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When she had looked at him and smiled as she reminded him she’d kept her promise, he had felt something shatter inside. Nash had felt the pull like never before and now she wouldn’t speak to him. “I apologize for everything. Please, forgive me?” He couldn’t help himself; he took her hands in his despite the guard’sglare.
Adelina frowned in confusion. “There is nothing to forgive, PrinceNash.”
He didn’t understand. “Then why won’t you speak with me, why do you avoidme?”
Nash watched as her face fell and he couldn’t help the growl that slipped out. No, it wasn’t because of him, but something else. “Tell me,” hedemanded.
The sun shone down on Adelina’s dark head through the dome of glass and she looked helplessly at Alpha. Her guard shrugged in response.This was bound to happen eventually, he seemed to say. “Raena has forbidden me to see youalone.”
It felt as though the world stopped. The librarian returning books to shelves slowed to a standstill. Even the guard was mid-scratch as he contemplated Nash. Fury ripped through him so hard and so fast he thought he might literally explode. “Then she does not approve of me as a match?” he asked softly, gently to hide the barely restrainedanger.
Adelina’s mouth fell open in shock and she pulled her hands out of his. “I wouldn’t know as the topic has never presenteditself.”
Alpha snorted and sheblushed.
The librarian continued putting books away and once again everything moved in regular time. Nash tucked his hands into his pockets to appear less aggressive and he smiled at the tiny female who had turned his life upside down. It was utterly idiotic to mention marriage. He wanted to kick himself. There was no way he could marry Adelina. It was simply not possible when he had to leave Draga Terra the second he located enough of his armies to launch an attack. His fury made him say stupidthings.
“You need to request a retraction to my sanctuary,” Nash reiterated, changing the subject to something a little lessdangerous.
Adelina shook her head and walked towards the shelf she’d been inspecting when he arrived. “I cannot. Raena has taken her payment, and even if the sanctuary was again withheld she still holds my marriage. There is no way to get that back once it’s been given.” The princess gave him an odd look. “Don’t you see? Now she has a bargaining chip she never had before. What if she could marry me off to say, the Neprijat for the promise ofpeace?”
Every part of him grew cold and Nash stilled as he considered the horror. He doubted Raena had thought of such a thing, yet this small princess had…every time he turned around he learned something new abouther.
Then fear filled him as he stared at her gorgeous purple eyes and considered what the Neprijat King would do to her. It choked him and he couldn’t look away, couldn’t even blink. His body told him to protect her, it strained against his resistance, yelling at him to fix this and figure out a way to keep her safe andalive.
“Never,” he promised. “Never again will I lose someone I care about to that monster.” Nash gripped her arms, damn the rules. He pulled her close and kissed her hard enough to bruise. “We will find a way around this. I will kill the beast and reclaim my kingdom if that’s what I have to do to keep you safe.” Adelina looked up at him and then down as that lovely blush colored her golden cheeks. It was confounding, but everything about this princess made his tragedies fall away and he felt like himself once more. He was the dark and she thelight.
Tears lined her eyes and Nash felt volatile; dangerous. Someone had to pay, but there was nothing he could do at the moment. It was time he started planning. With that thought he released her and smiled, transforming into nothing more than a male who considered the princess a friend. “Don’t you need to get ready for the announcement? I hear females in Draga take hours to properlydress.”
She watched him warily, taking a book from the shelf. “I had a bit of free time and came here to see what I could find from my great-grandfather’s reign.” She tucked a blacker-than-night curl behind her ear and her fingers fluttered withnerves.
Even now she kept her promise. Nash narrowed his eyes. Tiny details came into focus; the beaded sweat on her collarbone and the different depths of purple in her eyes. Her strange scent filled his nose and he licked his lips. The sweetness made him hungry for her, but there was an unspoken resistance. He wanted to say damn the universe and make Adelina his. Nash would rip anyone to pieces who dared claim otherwise – even the soon-to-be Queen ofDraga.
The more logical and reasonable side of him reminded Nash he had a duty to perform that could not be neglected. “You will be late,” hewarned.
Nash felt his shoulders tighten. Knowing she was forbidden didn’t keep his thoughts from wandering to places they shouldn’t. He could not try and see if she tasted as sweet as she smelled if he wanted to protect her from her own family. Nash tilted his head as he studied Adelina and realized he could use one of the thick shelves to hold her up as he pushed aside that mesmerizing silk skirt. He wondered briefly if she wore undergarments ornot.
Adelina blushed under his intense scrutiny and Nash felt his curiosity grow. Was she somehow aware of the trail his thoughts were on? “I was just about finished,” she said defensively. Her sweet scent filled the air again and he breathed it indeep.
She had said it was called jasmine once when they were a few cycles younger. Nash took a step towards her. He couldn’t help himself. The heat from her skin blossomed. Everything on this planet was so damnedwarm.
“Have you found anything?” His eyes dropped to her lips and the memory of her softness made his cock ache inresponse.
Alpha cleared his throat and he knew he shouldleave.
Nash needed to get ittogether.
The princess put the book back on the shelf and wiped her hands on her skirt. His eyes flashed to the healed cuts on her palm and the reminder of the hot, spicy taste of her blood made his pants uncomfortably tight. Nash turned without warning and quickly made his way to the exit. The answer to his question could go to all the hells. His control was already shaky. It would not do to risk it and there would be another time to ask her about theshiktabooks.
He passed row upon row of deep, dark wooden shelves. He had never seen so many books in one place before. His own capitol had digitized most of the work. Once he passed through the doors into the main part of the palace Nash took a moment to gather his bearings. It took more strength than he cared to admit to leave her without once glancing back. Nash feared if he’d looked at her any longer he’d kiss her again and if he kissed her that wouldn’t be all he would do, guard orno.
He was a lost prince without a kingdom. Nash had nothing to offer except war and death, but if he succeeded? Adelina was the light in the darkness, or rather the light that drew the darkness to her. The flame that burned through the night when all hope was lost. He would do everything he could to give her back her choice. He would not be the one to take that hope away from her people, not when he knew they would need it when the Neprijat crossed their border – and he had no doubt theywould.
The long hallway took him through the main part of the palace and he kept a brisk pace. His boots were silent against the stone. His thumb rubbed the device in his wrist as he considered activating it, but he needed them all to see him. They needed to watch him go to his rooms peacefully and change for the events thatnight.
The guest rooms were elegant and he scanned his rooms as he entered. His meager possessions a mockery of what he once had. He entered his bedchamber and crossed to his closet. The spidersilk formalwear Adelina had commissioned for him was the only clothing he had other than hisuniform.
No, he needed a cold shower first. Nash entered his washroom, elegant in its simplicity. He stripped, stepped into the cubicle, and activated it. Cold water washed over him to cool the heat Adelina had stirred in his blood. Nash breathed in the smell of the mint soap, clearing her sweet scent from hisnostrils.
