A leggy brunette standing slightly to her left stepped forward.“Can I interest you in a dance?”she asked, not put off by his silence or his leashed power.
“No,” he said without taking his gaze off Edwina.
A pain in Edwina’s chest reminded her to breathe.This time, the cloud of perfume didn’t assault her.Instead, she smelled him—a hint of pine and fresh mountain air.
Yes, a feline.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he said, impatience stamped into his handsome features.
“Me?”Edwina touched her right hand to her chest, her body suddenly clammy.He was a stranger—a sexy one—and he’d mistaken her for someone else.
“Yes, hurry.We must leave, or we’ll miss our plane.”
“What?”Suzie demanded.
Edwina was glad Suzie asked because words failed her.She swallowed to moisten her dry mouth.The man’s presence was overpowering, and her feline had gone strangely silent.
The stranger ignored Suzie, his focus entirely on Edwina.“Come,” he said and extended his hand.“The minister has a deadline.”
Edwina blinked, trying to make sense of his words.The man grasped her hand and lifted her right off her feet.She flew with ease, her stomach settling on his hard shoulder.Her lungs emptied with a whoosh.
“I’m here to claim my bride, and the minister awaits in the castle chapel.”
Huh?He had the wrong shifter.Before she could inform him, he glided from the ballroom with long strides.A buzz of chatter followed them.
The shifter headed for the main entrance and took a right toward the castle chapel.She bounced lightly on his shoulder, all the blood sinking to her head.His muscles flexed beneath her belly, and his breathing hadn’t changed from carrying her extra weight.Belatedly, she realized he was kidnapping her.Not a single shifter had followed them—not even her friends.
What the hell?Maybe this was a prank, and she was the butt of the joke.
“Let me down!”She wriggled, but he held her with ease.She was under his complete control and confused.“Please.You have the wrong person.”
2
Thewomanwasunexpected,better than he’d envisaged, and a potential problem.He desired a wife who’d blend into his life and remain in the background.He’d have to bed her once or twice to mingle their scents because his family would comment if they didn’t.Mikhail needed this marriage to seem real, so his grandfather stood down and accepted that he was his own man.
“Look, whoever you are, if you don’t let me down in two seconds flat, I’ll scream.”
Mikhail withheld the grin that threatened to bloom.This urge to smile was new and entirely her fault.His cheerful expression would stun his friends since responsibility typically made him grave.
One second passed.Two.Mikhail wondered if she truly would scream.Perhaps she’d burst into noisy tears.Too bad.His humor faded.This marriage was necessary, and their grandmothers had come to an acceptable agreement.
This woman was his intended bride.
A piercing scream had him freezing, before flashing another of those rare grins.She possessed powerful lungs.He repositioned her body and let her slide over his shoulder and come to her feet, ruffled and full of temper.She shook herself like a disgruntled house cat and straightened her tight red dress while glaring at him the entire time.
“You have the wrong woman.”She snapped her fingers in front of his nose, so close she almost did him an injury with her scarlet fingernails.
Mikhail was confident his grandmother had told him Edwina had agreed to his proposition.He tried to read her with his feline senses, but nothing.That was unusual, too.His talent for interpreting emotions was useful as an entrepreneur.
“Are you listening?”She poked his chest with her forefinger.“You.Have.The.Wrong.Woman.”
He took half a step back.“Is your name Edwina McClintock?”
She blinked, her mouth falling open before she snapped her teeth together.
“I’m Mikhail Lermontov.”He placed one hand on her shoulder and let his other slip around her waist.He drew her nearer and stared into her face.She wasn’t a pretty woman in the way of his mistress, but she was vibrant and confident, her makeup bold to go with her red statement dress.Her green gaze settled on him, revealing a feline glint before it dissipated.
“So?”she prompted, trying to escape his touch.
