"But I will never touch you again."
The silence stretched out between them.
"Okay."
She swallowed hard as tears pricked her eyes.She wanted to scream at him.Pound her fists against that massive chest until he cracked.She wanted to tell him to keep his damn protection.What she wanted washim."If that's… if that's what you want.”
"It is what must be."He motioned to the door."The delegation will be arriving soon."
She stood there for a long moment, staring at him.He was right there, just a few feet away, but he might as well have been on another planet.
"Are you ready, Your Grace?"
Pushing the pain down into a box in the dark of her mind, she lifted her chin.
"Yes.I'm ready."
She walked past him, careful not to let her skirts brush against his boots.She didn't look at him.She couldn't.
If she looked at him, she would shatter.
