The Most Powerful Of Kings - Jackie Ashenden Page 0,38

tones, with a warmth that crept through him, touching something inside him. And it made his heart race and his body harden.

And when he walked the palace corridors at night, he sometimes caught the vague scent of lavender and sweetness, and that had the same effect, making desire wrap itself around him, choking him.

Xerxes unfortunately noticed his temper and had asked him what was wrong, but Adonis had ignored him. He didn’t want to talk about the real reason he couldn’t settle, because it shouldn’t have been a problem.

And he didn’t know why it was.

You do.

Adonis ignored that thought completely, concentrating his attention on the crowd. He would soon have to resume his tour of the ballroom, talking to all the necessary people...

A glitter caught his eye, his attention drawn to the progress of a woman wending her way through the crowd. The gown she wore was silvery blue and looked as if the voluminous skirts had been scattered all over with tiny diamonds or raindrops, catching the light as she moved. It was strapless, the bodice cupping a pair of the most perfect breasts he’d ever seen and hugging curvaceous hips. Her bare shoulders glowed like pale satin in the light, her blonde hair piled on her head in delicate curls like a fall of winter sunlight. Her face was heart-shaped and delectable, with a mouth made for sin, and she was beautiful, glowing.

His body hardened instantly.

Perhaps after this ridiculous party was over he could make her acquaintance, because the one thing he hadn’t tried to stem this restlessness was sex. He hadn’t had a woman since Anna. He’d told himself he’d been too busy, that he’d indulge himself later, but later hadn’t come so far. He’d found himself... unenthusiastic about the idea of someone else. Yet not now. He watched her come through the crowd, realising with a start that she was making her way very determinedly towards him, and she was familiar in some way. She reminded him of his little nun with her hair and her skin, and those beautiful curves...

Realisation hit him like a lightning strike.

It was his little nun, looking like a princess and coming towards him in that single-minded way she had. How he hadn’t known her instantly he couldn’t fathom, because there was no mistaking those misty grey eyes or the stubborn slant of her chin.

He stared, drinking in the sight of her. It felt like weeks since he’d seen her—it had been weeks since he’d seen her—and he hadn’t realised how hungry he was for the sight of her until now.

It was wrong, of course, but he couldn’t drag his gaze away.

What was she doing here? He hadn’t invited her. This wasn’t the kind of event she should be attending. And yet here she was, making straight for him, dressed in a magnificent gown with her hair and make-up perfect... If he hadn’t noticed that her hands were clasped tightly in front of her and that even under the make-up she was slightly pale, he would have said she belonged here. The most beautiful jewel in the crown.

His guards loitering a discreet distance away instantly came to attention as she approached, but he shook his head slightly and they relaxed again. He could have had them usher her from the room before she even reached him, but it was clear she was determined to talk to him and he couldn’t think of a reason why she shouldn’t.

You’ve thought of plenty of reasons for weeks.

It was true he’d refused all her requests for a meeting, but that was because he’d been extremely busy. And yes, he’d delegated her nightly reports on Ione’s progress to an assistant, but again, he’d been extremely busy. It had nothing to do with how she threatened his detachment. Nothing at all.

However, it had been weeks since he’d seen her and surely he was master of himself enough that meeting her wouldn’t be a problem. He could spare her a couple of minutes.

Yet his heart beat strangely fast as she approached, his body was hard, and the man who was somehow still alive inside him, the man who should have been displaced entirely by the king, wanted to take her in his arms and find somewhere quiet, somewhere dark, and resume what they’d started in his office weeks ago.

But that could not happen, not again. Nothing had changed.

He was still a king and distance was still required. He would not take her again, no matter what the man