AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 4
Elix
That did it. I finally said words that angered him enough to make him lose the faux pleasant expression on his face and meet my glare with his own. I shouldn’t have wanted to make him as mad as I was, but it was truly a misery loves company moment for me. He had walked in with such cocky arrogance, I’d wanted to smack his face—and his perfect ass in unison.
His presence overwhelmed me, made me dizzy and awkward. I struggled to take control of the situation.
And now I’d made him mad.
Good.
“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Jace spat at me. “I’m the Alpha King of Goldhaven. Perhaps you’ve forgotten.”
“Yep. I’m well aware,” I replied flatly. “You don’t have to keep reminding me. I’m not deaf.”
He bared his teeth at me, and another rush of excitement burst through me, sending yet barrages of gooseflesh through my body, not unlike the first batch that I’d gotten when I’d first opened the door to him. The effect he had on me was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.
It was hard to believe that this was the same king I remembered as a kid. Sure, Jace had always been handsome, and I wasn’t kidding when I said that there were photos of him plastered all over the kingdom in advertisements for all his supposed public services. I knew what he looked like. But seeing him in person, up close, the impact he had on me was unlike anything I recalled from childhood or noticing him on the flyers all over the city. He literally took my breath away as he stood before me.
There was a maturity about him now that hadn’t existed a decade ago, or at least, I hadn’t noticed it in twenty-two-year-old Jace—not that I’d paid him that much attention. He had been the king but also my mother’s employer, and an imposing figure who flittered through the palace like a shadow to me.
Had his eyes always been so smoldering and dark, his lips so full? Even in the low light, his thick, sepia hair gleamed healthily, matching the sexy beard on his chin. I was drawn to him, the urge to put my hands on his wide shoulders overcoming me in an insurmountable way that took me aback. I physically had to turn away to stop myself from doing something stupid.
Was that why I was antagonizing him? To get him to leave before I reacted foolishly?
All I knew was that I wasn’t thinking straight.
I’m just overwhelmed. Too much has happened today. That’s why I’m feeling like this.
“I’m doing you a favor by letting you stay here,” he went on, and the magic trance of his beauty dissipated some—but definitely not entirely. I couldn’t stop staring at him.
“You’re not doingmea favor,” I shot back. “You’re doing Saint a favor. I don’t want to be here.”
He scoffed, but my answer appeared to startle him.
“You’re okay being kidnapped, then?” he countered sarcastically. “How foolish of me. I thought you might want to be safe.”
Red colored my cheeks as I realized that Saint had told him everything.
“You need my protection. Your powers are far too coveted, Elix. Why are you making this such a fight?”
“No, I don’t need your protection!” I insisted, spinning away. “Just because Saint said that doesn’t make it true.”
I stormed through the entranceway toward the bedroom, not caring if Jace was following or not. In there, the lights were on, and my book sat open on the bed where I’d been reading. He paused at the doorway between the two rooms as I flopped back down and picked up the novel, pretending to read, although it was impossible under his intense stare.
Even without looking up, I could feel his curious look on me, taking in the curve of my legs tucked against the blankets. He was checking me out, even though he was trying to be covert about it.
“Hey…” he growled, clearly displeased by my tone and attitude. “I will not allow you to treat me with such disrespect.”
I flipped my gaze up from the pages indifferently. “And you can’t treat me like a prisoner! Just because my powers are stronger than most, doesn’t give anyone the right to treat me like… like an outcast! How am I supposed to react?”
Much to my dismay, my voice cracked, giving away my frustration, but in that, a flicker of compassion ignited on Jace’s face.
“Your powers are unharnessed,” he reminded me bluntly. “If you had any control over them, you wouldn’t be in this situation, would you?”
I scoffed, but his words stung me deeply. He was right. What good were my abilities if I couldn’t master them? I still randomly set things on fire or created tornados without trying.
“So that gives you the right to keep me here under lock and key?” I mutter dully.
