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I couldn’t let myself indulge had been to obtain some semblance of freedom. Maybe…maybe he was here for the pleasure, seeking his own sort of freedom.
I needed to leave. It would only be a matter of time before he recognized me. It didn’t matter that I had covered my scent with lavender and sage, that I dressed in attire I would never wear normally, that my hood blocked recognizable aspects of my face…
He would know.
When Matthyw and I used to play hide-and-seek, he always found me. He always seemed to know where I was.
This would be no different.
“Perhaps you came here for another reason entirely,” he whispered, his lips caressing the globe of my ear, sending shivers up and down my back, stirring things inside of me I should definitely not be feeling for him. The moans in the background only enhanced the feeling, which only made things worse. “Perhaps I can help with that as well…”
I flinched. Why did my body sag against him like…like I wanted this?
I hated him.
I loathed him.
And yet, I couldn’t pull myself away.
I nearly snorted as he led me somewhere. I wasn’t sure where we went, but I didn’t care.
His wife was an alliance my father all but forced him to make with the Stone pack just north of Gardenia. I didn’t even know if he consummated the marriage with her, but I did know he loathed her as much as he could loathe anyone. Maybe even more than me.
We stepped into a private room with dark drapes giving us some kind of semblance of privacy. There was a simple bed with sheets that glistened in the candlelight, a way to make even simple sheets seem luxurious.
“I should tell your father you’re here.”
I whipped around so fast, a strand of white-blonde hair fell in my face.
“What do you think you’re doing, Adrya?” he asked, narrowing his eyes as he sauntered over to me.
I opened my mouth, shut it, then looked away. I would not have him intimidate me. I would not be distracted by his overwhelming arrogance or the way the firelight danced in his slate eyes.
“Will you answer?” he asked when he was directly in front of me. His hand reached up and tugged at my hood, forcing the long braid I had taken care to pin myself came tumbling down like leaves in the autumn. “Or shall I wager a guess?”
“When did you know it was me?” I asked instead.
For a long moment, for whatfeltlike a long moment, he said nothing. Instead, he took a seat on the chair at the small table opposite the bed and stretched out his ridiculously long legs. The corner of his lips curved into a smirk and he leaned forward slightly, rotating his thumb, before finally lifting his eyes into mine.
“Simply by the way you stand, princess,” he said. “I would know it was you blindfolded, even with that scent you lay over yourself. It can’t cover your natural scent. At least, not for me.”
I ignored the way my cheeks pinched, ignored the way my heart stuttered.
“Don’t call me that,” I said, crossing the room as I bunched my arms over my chest. I tried to muster as much indignation as I could, but I didn’t think it would work on him.
“Princess?” His eyes danced in the firelight and I immediately looked away, at the bold floral decorations on the bedspread, rather than at him. “Isn’t that what you are, sister?”
“Don’t call me that, either,” I said before I could stop myself. I wished I could take those words back, swallow them up whole, but I couldn’t. I whipped around so he couldn’t see my face, hoping he wouldn’t detect the blush that swarmed my skin, a blush only he could ignite.
Silence. And then —
“And what should I call you, then?” His voice was a whisper but I heard it as clear as rain on a tin roof, and his breath ghosted over the side of my throat.
I shuddered. I couldn’t help it.
“I brought you something.”
I arched a brow, turning my head slightly so I could look at him. It was a dangerous risk on my part, one I took anyway, just so I could catch his eyes.
