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She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. The small space between us felt infinite and miniscule at the same time. I didn’t know if I wanted to scoot closer or jump out of bed and hop in the shower again. Some magnetic force was pulling me in, desperate for our bodies to connect. For our souls to connect.
I wanted to show her what satisfaction felt like.
Her gaze bounced back and forth from my lips to my eyes, and when her tongue darted out to moisten those pink lips, I wanted to cover her mouth with my own. To be tangled in the very essence of her.
I raised my arm, hoping to wrap it around her waist and pull her body against me, when a flash of lightning lit up the room. We both jumped. Thunder rolled and the sound of rain could be heard beyond the small grate in the ceiling. Whatever fire that had been building between us was doused.
Emilie rolled away from me, my skin immediately mourning the lack of her warmth. “Goodnight, Ladon,” she said quietly.
I had to admire her self-control, even though I hated it. Gods knew I had none at that moment. “’Night.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Emilie
Ladon spent the following week seemingly avoiding me. At least, the best he could while also being trapped in the same room as me. He dodged my attempts at small talk and, aside from our daily sessions of siphoning, he avoided touching me, too.
I’d thought for a brief moment that he might actually be attracted to me. That I’d been wrong, and he wasn’t disgusted by me. He seemed so close to kissing me that night after our moment with Reyna.
Clearly, I was wrong. He obviously still saw me as inferior to him. Repulsed by the very thought of me. It was for the best, anyway. I had no business getting caught up with Ladon while engaged to his brother.
His brother…every time I thought of Cyrus, my spirits fell. Not because I missed him. I missed the life I’d been promised. I’d been so angry with my parents for not giving me a say in my future. Now I had no future at all. I should’ve been grateful for everything I had.
What a stupid girl I’d been.
I took my time in the shower, not wanting to burden Ladon with my presence. His behavior was so juvenile; I couldn’t be bothered with it. I lathered my hair with shampoo twice and considered a third time before deciding that would be wasteful.
I turned the water off and stepped out, wrapping my towel around my chest and tucking it to stay put. In the cloudy mirror, I could make out the gaunt features of my face. Gods, I was so pale and sickly. I’d give anything to feel the sun on my skin again. The Dreslen heat suddenly didn’t seem so unbearable.
My hair was a tangled mess, and I had to carefully run my fingers through it before even attempting to comb it. If I had known I was going to be kidnapped, I might’ve had it cut. I chuckled a little at the thought.
Perfect. I had made it to the state of hysteria in my captivity.
I caught a glimpse of Ladon staring at me through the mirror. He quickly looked away when he realized he’d been caught. I suddenly felt too exposed in my towel and reached instead for my clothes. Dressing in silence, I wondered what horrors Reyna had in store for us today.
We returned to cleaning the drawing room for that day. Even being in the room made my skin crawl, though it looked so different in the middle of the day. The lights were bright rather than the deep reddish mood lighting Reyna set for entertaining guests.
These mage lights were bright white and highlighted every single speck of dust and mark upon the furniture, making it easier for us to clean up.
Ladon started to scrub the floor using a handheld sponge, while I retrieved the fabric cleaner from a supply cart. I didn’t have to wonder what the stains were this time. I’d been there when one of the guests spilled her wine. I’d seen another use the arm of a chair to extinguish his cigarette.
I’d only been summoned one time during the past week, but Ladon…he’d been taken nearly every night. Some nights he didn’t return until well after I’d gone to bed. Those nights I felt more enraged for him than myself. He didn’t deserve this. Neither of us did.
I returned to the supply cart to grab a rag and bumped into Ladon as our paths crossed.
He brushed a hand through his white hair and returned to his work.
My patience reached its breaking point. “Are you just going to ignore me for the rest of our time here?”
He stared at me with a blank expression. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve hardly said a word to me in the past week. You can’t even say ‘excuse me’ or ‘sorry for bumping into you?’”
His lip curved into a smirk. “You’re excused.”
I let out a shrill cry of frustration and threw the rag at his face. He caught it with minimal effort and laughed. “Gods, princess. If you wanted my attention so badly, you could’ve just said so.”
I was going to murder him. If Reyna wanted to kill him, she’d have to get in line. I shoved him and he stumbled a couple of steps back, peering down at me with surprise.
