Feeling like she was about to willingly throw herself under a bus, Fawn forced her limbs to work and made her way to the prince. She stopped when she was a few inches before him, and once again his intoxicating scent, so very male, teased and tempted her, making Fawn grit her teeth.
Grant. Grant. Grant.
She had to think about Grant and not let the prince’s animal magnetism get to her. She had seriously researched about this, and she had come to the conclusion that men like the Prince of Darkness were just too beautiful that it was natural for the female body to respond in their presence. It didn’t mean she loved Grant less. It only meant her hormones were working fine—-
“Fawn.”
Her head jerked up, her entire body trembling at the rare sound of her name slipping past the prince’s lips.
“All I want you to do is…”
Her heart skipped a beat at the way the prince’s green gaze burned with all those things that she had seen before and pretended not to know.
“For you to touch my lips.”
For one moment, she could only stare at him, unable to believe what she was hearing. When the prince continued to stare at her, his gaze patient, she croaked out, “E-excuse me?”
“You heard me,” was the prince’s lazy answer.
“You want me to touch your lips?”
“As promised, it’s not a kiss.”
“But—-”
“Is it too much to ask?” He stepped away. “Because if it is, then it’s time for me to go, alone, which I had wanted to do so in the first place.” He started to turn away.
“Wait!”
The prince stilled.
“I’m g-going to do it.” She had barely finished speaking when the prince swung to face her again, so swiftly it had Fawn nervously sucking in her breath.
Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m doing this. Grant, forgive me, but at least it’s just something simple. It’s not a kiss. It’s just—-
She raised her trembling fingers, pausing mid-air.
Oh God, she couldn’t breathe.
Slowly, she moved her fingers, and then she was feeling it, the soft firmness of the prince’s lips. She was about to yank her hand away when she saw the way he was looking at her—-
Oh God, the way he was looking at her—-
Unable to stop herself, Fawn slowly and shakily traced the curve of his upper lip.
She wetted her own lips.
And so did he, only—-
With her still touching him, his tongue inevitably grazed the tips of her fingers—-
“No!” She reared back from him with a gasp, jerking her hand away from his lips like she got burned. And oh God, it did feel like he had burned her, with that impossibly warm sensation of his tongue touching her fingers—-
“You’ve kept your promise, and so I’ll keep mine.” The prince’s voice was still steady, but the look in his eyes belied it.
He was still looking at her like he wanted to eat her.
Why didn’t that revolt her the way Grant had?
Why?
The prince asked quietly, “Do you still wish to accompany me?”
His question…
Oh.
He had planned this all along, Fawn realized. He had asked her to do that, had deliberately done that to her, knowing that it could force her to push him away.
Well, he would learn not to underestimate her.
IT HAD BEEN FAWN’S plan to at least pretend she was mad with the prince throughout the entire meeting, but as soon as she joined the two men in the patio, her intentions were all but forgotten and she once again found herself worrying about the prince.
As the two continued to talk about Beatrice Crichton’s tormentor, it was becoming increasingly clear to her that the man they were up against was a vicious psychopath who thrived on inflicting pain. His billions and cunning might have enabled Abraxas Davos to conceal this side of him, but a spade was still a spade and once a psychopath, always a psychopath.
At one point, she noticed Jason Christakos glance at her curiously, and Fawn wished she could melt into the wall to escape his notice.
Oh, if only she wasn’t so worried about the prince!
She heard the prince murmur something in Greek, which had his friend raising a brow.
Fawn wondered uneasily what the prince had said. Hopefully it was nothing embarrassing.
Eventually, the conversation turned to Jason’s twin and his fiancée, which Fawn did her best not to look like she was eavesdropping on. When it became obvious that Jason had feelings for his twin’s fiancée but said woman had rejected him, Fawn quickly trained her gaze on the floor.
This. Was. So. Awkward.
She wondered if this was one of the reasons why the prince hadn’t wanted her to come.
When the meeting was over, she trailed behind the two friends as the prince walked Jason Christakos to the door.
All of a sudden, the blue-eyed Greek stopped walking and turned to her.
The prince said warningly, “Jason.”