Page 17 of The King's Maiden
Even if I wasn’t ready to go there yet.
I averted my eyes and focused on the open space filled with smiling faces, but I sensed that darkness would find a way to lure me in eventually, tempting as it was at first sight.
A deep voice came from the shadows behind me.
“Leaving so soon?”
I squinted at the dark alcove off to the left of the party room’s doors. But the strobing lights didn’t reach this far, and I couldn’t make out more than a tall silhouette.
“Who’s there?”
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head at the guy who stepped forward.
Towering over me, he had to be at least six-three. Built like a linebacker and looking like he’d just walked off the cover ofGQ. He could probably lift me with one arm and throw me like a javelin, all before driving off for the coast in some expensive sports car.
Or whatever beautiful, rich people did.
Sharply dressed in black pants, he’d draped his suit jacket over his arm. While I sent up a silent prayer for the poor, straining threads of fabric in his crisp, white shirt, my eyes lingered on the tight fit over his biceps. A silk tie hung around his neck where he’d left the top buttons undone.
Aside from the glorious V of exposed bronze skin, a simple chain glinting in the low light caught my eye. It had been tucked away and mostly out of sight, but I followed it up his neck, past the thick cords of muscle that finally led me to his face.
One look at him and I legitimately—and unfortunately, very audibly—gulped.
As I swallowed past the sudden flare of arousal in my core, my nipples had the audacity to harden.Down, girlreplayed like a broken record inside my head. But while my brain argued against my body’s response, it still acknowledged the truth.
I had every intention of climbing this guy like a tree.
He embodied darkness.
Penetrating onyx eyes. A shadow over the lower half of his face from a close-shaven beard. And hair as raven black as the night sky. He wore it cropped short on the sides with extra volume on top. Long enough to grab onto while he?—
“Holy shit,” I breathed.
His eyes danced with amusement over my slip, full lips showing off a bright white smile that made my knees wobble.
“Well, that was adorable,” he purred from the shadows.
My body melted as he stepped out of the dark alcove, poring his gaze over me like hot chocolate and leaving a slow burn in its wake. And when he came fully into the light, my breath caught in my throat.
He was even more beautiful up close—not darkness, I realized, but an eclipse—the light of the sun hiding behind the face of the moon, and more blinding the longer I stared at him.
I exhaled a shaky laugh and ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t know why I just said that.”
His grin widened.
“Sure, you do.” He came to stand in front of me, brushing his hand down the bare skin of my arm. “But if it makes you feel better, the feeling’s mutual.”
Goosebumps prickled my skin at his touch, and my lips parted in surprise. But no words came out as we stood there together. His eyes softened the longer he stared at me, and my heartbeat raced.
I needed to pull myself together.
“Thanks.” Tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear, my arm slipped out of his reach, and I forced myself to shake out of it. “And to answer your question, no.”
He cocked his head in question. “What?”
I glanced at the open door beside us. “I’m not leaving so soon.”
“Ah.” He nodded. “That’s right. For a second there, you looked like you were about to bolt.”
