Page 18 of Crown of Draga

Nash actually laughed as he set his hands on her waist. He lifted her up as if she weighed nothing and gently set her down. The second her feet touched the floor he let go and backed away as if she had burned him.

“Why did you push me away?” he finally asked once she’d started breathing more normally.

The three moons hung heavy in the night sky and Mala bathed her in purple light. “We need to go back soon,” Adelina said, ignoring his question. “The recorders in the ballroom will notice my absence and there will be rumors on the livestream I cannot afford.” She still couldn’t tell him the truth. It was too much to risk. Telling Ian was dangerous enough.

Of course, Nash would not let it go. “Adelina, tell me what’s wrong.” The command in his voice had her quivering, her body demanding she obey.

“After tonight, being with you would be treason as you well know,” she tried to explain, her gaze locked on the stone floor. “I cannot disobey my future queen.”

His answering growl made Adelina flinch. “You’re not telling me everything, again.”

The night breeze against her sweat-slicked skin made her shiver and she looked up at him. His gorgeous eyes flashed in anger as he kept his distance. “There is…something I need to find out. Without this information, I cannot make the right choice without risking terrible consequences.” Once she knew the facts she would consider telling him, but even then she knew it would not be the smart choice.

If she did have courtesan genes, sex could trigger the mating bond, and if Nash was her mate…Adelina had no idea what she would do. Explaining such a thing to Raena wouldn’t matter. Her sister still owned her marriage vows.

Nash slipped his hands in his pockets and his face went blank. Her instincts warned her that a predator was too near, and she should run. Somehow Adelina managed to hold her ground despite the fear.

“You won’t tell me, even now after everything,” he said, his calm words belied the fury she knew was inside.

After his rash declaration to offer himself as a potential husband – that is what he meant by everything. Adelina said nothing as she watched him fume. The violence always under his skin turned him into something deliciously dangerous and she shivered again, but it wasn’t the night’s chill this time. It took everything she had, every last shred of control not to squeeze her nails into her palms to help control her desire to tell him everything, to run to him and let him finish what he had started.

Delicately she lifted one shoulder and let it fall. “I will not,” she agreed. “It is too dangerous.”

He stepped forward, anger in every movement. She couldn’t help her flinch. Instantly he stopped, seeing the real fear. It wasn’t fear at what he would do, but fear she couldn’t tell him no a second time.

What would she do if she did end up mated to him, and still had to marry someone else? Courtesans had killed themselves when a mate denied them. Nadyah had explained the bond only fell into place for the one with courtesan DNA. The average Kalan could refuse them or leave them. It was no small matter, and Adelina didn’t think she was strong enough to maintain her Draga honor if that bond was created and then refused. Adelina knew she would run off with him and forsake her kingdom if Raena denied the marriage.

“Then I guess there is nothing more to say,” Nash said, his voice tight. A muscle in his jaw twitched, but he didn’t move away from her.

Adelina was torn. She wanted to confide in him, to trust him fully, but there were so many unknowns. At some point Nash would leave Draga and what happened after that was up to the goddess. “I suppose there isn’t.”

Her words infuriated him. “Enjoy the rest of your party, Princess.”

Her title had never stung so badly before and she recoiled at the verbal slap. Still Adelina said nothing, knowing it was for the best. She was too weak to ask him to stay. It would be so easy to let him take her, but she had to speak to Ian first to be sure.

Nash whipped around and stalked into the ballroom.

The second Adelina was alone she sagged against the railing, her hands shook and her knees were weak. She looked up at the massive purple moon and wondered why Mala tested her so.

There were so many reasons to give in to her desire. The attraction between her and Nash was undeniable, but Raena had forbidden it. There was no question the crown princess wanted her to stay away from him. Adelina didn’t believe Raena thought it was for her own good. No, her sister had another game she wanted to play and she had so much power, and would soon have all the power of the ruler of the Draga galaxy.

Nothing was worth betraying her future Queen, not when Raena would control her life for the next century at least. Adelina was a slave, shackled to the Crown with even her right to love taken from her. She had to live for her people and help get them all through this war.

Being selfish would only make Adelina a traitor. Even a royal traitor would be sentenced to death. If she wanted Nash, she had to do it the right way and convince Raena he was the best choice. Until her sister agreed to lift the ban she’d placed on Nash, Adelina had to stay away from him.

Her life depended on it.

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