“Jealousy is another thing you should look out for,” he said. “It’s most times always the first sign of change in us.”
I couldn’t help appreciating the irony.
“Thank you.” I gave a curt nod.
He tapped my shoulder and walked away. “Enjoy the rest of the evening.”
That instant, my expression darkened, and I returned to the champagne tower, seething in silence.
“Adrik, you have a beautiful wife,” my cousin Ilya said, chuckling.
“Wife,” I said, reminding him of her status. “Be sure to remember that next time.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the crowd.
“What’re you doing?” she asked through gritted teeth, her heels clicking rapidly against the floor. “You’re embarrassing me.”
I dragged her to the dimly lit corridor, away from the other guests.
“What is wrong with you?” She forced her hand out of my hold, her eyes blazing with fury. “You didn’t have to be so rude. He was just being nice.”
“I told you, no one here is nice,” I barked.
“Oh, please! You’re just being insecure.”
I paused, offended by the words and the tone of her voice. She swallowed hard upon realizing my displeasure. And when I glared at her, she began withdrawing until her back hit the wall behind her.
“Now you listen to me, Emika.” I leaned in, my eyes locked to hers. “I don’t give a shit how nice they are to you; in the public’s eyes, you’re still my wife and must play the part.”
Her throat bobbed, her chest rising and falling with slow breaths.
“Do you understand?” I asked, grazing her cheek with the back of my hand.
She locked her jaw, her eyes flashing with defiance.
The silence between us stretched for eternity, our breaths warm against each other’s skins. The air was charged with something electric, and the more I looked at her, the more my initial fury dissolved like ice.
When I ran my thumb along the delicate curve of her mouth, her body trembled beneath my touch. I was expecting some sort of resistance, but she gave none.
Her lips seemed to be calling out to me, and in her eyes was a faint glint of something that looked an awful lot like desire. I felt my third leg twitch in my pants, and my heart skipped a beat. A familiar rush of excitement jolted through my body, tempting me to claim those cherry lips.
Before things could heat up and spiral out of control, I backed away, watching her struggle to maintain her composure.Despite all her attempts to hide her emotions, her quivering lips and trembling hands betrayed her.
It was clear that this proximity affected her as much as it did me.
Part of our agreement was not to be intimate with each other. But judging by this strange pull between us, it was only a matter of time before we fell for this temptation.
The question now was: Who’d make the first move? Which one of us would fall first?
This seemed like an interesting game to play, and I was looking forward to the outcome.
My lips curled into a self-satisfied grin as I walked back to the gala.
Chapter 11 – Emika
One wrong move, and I would’ve been wallowing in guilt right now.
The way he’d looked at me that night at the gala, in that dimly lit hallway, thawed my frozen heart. His touch ignited a flame that almost consumed me but certainly awakened something primal within me.
With his lips inches from mine and his fresh breath warm against my skin, I was more vulnerable than he realized. I knew all he had to do was reach out and kiss me, and my heart would melt like ice cream.
