Abducting the Princess by Mel Teshco Page B

a desecration that whatever they’d shared had to end here. Now. No matter that every fiber of her being screamed no !
    Her mouth dried, evaporating the words even before they’d formed. She looked up at Mahaya, searching his face for something…anything. But though she had his whole attention, he remained stoic and tightlipped.
    Something wilted within, even as she understood his silence. He’d fought for her once already, exposed his true feelings. And by his stony expression he knew she was about to ground all that under her heel. She swallowed. Hard. “I’m sorry, Mahaya. I can’t escape who I am. No matter how much I want to.”
    His lashes swept low and concealed his emotions, even as his face leached of color. A fist took hold of her heart and squeezed. Damn if his acceptance of her decision wounded her like nothing else. Right then she?d almost welcome the raw fury of his nightmix rather than his silence.
    She pushed to her feet, careless of her nakedness as she reached for her clothes. But Mahaya turned his back on her, staring out the bedroom window as if she no longer existed.
    She refrained from crying out his name, refrained from wailing denial. It had to end between them, but not in this way. Her hands clenched and unclenched. Perhaps it was for the best. At least with his hating her she’d never see him again. At least a little piece of her wouldn’t die a slow death at their every encounter.
    At the touch of Jarvias’ mildly appreciative stare on her body, she shivered, before dressing quickly. Some things hadn’t changed in the interim she’d been away. She still felt a frigid kind of detachment toward her fiancé.
    Is that really what you want for the rest of your life?
    She paused, biting into her bottom lip as indecision warred in her heart between her deeply ingrained duty to her people and her love for Mahaya. Goddess, she hadn’t even told him her true feelings!
    Jarvias held out his hand, beckoning to her. She ignored him for a moment and turned to Mahaya. But the hard, unforgivable line of his back radiated coldness. She swallowed back a rush of words that had her begging for his forgiveness. “Goodbye,” she whispered.
    I’ll never forget you.
    * * * * *
     
     
    It had been a little over four weeks since Mira had last seen Mahaya. Four weeks since she’d left him at the cabin. Four long, exhausting weeks where her every thought seemed fractured, debilitated, her every waking moment a nightmare she couldn’t escape.
    And now the “special” day had arrived she could only stare into the gold-framed mirror with a peculiar numbness to the beautiful woman staring back in her exquisite, lace wedding gown.
    Did no one else notice that beneath the splendor was an empty shell, devoid of joy?
    She sighed, weighted down by the loveless years facing her ahead. Jarvias would do his best, but she didn’t need to be a scholar to know his affections weren’t any more enthusiastic than her own, despite his obvious appreciation of her assets at Mahaya’s cabin.
    Mahaya. She couldn’t even think his name without the emptiness within growing that little bit more. Four weeks since she’d seen him and yet it felt a lifetime.
    At the approaching footsteps of undoubtedly one of her many cotesh servants, she dropped her gaze with a resigned sigh. Hadn’t her servants already done enough plucking and brushing and fussing over her?
    She peered at the intricate white rose embroidery threaded through the lace of her wedding gown, distantly acknowledging the fine craftsmanship. It was wasted on her for all the appreciation she felt. But at least her people might be awed by the beauty in its design.
    She’d agreed to go with the traditional human nuptials first to satisfy the majority of her people. It would be followed right after by a wedding attended exclusively by larakytes and shape shifters. And then open invitation to a huge reception featuring limitless food, drink and entertainment.
    And