhausting round of warm congratulations and smiling thanks and, worse, the curious looks which made it clear that everyone present here tonight knew that Rafe had married his brother’s bride.
And, on top of all of that, from the moment they all met up in the elegant foyer of one of Hong Kong’s top restaurants, Shaan knew she was way, way out of her depth with these people.