Page 98 of The Promised Prince
His body pressed against hers, but there was nowhere for her to go. The wall at her back forced her to blend into him. His wild hands clung to the fabric of her dress, grazing over her bare skin, pulling her body impossibly close.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, digging her fingers through his curls the way she had always wanted to. By kissing, they had crossed a line. Renna didn’t know who had pushed who over it, but neither of them seemed to care.
The kiss went on, eager, passionate, endless. Her heart raced, charging her body with explosive fire. Everything intensified. Her desire. His desire.
Surely, no kiss had ever felt like this before.
“Prince Ezra.” Her mother’s confident voice sounded from across the room, interrupting them.
Trev and Renna broke apart, slowly untangling their limbs as they turned to face Queen Mariele.
“We are expecting you downstairs. They are about to sign the marriage treaty.” Her mother spoke smoothly, seemingly unconcerned that she had just found them in each other’s arms. She didn’t even seem surprised, really.
Trev cleared his throat. “Of course.” He pulled his suit jacket down and repositioned the gold crown on his head. The burning fire that had been in his eyes moments ago had turned to embarrassment. Or was it regret? He exited without a glance in Renna’s direction.
Renna dared a look at her mother. She couldn’t read the expression on her face. Was it pity?
“You are done for the night,” her mother said authoritatively. Mangum appeared behind the queen’s shoulder, his face solemn as if he knew exactly what she and the prince had been caught doing. Shame and guilt hung around Renna like a halo.
“Mangum will escort you to your room, and you will remain there until I say you can come out. All of your food will be brought to you and Nora can get books or anything else you require.”
Renna didn’t say a word, not of acknowledgement, nor of protest.
She followed Mangum to her empty room.
He hesitated by the door before leaving, like he wanted to say something to her, but he didn’t.
Kicking off her heels, Renna dropped into bed, covering herself and the dress with her bedspread. She imagined nobody at the ball would have guessed that the girl in the red dress was upstairs above them, crying herself to sleep.
36
Trev
Queen Mariele hadn’t been exaggerating.
His father and Seran were on the dais in the great hall, ready to sign the treaty. An ornate table had been brought in with colorful flowers in a glass vase sitting on each end. Two extravagant pens with feathers poking out the back were placed on each side of the treaty. The only thing missing was Trev.
Everyone watched him. They had all seen him chase after a woman that was not his fiancée. He could only imagine what they were thinking now. The heaviness of their stares and the sounds of their hushed whispers made his heart race with a panging guilt.
Trev cleared his throat as he approached them, praying his lips weren’t swollen from the kiss. He swiped a hand at the beads of sweat forming on his hairline and stepped onto the dais.
“Ezra,” Joniss sneered behind him, “you’ve kept an entire ballroom waiting, chasing after Renna like that.”
Seran came to him with a smile, and all the blood drained from his face and rushed to his beating heart. She clasped her hands around his, dropping something inside his palm then pulled back.
“Did you find my engagement ring?” Seran asked, raising her eyebrows as if prompting him. She turned to the guests gathered around the dais, smiling in her calm way. “I asked Miss Degray to hold my engagement ring, and then she left the ball, not feeling well.”
Trev wrapped his fingers around the small circular object in his palm.
A ring.
He looked at Seran with her flawless smile, but her eyes gave her true feelings away.
Seran knew.
She knew, and she was helping him anyway.
Trev swallowed hard. He had never hated himself so much.
