At her side, of the same height as her unique chair, was a dark, high-backed throne, obviously intended for him. She would look like a celestial sphinx stretched out next to a dark midnight king. Even sitting, the royal couple would remain the center of attention—and conversation—for the night.
Roz had considered every detail.
Rather than simply letting the old devil have her way, though, he remained standing. Mina stared up at him, her eyes glowing especially green in the light, and he had to fight the urge to dive into their mossy depths. This close, he was caught in the web of her scent and temperature, mesmerized by the thin silk of her dress, which seemed to reveal more and more to delight his eyes the longer he was near her.
He sucked in a deep breath.
The effect she was having on him was a manufactured thing, created by Roz, and yet knowing that did nothing to dampen it.
Pulling his attention away from her, he lifted his hand in a signal for refreshments.
In an instant a quintet of servers arrived, their heavy platters laden, offering each option on the floor.
He reached for two flutes of champagne and offered her the first selection. Taking the glass, she thanked him before choosing a small cracker dressed with some kind of cheese and slivers of tomato and basil from one of the trays. She ate delicately, for all that her morsel disappeared in one bite, and he watched her do it, arrested by the series of movements in her eating, from the parting of her full lips to the contraction of her throat muscles as she swallowed.
He shook his head lightly. He needed to get away from her. He would leave immediately after the unmasking. Until then, he would remain in the place Roz had clearly assigned him, as a king on full display.
“Roz outdid herself tonight,” he commented.
“She did.” Her words were clipped and close.
He felt irritation rising in his blood. She was wary.Of him.
“Admirable of you to admit it,” he said dryly.
Instead of rising to his bait, Mina smiled. “It would have been a disaster without Roz.” She waved her hand toward the room, adding, “Instead, it’s the sun and the moon.”
“She knows how to throw a party,” he agreed.
This time Mina laughed, and the honest clarity of the sound went straight into his blood, as energizing as it was agitating.
“That’s quite the understatement,” she said, when she could speak.
The corners of his own lips lifted of their own accord, and behind her mask her eyes widened.
His chest heated with pure male satisfaction. He wasn’t the only one caught up in Roz’s mirage.
With a nod, he said, “The woman is a force of nature.”
As if sensing their conversation, Roz appeared on the stage, accompanied by a tall, slender older woman in an elegant blue gown and a peacock feather mask.
Zayn rose and gave the woman a bow. “Aunt Seraphina.”
The woman nodded to him with a smile, “It’s supposed to be a mystery, Your Majesty.”
“My apologies. You look lovely.”
Seraphina d’Tierrza, his maternal aunt, shook her head with a mild reprimand. “Flattering an old woman when you have your beautiful Queen beside you?”
Her voice was as warm and as gently teasing as it had been when he was a little boy, caught climbing trees with her daughter.
Zayn offered Mina a hand, their fingers exchanging a mild electric shock upon contact, and when she stood her scent once again wrapped around him, capturing his complete attention, even if for only a moment.
Mina reached a hand out to Seraphina. “It’s so wonderful to finally meet you. Your daughter has been heaven-sent.”
Her voice followed the model of her scent, its warm tones enveloping him in her spell.
“I’m glad you think so, Your Majesty. Not everyone has the sense to appreciate her as you do. We are very proud of her being a member of your guard.”