She closed her sketchbook. She wouldn’t give Carissa away, nor would she pretend to have lived Carissa’s life.
‘They didn’t know each other before the engagement.’
‘It was an arranged marriage?’ He looked stunned.
‘It’s a tradition in my family.’ Mina suppressed a pained smile. As far as she knew, her sister was the only woman in a long line of ancestors to find love in marriage. It wasn’t something either of them had believed possible, having been bred as dynastic bargaining chips.
Now finding happiness with the man you loved, and who loved you, seemed incredibly alluring.
Mina put her sketchbook down, ignoring the drag of unhappiness. Her time with Alexei was limited. She refused to mar it. Instead she stood and stretched, forcing her attention away fromif onlys.
‘I’ve sat too long. I need exercise. How about another archery contest?’ She’d been delighted to find it was a sport Alexei enjoyed, and one of the few she was proficient in, since it was Jeirut’s national sport. ‘Or a swim?’ Her gaze turned towards the pristine beach. She’d had no qualms about using the brand-new swimsuit Carissa had packed. An errant thread of heat circled her womb at the thought of dispensing with the swimsuit and swimming naked with Alexei. If he knew the truth about her maybe they could...
Suddenly he was beside her. The fine hairs on her arms and neck prickled and her insides melted.
‘If it’s exercise you want—’ his voice was an earthy growl that tumbled down her backbone and drew her belly tight ‘—I know just the thing.’ His green eyes darkened and she swayed towards him.
Then, abruptly, he stepped back and groaned, shaking his head. ‘You’ll be the death of me yet.’ But his lips curved in a smile as he reached for her hand. ‘Come on, we need to work off some of this surplus energy.’ He tugged her hand and she followed.
That was the problem. She was long past resisting Alexei. She wanted to be with him, all the time.
She was headed for disaster and couldn’t pull back.