AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She’s taunting me with her face,” I snapped.
“She’s trying to get a reaction from you.” He ran a hand over my cheek. “Hold on to me,my love.” He twirled me into the center of the dance floor, dizzying me against my champagne high. “You are beautiful.” His words should’ve had no effect on me. But hearing them, even if it was for show, sent butterflies swirling in my stomach. His fingers tightened against me, pulling me closer.
“Everyone’s watching.” The cinematic music resonated around the room.
“Good.” His fingers entwined with mine as he slid his leg across the ground, pulling me with him in a move far too graceful to be my own. I looked around, pausing on Velda, whose eyes narrowed in our direction. Sitting next to her, Gwen looked as if she were trying to kill me with a single glare. Sargon smiled from his throne as our dance caught the attention of half the room, but it was forced. There was no lift in his eyes or lines forming in his cheeks.
Astor’s face crumpled when I looked at him, his eyes burning with a pain I didn’t want to open myself to. Others began to dance around us, but the figurative spotlight was still on us. The light notes of piano keys reached through the instrumental piece playing, and Sebastian twirled me around. Bringing his hand up to my cheek, he cupped my face. His gaze swallowed me as I fixated on him. “Don’t worry about everyone else.” His thumb brushed down to the corner of my lip. “They don’t matter.”
My shoulders relaxed as I settled my fingers on his chest. His signature scent of pine mixed with spice was suddenly intoxicating. I had to remind myself this was for show, a performance, but my body didn’t get the memo, responding to every flicker of touch with a pulsating want for more. Gwen laughed loudly, snapping my attention in her direction.
Sebastian tangled his fingers in my hair and pulled my lips to his, almost touching. “Stop worrying about them. You’re with me.”
My hand moved to his bicep, and he laced his hand around my waist. My back arched to his touch, and the tips of our noses brushed together. I could feel his breath mixing with mine, and he inched closer. My heart raced as I lost myself in each fleck of silver in those night-blue eyes, finding the sensation of home in them.
Sebastian twirled me outward, loosening the curls from my bun, then pulled me back into his arms, leaving no distance between us. Breathless, I reached for his shoulder, and we moved together even when the music stopped playing and there was silence between songs.
Anticipation rippled between us when the music started up again. We could end this now. I was sure everyone believed our love story from that, but he didn’t stop, and I didn’t want to. The room melted away, and suddenly no one else mattered. I couldn’t move my eyes from his. Surprise shone in his deep blues as he changed the way he looked at me.
I almost caught myself wishing this were real.
“Sebastian.” I whispered his name as his grip grew more possessive. Before I could say anything else, his lips were on mine, stealing my next breath. We stopped dancing, and he cradled my head, deepening our kiss, stroking his tongue gently against mine.
I instinctively rocked against the feel of his legs pressed up against my whisper-thin dress. His gaze burned with desire, his muscles tensing as he pulled back, restraint pulling in his tortured expression.
My lips parted, barely a breath sweeping past them. He took my hand, and when we walked off the dance floor, someone spilled a goblet of blood all over the front of Sebastian’s suit. He scowled, pulling me back so none of it splashed me. “Watch where you’re going,” he shouted after the sangaree who was mopping it up from the ground. “Did it get you?” he asked me.
“No.” I looked over the dripping blood, shuddering. Then, darting between long tables of sangaree who sat watching, he pulled me out of the room. “That should be enough,” he said once we were out of the throne room. “They’ll think we stepped out to continue what happened in there.”
I cleared my throat, shaking my head. “Right, yes, it seems we kept everyone’s attention.”
Hesitantly, he moved to touch my neck but stopped at the last moment. “You played that well,” he said, his chest still heaving against his shirt. “I almost believed you.”
“I was going to say the same to you.”
He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but instead pushed his hands in his deep pockets, looking up at the vaulted ceiling. “You should go back inside and keep Kalon entertained while I prepare. Talk to the king. Zach will be watching you, so don’t worry.”
I pressed two fingers against my clavicle, tracing the way Sebastian had touched me. With one kiss, the memory of Astor felt somehow animated in comparison. Mentally kicking myself, I was reminded that this was a means to the end. I couldn’t fall into some fantasy that didn’t exist. He was a vampire, someone I’d never wanted to kiss, and he was only doing this because he wanted me to bestow mortality onto him. Soon enough, I would be reigning over a kingdom, and he would be free. He only cared about me as long as I put on a good show and went along with his plan. The kiss suddenly felt treacherous, and I took a step back. I wasn’t doing this for him. It was for my mom.
“We shouldn’t do that again,” I stated firmly. “It was a mistake.”
“Do you truly believe that?”
“Yes.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “It crossed a line.”
Something changed in his expression. “Fine. We’ll keep to just touches.” He caressed my hand, and I pulled it back. “Although, I didn’t feel you complaining when you rocked up against me back there.”
My face flooded with heat. “I was… That was nothing.”
“It’s okay.” His lip curled up at the corner. “I won’t pretend I didn’t enjoy it.”
With that, he left. Before I could turn back to join the ballroom, someone coughed from behind me. I whipped my head around and was greeted by Kalon’s sadistic smile and hopeful eyes.
TWENTY-SIX
Kalon approached me from the other side of the foyer, taking his time, even though we both knew he could be in front of me in less than a second. Had he been watching us? Waiting from the shadows until Sebastian left?
I watched as his cloak dragged against the ground behind him. “Olivia.” His gold-flecked, amber eyes narrowed. “Don’t you look ravishing.” He reached for a lock of my hair. I flinched back, but he grabbed a curl anyway, moving it like silk between two fingers. “I swore, in the sunlight, I saw a glimpse of red.” His lip curved up. “I must have been hallucinating.”
