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Leo was a dangerous man. Arrogant, entitled, super goal-orientated and unbelievably hot. He’d already proved what a devastating effect he could have on her libido, and her best intentions, not to mention her self-control. He was a man who got what he set his sights on... And she was now in the firing line.
She dragged her hand free of his grip, rubbed her wrist where his touch had burned. ‘Point taken,’ she said, as haughtily as she could while her insides were giddy with a disturbing combo of nerves and guilt and...anticipation. ‘But don’t worry, I won’t ask you to kiss me again.’
She headed for the door, ignoring the ripple of sensation that travelled up her spine from his mocking laugh. She had been warned, and she had to do everything in her power now to resist Leo, not just physically, but emotionally too.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘WAIT, LEO, THERE’S a little girl over there we missed.’
Leo glanced round as Jade touched his arm, to see a small child in the thousand-strong crowd who had turned out to greet them at the opening of the Christmas market in Severene’s old town. The little girl was huddled behind her mother’s skirts, clutching a bunch of wilting hothouse flowers.
‘You go ahead,’ he murmured, surprised again by the Queen’s innate ability to spot spectators who didn’t push themselves forward—even if they were only two feet tall. It was a particularly impressive feat given how much the crowds had swelled in the last four days—ever since Jade’s fierce defence of his freezing footman had been broadcast over the local media.
‘She’s your subject, Leo,’ she said as she grasped his hand. ‘Why don’t we go and talk to her together?’
It wasn’t the first time she’d suggested such a thing. She seemed to be on a mission to break down the barriers he had always had around his interactions with Severene’s population. He suspected it originated in the conversation they’d had in the sledge on her arrival, right before Freezing Footman Gate. She was testing him to see if he would buckle.
He should have found her behaviour infuriating. The request to familiarise himself with his subjects went against every tenet of his monarchy. He simply was not a people pleaser—unlike Jade—and he was not required to be. The monarchy in Severene did not rely on a sovereign grant, so there had never been any need to schmooze the public. All that was required of the royal family was that they be visible.
He also suspected this was a distraction technique. An attempt to ignore the heat that had only grown between them since she had arrived in Severene.
The more he attempted to command her attention, the more she managed to deflect or frustrate him. And it was starting to drive him more than a little insane.
Had any woman ever been so damn evasive when he was attempting to pursue her? Especially when he knew the passion between them was entirely mutual. She might be managing to resist his attempts to seduce her, but she couldn’t hide the shivers of response every time he settled his hand on her back, or kissed her knuckles in public. The only problem was he had a sneaking suspicion those PDAs were tying his libido in knots, more than hers.
‘To hell with it,’ he murmured under his breath. ‘Let’s get this over with, then.’
He could see his capitulation had surprised her—the truth was he’d surprised himself. He would never normally single out individuals the way she was so adept at doing. And he found conversing with children particularly problematic, especially shy children. He didn’t mean to be intimidating, but somehow he was. During these past four days, though, he’d watched Jade build an easy rapport with the people of Severene—his people. So really, how hard could it be?
‘Are you sure?’ she said, and he had to stifle a smile.
However awkward this was going to be, it would be worth it to have finally wrong-footed her for the first time in four days.
‘Absolutely,’ he replied, with a fervour he didn’t really feel, but was more than prepared to fake.
She nodded. But then to his surprise, she smiled. An artless smile, devoid of her usual wariness. What he saw in her expression stole his breath in a way that made no sense. Because her green eyes were shadowed with something that looked very much like approval... And he didn’t require anyone’s approval.
They reached the line of people pressing against the ropes, and his breathing became uneven, something tugging at his memory
that he knew he needed to resist.
The little girl pressed closer to her mother’s side as they approached. But Jade squatted down on her haunches—not easy in the pencil skirt and heeled boots she had worn for the walkabout—so that she could converse with the child eye to eye.
‘Hello, are those for me?’ she asked, indicating the wilting flowers.
The small child nodded, her thumb now stuck resolutely in her mouth—was she trying to suck off her thumbnail?
‘They’re beautiful,’ Jade said, the genuine warmth in her voice doing even stranger things to Leo’s breathing, especially as he watched the child’s eyes brighten.
The little girl thrust the bunch out.
‘Thank you, so much,’ Jade said, accepting the offering as if she’d been given a crate full of priceless jewels. How did she do that? How did she sound as if she cared when this had to be the fifth bunch of flowers she had been offered already today—and these were easily the most bedraggled?
‘I’d love to know your name, so I can thank you properly,’ she said, lowering her voice, ensuring that the child knew she had all her attention.
He found his own anticipation mounting, the pressure in his chest increasing, as the child considered the request and then popped her thumb out of her mouth.
‘Ella,’ she whispered, before stuffing her thumb back.
