CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE – MAKING APPEARANCES

As if pulled by a taut, invisible cord, Alexander's gaze suddenly swung around, his dancer's instincts alerting him to her presence like a deer catching the scent of an approaching predator. His dark eyes found Charlotte across the swirling ballroom, immediately going taut with recognition and...something else. Wariness? Guilt? Or perhaps a glimmer of that old, ravenous hunger? In that fractured moment of realization, it was as if the rest of the glittering gala simply melted away, leaving just the two of them frozen in the crosshairs of one another's burning stare. Charlotte could feel the heat of his eyes searing across every inch of her body, his tongue practically lashing her curves beneath the delicate silk and chiffon. She returned his smoldering appraisal with a defiant glare of her own. Two could play at this game of who could inflame whose desire more ruthlessly. Emma was the one to finally break the thick, electrically-charged silence. Sliding a possessive hand over Al