An aura of lethal, regal authority bled from every part of him. Unlike her, he was completely at ease with his nobility, and he looked every bit the powerful ruler that he was. She’d never found an aristo sexy, but Darling wore that title well. There was no arrogance to him, only a deep self-assurance that was as erotic as the hot look in his eyes as he stared at her.

“You are stunning, my lady.” He all but growled those words.

“And you are exceptional.”

His valet cleared his throat to get Darling’s attention. “Majesty? Is there anything else you require?”

Darling glanced to his left where his valet waited. “You’re dismissed.”

After a slight bow, the man quickly took his leave.

As soon as he was gone, Darling wasted no time closing the distance between them so that he could kiss her.

Zarya breathed him in, wanting to feel him naked against her skin. But she knew better. They couldn’t afford to be late to this meeting.

Reluctantly, she pulled back. “If you mess up Gera’s hard work, she might poison us both.”

One corner of his mouth twitched. “If not for the gerents, I’d be willing to risk her wrath.” He picked her hand up and placed a sexy kiss to her fingers. “Did you need something? You looked kind of pissed when you came in.”

His syntax was the only part of him that betrayed his Sentella training. The rest of him was all arrogant emperor. In the past, men like him had repulsed her. But now that she knew him so well and had walked on the inside of his privileged world, she understood that it was a shield he wore just like the body armor they chose whenever they went into battle. And in a way, that was exactly what he was about to do.

Only his weapons wouldn’t be knives or blasters or bombs or gases. He would be fighting with his words and wit. With his ability to effectively argue his side, and to show the fallacies in his opponent’s logic. A different battlefield, but the outcome was the same.

The winner dictated the future of the people she’d spent her life fighting for.

That detached arrogance he cloaked himself with was a vital shell that, just like the red tinged black battlesuits the Sentella wore, kept his opponent’s from knowing when they’d wounded him, and how deeply their blows had struck.

Funny how she’d never known that until lately.

Now she fully understood. And she knew from her own experience that words always cut deeper than any weapon forged by man.

The only thing that was sharper and that scarred more was the selfish actions of those you loved when they made it crystal clear that they cared more for themselves than they did for you. Especially when it was someone you trusted to always put you first.

And that pain was what she felt right now. “I’m not pissed,” she said slowly, answering his question. “More curious.” She ran her hand over the exquisite necklace. “Why did you loan this to me?”