‘You can’t remove it. Each attempt will tighten it without a unique twist that only I know to release it,’ Mak rasped.
Her head shot up at theŠar’sdeclaration.
‘What in Sullied hell?’ she snapped.
‘It’s a Sauvage tradition, designed by one of our ancestors,’ Mak growled. ‘To dissuade wayward brides from escaping their groom.’
She shut her eyes to ward off the nightmare. ‘Macabre,’ she whispered to herself.
‘Ifokkin’ don’t care what you think. I’ve also been patient, hellishly so,’ Mak snarled, his chest rising and falling under his crossed, muscled hands with just the right smattering of hair. ‘But now you will tell me everything about your deception. Don’t leave afokkin’ thing out.’
She focused on those arms as she inhaled and pressed her lips together, gathering her thoughts before she spoke.
The time for cryptic behavior was over; it was the hour for honesty, no matter the consequences.
‘You were expecting Shiloh,’ she finally muttered. ‘My twin sister.’
His eyes glimmered with surprise as he studied her. ‘I see the resemblance now.’
‘Not many do. We’re fraternal, opposite in most ways but quite close regardless.’
‘More fact, less sentiment,’ he growled.
She jolted at his rudeness and shot him a glare. Even if he was theŠar, she was done with men treating her with insolent boorishness.
‘I stepped into her place because my family’s fortunes were at stake,’ she confessed, her voice steady despite the turmoil of emotions. ‘Shiloh was betrothed to you, but she became indisposed.’
She hesitated, unwilling to say more, until he tilted his head further and jerked his chin at her.
‘Youfokkin’ Lisades,’ he rasped. ‘This is not the first time you’ve humiliated me with such audacity. You even used the same words your uncle tried on me seven and a half years ago. He said Suri was also ailing when she broke off our freakin’ seven-year engagement. So explain indisposed.’
She blinked at his boorishness. ‘I can’t say more than she had to leave our ark ship before the wedding. So it was either I stepping into her shoes or the never-ending ruin of my family.’
TheŠarleaned in, eyes blazing. ‘Why didn’t you or she have the courtesy to tell me before this charade?’
‘Would you have taken me?’
He raked his eyes over her from head to toe. ‘You’re not Shiloh. You’re not who was promised.’
Even though she’d anticipated this scenario, her face burned with shame and embarrassment, for he must have found her plainness too hard to bear.
She exhaled to cover up the stab of pain that went through her. ‘Oh, I know I’m not the bride or beauty you expected.’
His eyes narrowed, raking over her, running a tongue over his gleaming canines.
She had to admit she was getting intrigued by them, especially when he played with them in a sensuous lick that sent jolts of desire through her.
She shivered, wondering what he thought of when he gazed at her.
A certain disappointment.
For theŠarwas out of luck with her when it came to the looks department.
With a slender figure and delicate features, Shiloh was the one who’d turned heads and caused gasps of admiration.
While she had lengthy, dark hair and bright green eyes framed by long lashes, Saba’s tresses were a boring brown, and her eyes plain hazel with stunted, stubby fringes.
Shiloh’s voice and her laughter were like music, light and lyrical, filling the room with joy and happiness.
