Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 30190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
“I’m truly sorry for your loss, Aurora.”
I swallowed hard at this. “You lost her, too, Your Majesty.”
“Indeed.” His voice had become odd, and when he saw my brows furrow at this, he said slowly, “I do mourn your sister’s passing, but...it was different between us. Everyone could see how much you loved Aretha, but for the two of us, it was different.”
My heart squeezed. “What do you mean...different? Didn’t you...love her?”
Silence stretched between us, and my fingers clenched against my lap.
If he said yes...
If he admitted to loving Aretha...
I knew that would be the end of it.
No matter how much I loved him myself, I knew I could never betray Aretha’s memory that way. So if Mik’hail ever said—
“No.”
My head jerked up.
“I was fond of Aretha,” Mik’hail said roughly, “but it was not and had never been love between us.”
I swallowed hard. “And my sister—” My voice broke off at the way his gaze suddenly turned cold.
“She felt the same way.”
“I s-see.” I didn’t think Mik’hail was lying about there not being any love between him and Aretha, but there was something about the way he said those words...
It was as if he was hiding something—
Stop it, Aurora.
I mentally shook my head. I was probably projecting my own guilt, no doubt. I was the one who had the most to hide, not Mik’hail, and as the thought made my eyes squeeze shut in shame—
“You’re feeling sleepy already?”
The sheikh’s words nearly made me start. With all that talk about the past, I had almost forgotten what I came here to do, and my heart started to race.
This is it, I told myself.
This was the point of no return—
“Aurora?”
I tried to look groggy as I opened my eyes. “May I sleep here with you, akh?” I rubbed my eyes for effect. “I don’t want to go back to my room. I’m just too scared right now.”
The sheikh hesitated another moment before saying, “All right.”
“Thank you.” I spoke softly and slowly, like someone close to falling asleep, and the sound had the sheikh scooping me up in his arms.
“You don’t have to—”
“It’s fine.”
Mik’hail gently laid me on the bed, which was so enormous it could probably accommodate five full-sized adults.
I pretended to have a hard time opening my eyes as the sheikh tucked me in and left only the night light on. “Are you not going to sleep yet, Your Majesty?” I mumbled with a yawn.
“After a shower.”
“G’night then.”
“Good night, Aurora.”
I focused on keeping my breathing even while listening to the sheikh moving about the room, and I only allowed myself to open my eyes when I heard the door of the en-suite shut closed.
IT WAS SURPRISINGLY intimate, listening to the man I loved taking a shower. And when I thought about the fact that he was on the other side of that door, with nothing but water and steam between us...
My whole body flushed.
Could Mik’hail be thinking of me while he showered?
The thought alone was enough to make my heart race, and my mind wandered to dangerous places. What would happen if I were brave enough to open that door? What would he do if he saw me standing there?
Would he send me away?
Or would he finally, finally stop fighting this thing between us?
An eternity seemed to have passed by the time Mik’hail came out of the shower, and unable to resist the urge, I found myself peeking just a little.
To my relief I found the sheikh standing with his back to me. He was rubbing his hair dry with a towel, and he was dressed in nothing else but a loose pair of slacks.
Just seeing the sleek golden muscles of his back made me feel warm all over, and I couldn’t help thinking that if tonight went my way, I’d soon be able to touch all that glistening skin and feel his muscles ripple under my fingers.
The sheikh started to turn towards me, and I quickly closed my eyes.
When the other half of the bed dipped, I pretended to stir and roll towards him. When I stopped in the middle of the bed, the sheikh immediately asked tautly, “Aurora?”
I mumbled incoherently in response and allowed a few more moments to pass before letting out a little cry as if caught in the throes of a nightmare.
The bed shifted and dipped again, and it was all I could do not to cry out when I felt him draw my body close.
I had spent several nights researching the possible side effects of sleeping pills. I knew what I could and couldn’t do, and so when I felt him stiffen the moment he realized just how little I wore under my nightgown—
I allowed myself the tiniest of sounds, and I heard the sheikh suck his breath hard.
Oh.
I could feel it now.
The way his body had responded to mine.