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“Come here,” he said.
Andres didn’t wait for her to obey. Rather he wrapped his fingers around her arm and pulled her deeper into the corridor, around the staircase.
Zara’s breath caught as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small velvet box. The ache in her chest split open—harsh, tearing pain now. And along with it fear.
“No,” she said.
“I never pretended this was anything but inevitable.”
He opened the box and revealed exactly what she had feared. She looked down at the beautiful, ornate ring. A platinum band with a large square-cut gem at the center.
“Now it’s time for us to go in.”
He took the hand he had just put the ring on, curling his fingers around hers, leading her back toward the entrance to the ballroom. And she went. Because she was numb, and putting up a fight when you weren’t entirely sure if your feet were still on the ground was difficult.
No. This wasn’t what she wanted. She needed more time. She wasn’t ready.
He said he would marry you by Christmas. By the end of the month. You only have a few weeks. What did you think?
She hadn’t been thinking. She had been in denial of the fact that she had been brought here, given to Andres as though she were an object. A Christmas present for the man who had everything.
Wed by royal command!
In November … Playboy Prince Andres of Petras is bound by royal duty and must finally pay the price for his past sins. He has to marry the lost Princess of Tirimia—Zara! From fiery passion to sinfully seductive kisses, is this one Christmas gift the Prince will be keeping … for ever?
In January 2016 … King Kairos proves that underneath his calm and collected mask is a proud, passionate and powerful ruler who won’t let anything get in the way of his responsibility. Even the wife who so clearly loathes him! But, on the brink of breaking point, Tabitha has some shocking news. Now the King must claim his Queen once again … and his new heir!
Don’t miss this sensational new duet from Maisey Yates—available only from Mills & Boon Modern Romance!
A Christmas Vow of Seduction
Maisey Yates
MAISEY YATES is a USA TODAY bestselling author of more than thirty romance novels. She has a coffee habit she has no interest in kicking, and a slight Pinterest addiction. She lives with her husband and children in the Pacific Northwest. When Maisey isn’t writing she can be found singing in the grocery store, shopping for shoes online, and probably not doing dishes. Check out her website: maiseyyates.com.
To Dean Winchester. Carry on my wayward son.
Contents
THE GIFTS HAD been on parade for the past hour. Shows of wealth from Tirimia being trotted out before King Kairos as though he were a boy and this was Christmas morning. Baskets overflowing with the finest fruits grown in the orchards from Petras’s neighboring country. Art and jewelry from the most celebrated painters and silversmiths. But certainly the ambassadors from Tirimia had saved the most spectacular gift for last.
Kairos looked down from his position on the throne at the men who were standing before him, clearly awaiting his awe, and listened as they began to introduce their final treasure, the one they were calling the jewel of their collection.
“This will please you, my king,” the man, known as Darius, was saying. “The ultimate in Tirimian beauty and grace, for your palace. For the continued health of relations between Tirimia and Petras. The representation of how far we’ve come since the revolution. It was bloody, and we cannot erase that history. We can only show
