His Majesty's Forbidden Temptat - Maisey Yates Page 0,36

supposed to do. What she could do. For he was the King, and she could hardly defy him openly in his own ballroom. And soon, they had been swept away from the staircase that acted as a stage, and he drew her out to the center of the room. To the dance floor. He looked at her, his gaze uncompromising. And it reminded her of that moment in the baths.

They had not seen each other in the hours since, much less touched, and now she was in his arms. And any ferocity or resolution was quashed by the fact that being in his arms stole her ability to think.

Have courage.

That voice echoed inside of her, and she had no idea where it came from, or how it applied now. What courage was there to have? She was in the arms of a king, held prisoner in a room full of hundreds of people, all who glittered. It was a spectacular, gilded show of imprisonment.

And it wasn’t fear of reprisal that stopped her. For part of her sensed that it would be easy to speak up now and burn it all down.

To shout that she had no intention whatsoever of becoming the wife of Alexius. That she was not going to be Queen.

Oh, the idea of being Queen.

Of being paraded around in front of people at all times.

Influence.

The power to make change.

A queen had that. She also would have the eyes of the world on her.

Yes, it would be easy to run away. It would be easy to defy him, as she did it at every turn. She knew Alex well enough to know that it wasn’t exactly like he was going to shift her off to the dark forest and have her executed by a wolf.

No, he wouldn’t do that.

The much more terrifying thing was seeing where this might go.

As she had done in the baths.

For she couldn’t run then. She could have told him that she didn’t want him. That it was a lie. That whatever he thought was happening between the two of them, it wasn’t.

That she was naked by circumstance, and not because she had chosen to come down there and seduce him.

And she hadn’t.

But she had taken a step toward him because that step put her on the path to a different life.

And this one...

She looked up at him, at this man that seemed as if he were carved from granite.

He was the more dangerous choice. Not defying him. Staying with him.

And when they began to dance, she didn’t feel clumsy. She didn’t feel awkward. And she didn’t know if she was truly skilled all of a sudden or not. It was entirely possible that the sensation she had that she was flying had nothing to do with reality, but only the fact that she was in his arms.

She hadn’t the faintest idea why that suddenly made a difference.

Hadn’t any idea what it might mean.

That she suddenly felt right, in place, in his arms in spite of the fact that everyone was staring. In spite of the fact that, to an extent this was adjacent to her worst nightmare.

And so they danced, with all eyes on them, but she didn’t feel it at all. She felt nothing but the strength of his hold, the warmth of his body.

“Alex,” she whispered. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why would I?” The question was spoken with such finality, such authority. And there was a faint undertone of...wonder. As if it would never occur to him to consult her on the subject of marrying him.

It was so very Alex.

“To give me some warning.”

“And to give you a chance to leave?”

“What if I wanted to leave? Would that matter to you?”

“I am not a man who makes decisions lightly.” As if the very fact he’d made a decision was the only thing that truly mattered.

He didn’t care what she wanted, only what he thought was best. She thought of the other woman he’d told her he was going to marry.

“What about Nadia?”

He twirled her, and then brought her back close to his body. “She has been informed. Our arrangement was only ever one on paper. It was not a matter of the heart.”

She moved her hand from his shoulder, down to his chest. He looked at her, the glint in his eyes sharp. She wondered if she had gone too far. If touching him this way in a room full of people was too...

But the spark in his eyes smoldered, and she