AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ivan didn’t want us to be seen, so he kissed me until those men left.
And I turned feral. I practically sprayed him in my attempt to devour him in a dark hallway between public restrooms.
I’m grateful for the dark because it hides the shame that burns across my face as I back away from him, straightening my dress.
He starts to say something. “Cora—”
“Anya would be proud of that performance,” I say, slapping on a cheery smile to keep the tears from welling in my eyes. “I don’t know about you, but I think we made this fraud of a relationship look pretty real there for a second.”
His expression doesn’t change, but the light in his eyes flickers and dims.
“I don’t think chemistry is our issue.” Ivan steps back and shoves his hands in his pockets. “If I could fuck you in front of everyone, there wouldn’t be a soul on Earth who could doubt that this marriage is legitimate. It’s everything else that is the problem.”
Well, then. That's certainly one way to put it.
My lady bits applaud the idea enthusiastically. The rest of me tells them to zip it.
I try to come up with something—anything—to say. But there isn’t time. I’m still in danger, and Ivan still swore to protect me. Which he is doing, even though I was content to risk my life to get in his pants.
He leads me through the exit door and onto the sidewalk. I see someone leaning against a lightpost and I jerk back, only to realize it’s Yasha.
“Evening, lovebirds,” he croons.
“What are you doing here?” I ask him. Then I turn back to Ivan. “I thought we were leaving.”
He reaches around me and opens the back door of a black car. A driver is sitting in the front seat. “You’releaving. We’re going to look more into the champagne bottle.”
I want to argue with him. But what would I even say?
Our date can’t end like this. You were supposed to drive me home and kiss me on the front porch. I was going to invite you inside.
The fairytale version of this night blooms in my mind and then withers in a single second.
Reality is a lot uglier.
I let him help me into the backseat. But before he closes the door, I reach out and grab his hand. “Be careful, okay?”
He stares at me. I see a flicker of that light come back. A small spark of hope in his eyes that makes me wonder if there isn’t something else going on here.
Then he slams the car door closed and walks away.
Yasha gives me a small wave and follows him.
43
CORA
It’s been hours and he still isn’t home.
I want to ask Ivan what he found out at the restaurant and figure out who might be after me. But just as urgently, I want to ask if that kiss in the hallway melted his bones the way it did mine.
It’s beenhoursand I’m still vibrating from the force of his lips on mine. I can still feel the singe of his hands across my skin and the warmth of his breath on my neck.
And I don’t even know if he’s alive.
“Of course he’s alive,” I hiss at myself, shoving away from the door.
I pace the well-worn path I’ve made in the carpet, cutting across to the bathroom and then spinning right back to that door.
