Chapter 51

He was stalking across the field, oil still coating his body. He had a determined look in his eye. And Akari decided to meet him in the middle and strode out with a confidence she didn’t quite feel toward the center of the ring.

Crown Prince Nikolai, who had gotten there first, stopped and watched her approach. When Akari finally stopped in front of him, he looked her insolently up and down. “I don’t like what you’re wearing.”

“You should talk.”

Nikolai growled at her, and not in the sexy, playful way he was used to. The last time he’d made a sound exactly like that had been just after he’d rescued her from the FeRes terrorists that had kidnapped her. Of course, at the time, Nikolai hadn’t intended it to be a rescue at all. He’d been capturing her, the woman who he thought had betrayed him, and he had planned to make him pay dearly. The sound made Akari's temper flare. They’d had this same argument about the games several times now, and it was getting old. They had an agreement, bu