Pure Destiny (PureDark Ones #12) - Aja James Page 0,47

so? Because I deceived you in the guise of a man when we first met? But you deceived me too. It didn’t matter though.

No matter who we pretended we were, we couldn’t fabricate the spark between us. This unbreakable affinity across time and space.

I will show you the truth. You shall see for yourself. Feel what I felt when I first Fell…

6th Century B.C., Zau, Capital of Egypt.

Kira didn’t believe in love at first sight. She was far too learned and practical for such dreamy-eyed rubbish.

And yet, it was all she could do to keep a cool head as she surreptitiously observed the Crown Prince of Persia from beneath her lashes as they sat beside one another at her engagement supper.

He didn’t know it was her, of course.

She’d convinced the King and Queen to play along as well. She argued, rightly so, that it was better for her safety to allow her doppelganger to take her place while she assumed the role of the Princess’s close companion and protector, a fictional man by the name of Amon. It was a common ploy used by noblemen and royalty to thwart and deceive their enemies.

Coincidentally and ironically, it also gave her the opportunity to continue interacting with the inexplicably magnetic Persian Prince as herself, not merely her position and title.

He’d bathed and groomed after their arrival at the Palace. He donned the ostentatious robes and adornments befitting of a royal prince. The unruly wavy locks coated with dust from travel that she first glimpsed of him were now tamed with oil. The days’ growth of beard on his face was shaven clean, emphasizing the hard, angular lines of his jaw and the contrasting softness of his wide mouth. His eyes were outlined with kohl, making their naturally wolf-like shape even more exotic, the silver threaded in the light gray orbs more compelling.

Though he seemed stiff and uncomfortable in this attire, the sight of him took her breath away.

Goddess above! This man would be her husband. She could scarcely believe her good fortune.

He was undeniably beautiful, far more so than any portrait of him could have captured. But she’d seen many handsome men across her kingdom. It was more than his looks that captivated her. So much more that she looked forward to discovering.

In truth, he was still growing into manhood, his lanky body leanly muscular from an active life, but not quite filled out as she imagined he would be one day. She’d gathered from his companions that he was some years younger than her. Yet, somehow, he seemed older, more mature. He was indisputably the leader of his small retainer, and not just because he was their prince. It was clear as day that his men were fiercely loyal to him because of him.

Kira didn’t believe in love at first sight, but mercy! she certainly believed in lust after making Prince Cambyses’ acquaintance.

Not that she hadn’t found other men’s forms pleasing before, because she had. Since she was a much younger girl, she’d noticed the beauty of a finely wrought male body. How it contrasted with her own. Hard where she was soft. Angles to her curves, even though hers were subtler than most.

Watching the Crown Prince ride upon his gorgeous black stallion as if they were one, moving entirely in concert…now that was a sight that made the inside of Kira’s mouth as dry as the desert dunes that surrounded the oasis of Zau.

She couldn’t wait to see him truly let go. Race across the desert on his sleekly powerful steed. If just the leisurely ride from the outer city gates to the Palace made Kira break out in goosebumps from stolen glances at the Prince’s muscular thighs, wide shoulders and narrow hips, she couldn’t wait to see him truly ride.

Perhaps she could even coax him into a friendly race.

The Prince was unconsciously graceful in his movements, the way only a man who was supremely confident in his own skin could be. There was a barely suppressed wildness and freedom in his silver-gray eyes. And there was strength, honor and a brave steadfastness as well.

She’d sensed this about him early on, and her assessment was confirmed over their frank conversation on the way to the Palace.

Man to man.

Kira smirked at her own ruse but grew serious once more as she catalogued her burgeoning feelings.

She’d disguised her own dismay at falling in lust with him when they first met by being brusque, waspish even, turning her nose up at his somewhat