A terrible black stone weighed heavily on Destiny’s chest. Jealousy. It rose, sharp and appalling and unexpected. She fought down the unfamiliar emotion, exerted control on herself, made certain she didn’t meet Nicolae’s sharp gaze.
I cannot leave you, Destiny. I would not leave you. Vikirnoff must find and protect this woman. She must be escorted to our homeland and placed under the protection of our Prince. Nicolae framed Destiny’s face with his hands and bent his head to hers, kissing her thoroughly.
And then he was gone, leaving her to face MaryAnn, who sat behind her desk, one eyebrow raised and a faint smirk on her face. She fanned herself. “Well, well, well.” Free of Nicolae’s compulsion to speak of the stranger, she was once more completely at ease. “What in the world were we talking about? The two of you were so darned hot, you fried my brain.”
“Not the two of us, MaryAnn,” Destiny said with disgust. “He’s like that. Impossible.” She began to pace back and forth like a caged tiger, prowling through MaryAnn’s office, carefully skirting the comfortable chairs for clients. She moved with elegant grace, fluid, like an animal on the hunt rather than a human. Gliding. Her feet made no noise, her movements were a whisper in the still air of the office.
Leaning her chin into her hands, elbows on the desk, Mary Ann watched her solemnly, mesmerized by the beauty of Destiny’s movements. “Are you just going to wear a hole in my carpet or are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
Destiny glared at her. “It’s him. He’s what’s wrong.” She shoved a high-backed chair out of her way and made another circuit around the room.
MaryAnn nodded her head. “I see. I presume by him you mean Nicolae.”
Destiny whirled to face her, hands curled into tight fists. “Don’t you dare laugh, MaryAnn, and don’t use that tone. I know what you’re thinking. I don’t need you laughing at this; it isn’t funny at all.”
MaryAnn kept her features carefully blank. “What exactly is it about Nicolae that is upsetting you, Destiny?”
“Everything!” Destiny threw herself into one of the offending chairs and stretched out her legs, still glaring at MaryAnn. “You saw him. You saw the way he acts with me. Everything about him drives me crazy.”
There was a small silence. MaryAnn picked up a pen and began to trace patterns in her notebook. “Could you be a little more specific? Perhaps narrow it down for me?”
“Okay.” There was challenge in Destiny’s voice. “He looks at me.” She lifted her chin belligerently, silently daring MaryAnn to laugh.
If Mary Ann’s eyebrow could have risen any higher it would have reached her hairline. Her mouth twitched, and she hastily bit the end of her pen. “Oh, my. The bastard.”
Destiny steepled her fingers and looked pointedly at Mary Ann. “Could you try to be serious? You’re supposed to be a professional. It’s the way he looks at me.”
MaryAnn gestured with her hands. Beautiful hands, Destiny noted. Graceful. Perfect nails. The fingers weren’t very long, but they were shapely, like MaryAnn. Destiny always found herself fascinated by MaryAnn’s movements. By her innate goodness. “Please continue, Destiny. I’m certainly intrigued.”
“He looks all goofy at me,” she elaborated reluctantly. “Like I’m beautiful. Like he thinks I’m incredibly beautiful and smart and everything he ever wanted.”
MaryAnn smiled at her. She leaned closer. “Is it possible that to Nicolae you are beautiful, and smart and everything he wants? Why is that so threatening to you?”
Swift impatience crossed her face. “I didn’t say I was threatened. Did I say that? He’s nuts to want me. I’m not normal.”
MaryAnn sat back in her chair, her gaze on Destiny’s face. “Normal? What is normal, Destiny? Why should he settle for normal when he could have you? What is normal to you?”
“You know, normal. Not me. Not what I am.” Impatiently Destiny jumped to her feet and resumed pacing, quick, restless movements that revealed more than her short, snappy sentences.
“What do you think you are?” MaryAnn persisted.
“There you go again. You’re using your counselor voice on me. You know very well what I am. I turn into vapor and fly on wings and run on four feet. Does that sound normal to you?”