The-Sinful-King-By-Claire-Contreras-PDF

waking second of the day since we’d been apart, but seeing
him now, the longing was magnified. I tried hard to push it
down, to cover it with the anger I was sure to feel in a few
minutes when Emily, the Princess of Austria, joined him, but
it didn’t help. Longing mixed with anger only deepened how
much I wanted him. All of the guests created a circle for him
to go around and greet. I watched as one by one, each man
bowed as he shook their hand and every woman curtsied as
he kissed the back of theirs. I hated every single hand he
touched because it was not mine. When he was just six or
seven people from me, I retreated a foot with the intention of
leaving, but hit someone standing behind me. I turned,
confused, and saw Pierre smiling at me.
“You can’t leave the room until he greets you,” he
whispered.
“Oh.” My eyes widened. What would happen if I defied
the rule?
The thought stuck with me as I turned around again,
gathering all of my courage to stay put. When Elias greeted
the third person from me, he glanced up and our eyes met.
Even as he continued shaking hands and kissing the back of
the women’s, he stared at me. By the time he reached me, I
was sure my heart wasn’t my own and that it had taken place
inside his chest somehow. He lifted my hand and I tore my
gaze from his, looking at the ground as I curtsied. Instead of
letting go of my hand, as he’d done for everyone else, he
held on tightly to mine. I managed to bring my gaze back to
his. My pulse quickened as he leaned in and brought his lips
to my ear.
“We need to talk.”
“I don’t think you’re supposed to speak to me while
you’re greeting everyone in court.”
“I think the king is allowed to do whatever he wants.”
“Eli,” I whispered.