âWhere are you running off to?â he asked.
âNowhere,â she said, turning to face him. Her expressionâher eyes wide, her lips parted slightly, full and invitingâdrew him in closer. âI just needed some air.â
âDancing with Bastian had such a strong effect on you?â he asked, advancing further.
She turned her head, casting her face into shadow. Her expression was obscured. âNo. It had no effect on me. As usual. But it was more disturbing this time since the date of my official engagement is set now. And heâs very likely the one Iâll be engaged to. If his bid is high enough. Iâve been too cowardly to ask what the price is on my headâor hand, as the case may be.â
âYou want to feel attraction for him?â
âI want something. Anything.â
Makhail stopped right in front of her, noticed a shimmer in her dark eyes, pale moonlight reflected there, betraying the depth of her emotion. He put his hand on her face. Just to offer comfort, just for a moment. There was no harm in that.
The feel of her smooth skin beneath his palm sent a shock of desire through him. Strong. Foreign. Intense. It was almost enough simply to feel that need. To revel in it. The desire of a man for a woman. Almost.
MAISEY YATES was an avid Mills & Boon>® Modern⢠Romance reader before she began to write them. She still canât quite believe sheâs lucky enough to get to create her very own sexy alpha heroes and feisty heroines. Seeing her name on one of those lovely covers is a dream come true.
Maisey lives with her handsome, wonderful, diaper-changing husband and three small children across the street from her extremely supportive parents and the home she grew up in, in the wilds of Southern Oregon, USA. She enjoys the contrast of living in a place where you might wake up to find a bear on your back porch and then heading into the home office to write stories that take place in exotic urban locales.
Recent titles by the same author:
ONE NIGHT IN PARADISE
GIRL ON A DIAMOND PEDESTAL HAJARâS HIDDEN LEGACY
Did you know these are also available as eBooks?Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk
THE scandalous princess had done it again. Evangelina Drakos had slipped away from yet another one of his top security guards. It was inexcusable. It was something that should never happen. And yet, it had. Three times in as many weeks.
Makhail Nabatov did not tolerate mistakes. Mistakes, no matter how smallâfrom losing the princess one was meant to be guarding, down to the simple act of spilling hot coffee on yourself while drivingâcould be disastrous.
He slammed his car door and rolled his shoulders forward, trying to ease the tension that had every muscle in his body bound into knots as solid as stone. He didnât believe in letting anything affect him like this. Yet another way Princess Evangelina seemed to be messing with the carefully well-ordered life he maintained.
When heâd met her for the first time, all glossy brown curls, dark, glittering eyes and golden skin, she had seemed every inch the demure princess. Nothing like the bold, vivacious party girl who was making tabloid headlines with increasing frequency. He had wondered if the media had exaggerated her image.
Over the past six months heâd discovered that the tabloids were right, and he was wrong. He was never wrong. And yet the Drakos princess had proven him so.
He didnât like it.
It defied logic that one petite royal could cause so much trouble. And yet, this one seemed to have a knack for it.
He punched the speed dial on his phone for the man heâd had watching out for the princess. âIvan, where did you last see her?â
âThe casino. She disappeared into the crowd,â Ivan said, his voice filled with fear. More weak emotion. He despised it.
âYouâre fired.â Makhail clicked the end-call button and stuffed the phone back into his pocket, straightening his tie before striding down the electric strip of the only major city on the island of Kyonos. He was willing to bet Evangelina was still in the casino. Gambling away her fatherâs money, no doubt.
He moved seamlessly through the crowd, weaving past revelers on his way through the gilded doors. Princess Evangelina wouldnât be in the main entry trying her hand at the slots. Heâd bet she was in one of the high-roller rooms. It was the only place in a casino for a spoiled brat with a penchant for drama and pink champagne.
He passed quickly through the lobby and headed toward a pair of black doors in the back, flanked on either side by guards in suits.
âName?â One of the men asked.
âMak,â he said. âIâm here to see the princess.â
âIâm afraid you canât just â¦â
One of the doors opened and a socialite in a skin-tight dress breezed out, the scent of alcohol clinging to her body. He took advantage of the moment and gripped the edge of the door, pulling it open the rest of the way and walking in.