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Especially since she will be forced to dance with King Bradwick.

He squinted his eyes and his nose crinkled, while his lips curled back. Rage was threatening to surface. He buried his face against her throat to hide the growl that suddenly began to emerge from his chest at the thought of another male touching her.

Why does she elicit such a reaction from me?He’d never been this way with others.

Valerie didn’t know what time it was when she finally managed to crawl away from Geryon.

The man was relentless. She lost count of how many times he took her, giving her orgasm after orgasm, but she was utterly exhausted by the end of it.

To her surprise, when he finally did release her, he hadn’t clothed himself and run away. Instead, he put his breeches on and helped her with the ties at the back of her dress so she could make her way back to her suite.

She was in a state of complete disarray, and his assistance barely helped. Still, the gesture meant much to her.

He’d given her a sweet kiss goodbye, but it was his words that made a strange emotion flutter in her stomach.

At the end of it, when he broke away, he placed his palm against the side of her face and said, “I am sure you will look beautiful, and I know I will wish I could dance with you.”

Then, he let her out of the room like freeing a bird from its cage.

Valerie then promptly woke Victoria and ushered her back to her husband.

Once she was alone, she wandered over to the window to find the sky was still night, but it wasn’t as dark as it should be.

Every time she had tried to escape Geryon, he would pull her back by her hips and make her forget why she wanted to leave in the first place.Now I am exhausted, and the sun will rise soon.She wished she could say she was truly cranky about it, but she wasn’t.

Valerie had enjoyed herself. Deep down inside, she knew she would cherish her memory of this night forever. She would think back fondly on every single second of the sweet passion she’d shared with Geryon when she finally left this palace.

After the ball, there are two days left.Valerie needed to be gone by the end of the last day, in case the real Lady Cecily turned up.

A terrible emotion crawled its way inside her chest at the thought of leaving.I feel something for Geryon.Something small, a tiny piece she’d given to the man who made her feel light under his heavy body.

What a silly notion.The fact she’d allowed herself to feel something like this was idiotic, but she was happy to silently gift him this. It wasn’t love or anything truly deep, but it was a tenderness.

It was care for the man who saw Valerie was wearing lies upon her face rather than believing she was truly lifeless, a fondness for the person who had forced her to feel unimaginable desire. For the first time in her life, she had felt it deeply.

Knowing her time here was almost over, Valerie fell asleep with a sad smile upon her lips.

She didn’t rise when she was given her breakfast by Victoria. Instead, she spent the day sleeping and lazing about in her room, allowing herself this quietness. Soon, she would have to face the complexities of the party she was about to attend.

Then, night began to fall.

Victoria returned with a handful of servants in tow after finding Valerie awake and ready to be attended to. They filled her bath and set out a tea with food and cakes. After eating, she bathed in the cloudy liquid, a perfumed solution added to it to make her smell like lavender.

“Are you excited?” Victoria asked, brushing her wet hair for her.

Valerie used the rim of the tub to hide the noticeable bite mark on her neck; she was enjoying the sting it constantly gave.

“Excited would not be the word I would use,” Valerie answered, allowing her skin to soften and soak up the perfumed water. “I am curious to see what a ball thrown by the king will be like.”

“It will be spectacular. It always is.” Once her hair was clean and brushed, Victoria rose to her feet and stood in front of her. “I mean no offense, since the dresses you have brought with you are lovely, but they are not extravagant enough for this event.”

Valerie scoffed lightly. “What would you have me do about it?”

“If you would permit me, I have brought a dress I have never worn but I can assure will fit you.” Victoria nibbled at her lips while rubbing the back of her neck, a blush rising on her cheeks. “I wish to gift it to you.”

“Should I not be the one giving you gifts?” Valerie eyed her curiously. “You have been my attending lady and have done a wonderful job.”

“Mayhap, but please allow me to do this for you.” She averted her gaze for a moment before it returned to Valerie, a bright smile forming across her features. “When I went through my outfits to see if I had anything that may be of your taste, I knew I must have bought it to one day give to you.”