‘Maybe I can just go back to the castle with my driver?’ I pleaded as Emily started to leave to help a tiny woman with a wardrobe crisis.
For the first time since I’d met him, the king looked genuinely unsure what to do. Standing speechless, he was calculating his next move.
‘I can’t leave, and I can’t let you leave with anyone either. Your smell… it’s like an invitation. Our women only allow themselves to be like this in the presence of men they want. For obvious reasons.’ A wicked smile carved its way across his face, and I felt heat rise to my cheeks again, making him grin even harder.
‘Don’t worry. I will drown you in so much of my scent that it might go unnoticed. And if they do notice, you’ll bestaying close to me anyway. They won’t dare comment,’ River reassured me.
His energy washed over me like a blanket of power as he removed his jet-black suit jacket and covered my shoulders. It smelt strongly of citrus and wood, the scent I recognised from so many times before.
But it did nothing to calm my nerves. ‘So, do you think they’ll smell it? Can you still smell it?’
‘Tough to tell. I would smell it anyway,’ he mused smugly.
‘Is it because your sense of smell is stronger as a king?’
River snorted before placing a hand on the small of my back as we walked toward the party. ‘Something like that.’
‘Why can’t I smell it?’ I wondered, still trying to understand the strange phenomenon. I’d never heard of Ortensians spraying anything on themselves.
‘You’re only half fae, right? My guess is your sense of smell isn’t sensitive enough to pick up on it.’
‘What does it even smell like?’ I asked him, wondering what was so enticing about it.
His throat bobbed as he kept his gaze fixed ahead. ‘Yours is floral.’
Interesting. ‘Okay… at least floral isn’t a bad smell, I guess.’
River laughed, though his shoulders remained tense. ‘Is that what you’re worried about?’
‘I’m sorry,’ I said softly, hoping he wasn’t angry.
He glanced at me with his brows furrowed. ‘What are you apologising for?’
‘I never meant to ruin your day. I know it took you guys a lot of preparation.’
‘You’re not ruining anything. Just making it slightly more difficult to focus.’ He loosened his tie, and a muscle in his jaw ticked. ‘Stay close to me. I’m not in the mood to kick any assestoday.’
While he might have tried to pretend he wasn’t affected, I saw the signs clearly: the tension in his shoulders and the way his hazelnut gaze had darkened, deeper now, hungrier. Not for food. For something no banquet could satisfy.
The long night went on. I met nobles, lords, councilmen—so many titles that blurred together, their importance fading as quickly as their names. When my smile started to ache, he must have seen it. Without a word, he took my hand and led me outside, away from the noise and ceremony, to a quiet spot where only the strange fireflies stirred and moonlight shimmered across the lake’s surface like spilt silver.
We stood in silence, letting the mesmerising view and the hush of moonlight offer a reprieve from the court’s relentless pageantry. I couldn’t fathom how some of them sustained such endless socialising, smiles too wide and words too polished.
‘You owe me three questions.’ The words earned me a smirk that, over time, I had grown to like.
He faced me. ‘What do you want to know?’
There were so many questions, too many. Some mattered to me as a woman, some as a court member, and others as a rival. As his gaze deepened, drawing me in, the rest fell away. ‘How do you feel about me being in your kingdom?’
A low chuckle vibrated from deep within him. ‘What do you think?’
He took my hand, and our energies intertwined in a furious whirlwind of passion and need. At first, it was only the flames spinning in circles, but before I realised what had happened, we were moving too, drawn into the fire’s rhythm, swept into a fervent dance that blurred the line between magic and desire.
‘Are you trying to distract me from asking any more?’
‘I would never.’
He would; that sparkle in his eyes betrayed every true intention.
