“Well?” His voice was a daring caress that floated in the air as he watched me with an intensity that made me want to sink into him.
The male was infuriating . . . and would possibly be the death of me. Every fiber in my body seemed to screamyesto his question—it was as though I were being drawn toward him.
But no. Nope. No. Not today, Raelyna. You will not dance with one of Luc’s men, no matter how much you evidently want to.
“I would rath—” I began, intending to protest, seeing as I’d only just escaped Luc, when a firm, gloved hand wrapped around my waist, tugging me toward him, and the breath left my lungs in a rush as I collided with his body in a magnetic pull.
“It wasn’t entirely a question,” he retorted with a soft chuckle as he placed my other hand on his shoulder. I caught the moment his chuckle halted. His eyes flared with an array of emotions before settling on anger as he stared at my arm with burning intensity, as though his gaze alone could change what he saw. The arm he’d placed on his shoulder, the same one Luc had gripped with excessive force, was mottled with forming bruises from the sheer force Luc had held me with.
I watched as he looked between my arm, then the king, who was already leaving the room, thenbackat my arm, his jaw ticking as he did so. I felt his muscles ripple with . . .restraint?
I wanted to withdraw my arm, hide the angry red marks and mottled bruising I knew were beginning to appear. A furrow appeared in his forehead, his body tense and taut, then he began to guide me through the dance . . . a number I knew by heart.
“And if I refused?” I questioned, shock fluttering through meas I matched his stare. “Your demand for a dance?” His hand felt scorching across my waist as he pulled me even closer, until the heat from his body was radiating onto me. It felt like small bursts of electricity shot across my skin at every point where our bodies connected, his presence overwhelming mine. And yet, despite it all, it feltright. . . like this was exactly where I was always meant to be. Here, inhisarms, surrounded by the scent of amber and leather.
“You wouldn’t have,” he stated, matter-of-factly, as though he knew what I would have done.
“You don’t know that.” I deadpanned, my eyes narrowing on him. The golden flecks of his eyes flickered with amusement at my blatant denial, and I found myself mesmerized by the hues dancing across those amber flecks.
“I couldfeelthe fear radiating from you as you danced withhim.” His voice was a low growl as his head inclined with a nod toward the exit Lucanus had headed toward. We moved to the music, our bodies in synchronized motion as the beat swept across the room. “I feel fairly confident in my assessment.”
If it were possible, my eyes narrowed even more, because he couldn’t havefeltthe fear that Luc instilled in me. That was impossible . . .
“You do realize that it’s notpossibletofeelfear on someone else, right?” I stated matter-of-factly.
“Not someone else,” he answered, his voice brushing over me. “You. Only you.”
My brow furrowed as I looked up at him from beneath my lashes, confusion spreading through me at his words.
“That’s still not possible.” The words fell from my lips in a strangled breath.
“And yet,” he replied as his hand trailed up my arm while we danced. “Ifeltnot only your fear, but yourpain.” He finished his statement as his fingers traced a bare expanse of skin on my wrist, moving in a pattern of lines. A shiver trailedthrough my body as I stared at him, my eyes widening slightly.
It’s not possible. It’s literally not. Unless—no. My arm had no other marks on it. Not possible.
Blackwood spun me through the room, and I felt the caress of warm air, lingering with an amber and leather scent, wrap around me as he dropped me into a low dip.
The breath caught in my lungs, tendrils of my shoulder-length, wavy hair brushing against the marbled flooring, as I placed all my trust momentarily in the male holding me. We stayed, frozen like that for a moment, as the sound of music wrapped itself around us.
I rose out of the dip with grace as we met in the center of the dance floor, and I found myself mere inches from his face, breaths entwining from the proximity, despite the mandatory dunewrap covering the lower portion of his face. Our gazes hooked on each other, my thoughts fleeing my mind as I found myself lost in his gaze, my heart stuttering in my chest as he consumed every fiber of my attention. And I wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like to behis. To find myself in his arms like this every night.
“You’re breathtaking when you get lost to the music like this.” His voice was barely audible as my gaze flicked toward his.
“Breathtaking, huh?”
He nodded. “I mean it. Never let anyone hide you in the darkness; you deserve to be put in the light.”
The melody consuming us shifted, and I pulled back the slightest amount, my body refusing the action as my mind reeled with his words.
My gaze drifted to hiscoveredleft forearm, still wondering how he was able to keep his markings covered in Solis, especially as a higher-ranking RSG.
“What do you want with me?” The question was a soft whisper on the notes of the song as I stared into golden orbs.
“Everything,” he answered simply and that one word took my breath away. “But that’s beside the point. There are other things I need to discuss with you.”
Everything.
Everything?
