He thinks I’m repulsed by his behaviour. He is assuming that I’ve dumped him, even though we weren’t really in a relationship to begin with.
He was cold at breakfast because he believes I don’t like him anymore and he was trying desperately to pretend he didn’t care. He didn’t want to show me his wounded heart.
But he just let his mask slip. Just for a second. But that’s all I need. A second allows me to see everything.
He does care. He more than cares. He is heartbroken. This needy, vulnerable boy latched onto me and now he is convinced I have rejected him for having a meltdown.
Above me, Prys leans forward and takes Llywelyn’s hand. Llywelyn blushes and stares at Prys with such nervous, uncertain hope in his eyes that I want to gouge my own eyes out so I never have to see it again.
Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.
This is terrible. Llywelyn is cold stone sober. He is not going to let me pick him up and carry him away this time. He is not going to let Tae bare his teeth.
How am I going to save him?
Chapter twenty-five
This is terrible. I’m stuck here, sitting on the floor, listening to Prys weave his web of deception while wrapping Llywelyn tighter and tighter in it.
I don’t think he is playing a long game. I think he intends to get Llywelyn into bed tonight. And it sounds like he is going to succeed.
Trying to think logically isn’t helping me at all. Llywelyn getting fucked by this bastard shouldn’t feel like the end of the world, but it does. It feels like an impending tragedy and atrocity and the very thought of it is making me feel like I’m going to combust.
I don’t want him to sleep with someone else because he thinks I don’t want him anymore. And I really don’t want Prys touching Llywelyn’s naked body, putting his grubby hands all over him.
Prys is cruel and self-serving. Llywelyn is vulnerable and nervous and sometimes shy. He doesn’t know what affection is. Allowing Prys to have him is abhorrent. I should be the only person who gets to see Llywelyn undone.
Wait. What the hell? Did that thought really cross my mind? I’m I really feeling possessive thoughts about Llywelyn? No, that can’t be right. My emotions are getting tangled up. I must be feeling protective because I know he is a grooming victim. The survivor of a predator.
That makes a lot more sense. Protective, not possessive.
Not that this distinction helps at all with coming up with a plan to keep Prys away from Llywelyn. I have a horrible feeling I’m going to have to do something stupid.
Just as my panic builds to a crescendo, Tae pads silently into the room. He unobtrusively clears some empty cups away from the table and lays a bowl of fruit out. He drops a teaspoon on the floor and kneels down beside me to retrieve it. His green eyes flash at me with concern.
He is worried too. It is not just me losing my mind and being irrational. Oh god, that’s not a comfort at all. I’d much rather be losing my mind if it meant Llywelyn was safe.
“We need to do something,” I whisper.
He bites his bottom lip.
“Any ideas?” I plead. Because I’m drawing blanks.
He stares at me for a moment, then he nods sharply and scurries out of the room. I stare after him while my stomach clenches tighter and tighter. Oh god, please let Tae be able to do something.
“So, Your Highness. Are you going to invite me to your bed?” purrs Prys.
The words ooze over me. I swear to god I nearly growl in response.
“I…um… maybe,” replies Llywelyn, the uncertainty clear in his voice.
Oh sweet baby. He doesn’t even know how to flirt. This is terrible.
Prys leans closer. “If you liked me, you would.”
Suddenly the doors fling open, hard enough to make me flinch. Swift enough to make Prys recoil and move away from Llywelyn.
I sigh in relief as Prince Selwyn strides in. His horns look more prominent than usual and there is a dangerous gleam in his brown eyes.
