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“I heard we had a little surprise visitor,” he said, still smiling.
He ran his thumb lightly across the line of my jaw before grabbing my chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting my gaze to his. I knew he could feel my body shaking.
“Hey, I’m okay,” he whispered.
I glanced back at the tent flap, waiting for the next person to come through.
“We all are,” he added.
I grabbed his hand from my face and held on to it, pulling it to my side and squeezed it to remind myself he was there. He squeezed back but said nothing.
The Prince was the next one through the entrance. His hands weren’t in his pockets for once, probably because his battle leathers were too tight and didn’t even have pockets. Not that he needed them with the way he used the air around him like his own personal storage. The black leathers clung to his defined thighs just as much as his dark shirt clung to his sculpted chest.
For just a moment, he looked relieved, probably to see that his father was tired but well. But then his gaze dropped to my hand in Luke’s, and that spark of perpetual amusement settled into his hunter green eyes. I tried my best not to scowl, but I reluctantly dropped Luke’s hand, conscious of the scene we had made.
And then Cass entered the tent. Even with his wings hidden, his shoulders were so broad that he had to push both sides of the tent flap open to make room for his entry. My eyes roved over his body from head to toe looking for injuries, but it was impossible to tell because he wore the same tight leathers that the Prince did.
In the King’s war tent, surrounded by other men who had also just been on the battlefield, Cass still managed to look like something that had wandered in from the wild. His green hair was a stark contrast to the high fae blonds and brunettes in the room.
His beautiful brown eyes seared into me with a look so intimate, so hungry for me, that it felt like everyone in the tent had joined us in the bedroom where we had left off in Harborview. His gaze locked onto mine, and he did not look away as he purposefully strode towards me. I ran my tongue across my bottom lip, dragging my lip between my teeth and biting down.
“Alarie,dear, I thought I taught you your lesson about taking that lip of yours between your teeth,” Jay chastised, appearing at my side.
It was the first time Jay had spoken to me since the Spring Ball. We had only seen each other in passing at the High Court over the last several months. I avoided House Heroux if at all possible because I knew if Jay was in town, then, more likely than not, he would be there. But true to what he had told me before, it appeared that he was spending a lot of time up north and away from the High Court.
The tone of Jay’s voice was not cruel. He had said the statement like he was talking about one of the many other lessons he had given me, like a lesson on Court history. Most would not even know what he was talking about. But Luke knew. I had taken my lip between my teeth many times when I was with him, under him, just before I began to hold my breath and…
I only had eyes for Cass and how he would react to the revelation that he wasn’t the only one in the tent, which now felt very small, who was familiar with my tell. Cass was a good soldier, the best, and Jay was Contra and answered to the King alone. A moment of recognition passed between Jay and Cass. It felt like Cass’s presence in the room, already so palpable, began to expand. Too big for delicate things like velvet-lined chairs, he grew even broader as charcoal and onyx feathered wings appeared on his muscled back. Everyone around him, even Jay, took a step back.
Surprisingly, it was the Prince who spoke first, breaking the tension. He approached us right after Jay.
“Jay, you’re an old man now. Maybe yourlessonsaren’t quite as good as you think they are,” the Prince teased.
Luke chuckled. Cass’s wings, which before the Prince had spoken, had felt like they were ready to overtake the entire space, knocking anything and anyone out of his way, relaxed, his shoulders rolling back. But Cass still remained squared up to where Jay stood.
“Speaking of lessons,” the Prince said, grabbing my arm. “It’s time for yours, princess,” he concluded, pulling my body toward his.
We disappeared before I could say anything to Cass. The last view I saw was of him standing next to Rhett, Jay, and Luke, a very, very wild thing among the civilized lords of the High Court.
22
Alarie
Ijerked my arm away from the Prince the second we popped back into existence. He had called me princess in front of all of them. He’d call me anything but my name.
“I don’t recall my father’s best friend being on the list we already discussed,” the Prince said coolly.
I stood next to him, fuming. We were on the rooftop at the Emerald Court. Not even the beachy sounds of the Emerald Isle could cool my frustration.
“You should have let me handle that,” I protested.
I had a few choice words brewing for Jay. That man had always had an issue with containing his jealousy. But if I was being honest with myself, I was relieved not to have to answer to Cass just yet. The Prince ignored my protest.
“A simple‘thank you’ would suffice. Maybe even a‘thank you, my tall, dark, handsome Prince for saving my sweet ass,’” he suggested.
I stared daggers at him.
“No? I didn’t think so,” he said, amusement tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Let me see this lip of yours that is causing so much trouble then,” he said, pulling me back toward him.
