“More than.” The light in her eyes had dimmed. She’d even lost that little spark of mischief, the one that had flared when she was teasing him. When she’d been sure she was playing casual, trying to make her flashes of cleavage look accidental.
“So am I,” he said, the words hard to force out around the tightening in his throat. When her thoughts turned to her impending marriage, and he was certain they had, it made a kind of feral rage boil inside of him.
The thought of another man’s hands on her body … it couldn’t happen. She had branded him, marked his body with her touch. For him, there could be no other woman. The thought hit him with a certainty he’d only felt once before.
Just as he’d known he would honor his vows, care for Marina until she’d taken her last breath, he knew he was committed to Eva. The very idea of another lover seemed wrong.
Sex, for him, could never be about a simple physical release. It had become something sacred in his mind. His experiences with Eva had confirmed it.
But she would take Bastian. He would be her husband. In every way.
Mak gritted his teeth. “Let’s go. Outside.”
He opened the door for her and followed her out, checking all sides of her, watching for any possible threat. The car was delivered within minutes and he opened the door for her before getting in on the driver’s side.
“I hope now you’re happy. You have some clothes that you chose. Clothes that are you.” He gunned the engine and merged with traffic, taking a sharp right, headed back in the direction of the palace.
“You … you remembered me saying that,” she said, her voice filled with shock.
“I remember everything you’ve said.” He meant it to come out harsh, a reminder that he didn’t forget things. That details, in his mind, were imperative. It came out soft. More a reminder that she was special than anything else.
“Me too,” she said.
A good thing, since very soon, memories would be all either of them had.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE engagement party was a glittering affair. No formal announcement had been made, but rumors had been rampant from the moment it had leaked that there was going to be an event held at the palace on short notice.
The guest list had been kept brief, accommodating only the most influential families from Kyonos and from Bastian’s country, Komenia.
Eva hung back, peering into the ballroom from the outside, watching the party at a distance. No one noticed or cared. They wanted gossip, they wanted to be seen. And once they realized the event centered around her, then they might care about her presence. But until then, she was another face in attendance.
It was well known that she was a rebel. The youngest. The least influential. She wondered if that would change when she had a husband with power.
The thought galled. That she would matter more because of the man she married.
A man she wasn’t even tempted to scan the room for. No, the man she was looking for was one of the people she hadn’t seen since she’d arrived.
The back of her neck prickled. She turned, the chiffon of her ball gown swirling around her legs as she did. Mak was there, looking harder, leaner. Looking like a stranger. Except for his eyes. Eyes she’d always taken to be emotionless. But she knew now, suddenly and with clarity, that that wasn’t true.
It was simply emotion too deep to read easily.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
“Thank you. So do you.” She indicated his custom-cut suit, her heart thundering as she took him in. He was so perfect. And tonight, any dream she harbored of a future with him ended.
“Do you know how things are going tonight?” he asked.
“Yes. In an hour my father will make the announcement and Bastian and I will go and allow him to present us before the guests. The engagement will be … official then.”
“I see. So you have some time?”
“Yes.”
“Come with me.”
She didn’t know what he wanted or why he wanted it. She didn’t really care. She just wanted to be with him. It didn’t matter if it was for five minutes, or for an eternity. No, it did matter. She wanted forever, it was just that she wouldn’t be getting it.