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“Oh, hello,” a familiar voice said as they entered the hall, both of them stiffening considerably at the sight of a smiling Nikolai. “I had no idea you two would be here tonight. I thought you’d be all loved up back at Zeke’s place. Sounded like he was gearing up for a fun night of bonding, eh, Zeke?”
Nikolai clasped both of Zeke’s shoulders, kissing his cheek fiercely before letting go.
“And you,” he said, turning to Anna.
“Hands off,” Zeke said, the words spoken casually enough, but he took half a step to the side, positioning himself between Anna and Nikolai, making Nikolai’s eyes shoot up.
“Oh, alright, I see how it is,” Nikolai laughed, Anna’s worry that he might have clocked on dissipating as she reminded herself that he would never suspect her of betraying him. Not in a million years. “Wanting to keep her on a tight leash. I respect that.”
Zeke slipped his hand in hers, grasping with fingers that were heating with his repressed fury. She gave a light squeeze.
“We just wanted to show our respect,” Anna interjected. “We’re hoping that our union can forge a stronger bond between all the families.”
Nikolai’s smile was difficult to read, but Anna saw danger in it. Deep and foreboding.
“That’s very kind of you,” Nikolai said, eyes lingering on hers for another moment. “Perhaps we should discuss exactly how to forge such a bond somewhere more private?”
“Perhaps,” Zeke agreed. “Though perhaps it’s better if we ask for a sit-down with Vasili?”
There was grey thunder in Nikolai’s eyes at the mention of his boss, at the hint that they might gain access to him without Nikolai’s help, or interference. Nikolai looked on the brink of questioning Zeke’s stakes in all of it, even if he wouldn’t see cause to question Anna’s, but Anna said, “I doubt that will be necessary. We’re only ambassadors, really, aren’t we, darling?”
Zeke’s grip tightened momentarily as if her words had actually pulled a physical reaction from him. Was it the term of endearment that had done it?
“True, shnookums,” Zeke said, leaning in to touch his forehead to hers. “We don’t want to overstep.”
He pulled back again, her forehead feeling as though his skin had left a scorch mark. It was frighteningly intoxicating. They both faced Nikolai again, who was wearing the softest frown, their unbridled show of intimacy most likely the cause of it. Anna felt a tiny whirl of triumph in the middle of her chest, wishing it could grow bigger. So big it blew a gale force to sweep away all the bad memories, all the pain and confusion he’d caused her, cleared the landscape so she could see all the new paths just waiting for her to discover them.
She didn’t dare look at Zeke to discern his expression, but there was a momentary exchange between him and Nikolai that she registered through how Nikolai got a mildly amused look in his eyes. Whenever anyone of her father’s people looked like that, and especially her father, she’d learned to tread carefully. The same had gone for Nikolai in their relationship. Whenever she had tried to go against one of his mandates, he had looked at her like that. Almost as though he enjoyed her trying to step into quiet rebellion, because then he would get to quell it.
The tiny whirl of triumph didn’t grow bigger.
Instead, there was a gust warning her that their cover was about to be blown to smithereens. But Zeke’s arm was around her, and his body was pressed along her side, and it felt real enough, so she leaned her head on her mate’s shoulder. Wrapping both arms around his waist she leaned against him, giving Nikolai as docile a smile as she could muster. They were no more than newly bonded. They were falling in love with each other, and they had decided to come to the party to display that unity. If Nikolai could look no deeper than that, they’d be in the clear. He'd still see it as a slight to the Kuznetsovs, a rubbing in of the alliance made between the other two families, but since she knew he would never buy that they were at the party with some ulterior motive, that option seemed better than the one where he sussed out the real reason they were there.
“Well,” Nikolai said. “I’ll let you enjoy the party.”
They both smiled. Zeke’s arm around her waist gripped her a little tighter, pulling her to him and squeezing her side until she huffed a soft laugh.
“Are you ticklish, shnookums?” he whispered in her ear.
Tendrils of desire heated their way through her as she turned her head to look up at him. His marked jawline, his full lips, the way his eyes lit up when they met hers—all the complete opposite to Nikolai, whose thin mouth had always threatened to turn downward, and whose eyes had slowly begun to look nothing but perturbed that she’d deign to look at him.
“I think we’d better wait for a little,” Zeke said inexplicably, her mind racing to keep up with his train of thought. “Show our faces, you know? Keep suspicion at a minimum.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” she agreed, unwilling to have him let go of her just yet, happy to play the part of the doting mate for a few hours.
More than happy.
“Here,” she said, reaching up and loosening his tie, the knot an absolute mess. “Let me fix that for you.”
Chapter 11 - Zeke
Anna, slipping the tie from around his neck to find the right measurements before looping it back under the collar of his shirt and tying a perfect knot on her first try, had done marvelous things to Zeke’s insides. The emotions had arrived in quick succession, tumbling over one another as he’d watched her fingers work, a concentrated furrow between her brows. Appreciation, gratitude, finally happiness that she might perform that simple task for him many times over because they had their whole lives together ahead of them.
For the first time since his father told him he was to be mated, he had the overwhelming notion that it hadn’t ruined his plans for the future but had actually saved them. He’d almost kissed her as a thank you, or as an acknowledgment, or as something else entirely. But had restrained himself last minute, her eyes on his not telling him whether she wanted him to kiss her or not.
For the past two hours, mingling with the city’s higher-ups who were all in attendance, Zeke had been fighting the opposite urge of pulling Anna into a shadowed corner and finding out exactly what she wanted, or didn’t want, from him. And because of this urge, a plan had begun to form in his mind of how they might sneak past the guards. But Anna would have to be game.
“Yes, that was a phenomenal exhibition,” Mayor Gambitt said enthusiastically, Anna nodding along, matching his energy perfectly.
