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“If this is your attempt at provoking me, Kitty Cat.” The dark familiar smile returns to his lips as he approaches me. “You’re going to have to do better than that.”
“What’s in the box?” I breathe.
“Your gift,” he replies. “I thought about giving this to you when our arrangement is over. But Buric insisted that I deliver it to you now.”
Buric?I blink as I accept the box from Konstantin with trembling fingers.
“Go ahead,” he says. “Open it.”
I pull away the ribbon sealing it shut and holding my breath, crack the lid open.
I gasp when I realize what it is. “Oh!”
At first, I think I’m looking at the dress I wore for Nadia’s bachelorette party. It’s the same lavender color. But when I shake it out to its full length, I see it’s a different dress.
The cap sleeves are shaped into flowers, the middle is fitted, and the neck scoops tastefully low. The back is entirely open from mid-thigh to the upper straps, the bodice is cinched with handmade boning that allows the long hem to drift like an opera curtain, and the slit runs all the way up the thigh. Small buttons—at least thirty of them—made from hand-carved pearl create the closures. The material feels like water in my hands.
“It’s beautiful,” I admit.
“It should fit you perfectly.”
I squint at him suspiciously. “How do you know that?”
“Like I said, Buric insisted that I deliver this to you now. I had him use the same measurements he took earlier today.”
That single word—earlier—sends a flush to my face again. Turning the dress from side to side, I marvel at the craftsmanship. “He made it so fast.” Dragging my fingers over it, I stop fighting my smile. “Did you know this is the color Nadia picked for the bridal party?”
“I didn’t pick it for her.”He steps closer until he’s standing over me. “I picked it because I know you’d look gorgeous in it.”
It takes every inch of concentration not to fall into him.
“Thank you.”
“Turn around, Emily.” He stares meaningfully at me, raking me with his eyes. “I want to see you in it.”
Emily …I’m so used to him calling me Kitty Cat by now, that hearing my name on his lips sends my stomach looping in excitement.
With trembling hands, I hand the dress to him and turn my back towards him, my heart hammering at my throat.
26
KONSTANTIN
“Put your arms above your head.”
Her thick, wavy chestnut hair shifts in the gentle breeze billowing through the window as she complies with my request. Usually, it’s straight as a pin, but sweat has given it some bounce and made it wilder.
Like Emily herself.
She’s so close that I can count her freckles and trace the constellation they make over her skin. Her scent—that intoxicating light honeysuckle and brown sugar—beckons me closer. All I want right now is to take her into my arms. To plant my kisses along her neck, her shoulders, her body.
Wicked desire curls in my belly, exiting my lips with each laboring breath.
Keep your composure, I tell myself.Before you fall so deep that you can’t back out.
“What are you waiting for?” she asks in a shaky voice.
Her delicate shoulders are so close.
