“I know what you’re doing, princess,” Finn said as he approached Ora. The girl was beautiful, but the older they got, the more Finn saw her for what she was: a snake.
Ora rolled her eyes and closed the book she’d been reading. She pilfered through the different books stacked in the empty library Rennick had built for Amelia, separating them into different stacks. She gestured to the piles. “Helping?”
Finn snorted. “Sucking up.” Her eyes flared. “I saw the boots you helped Ren pick out for A—Orissa.”
Ora sniffed and turned back to the stacks of books. “They’re very in style right now.”
“The style is,” Finn agreed, “but no one in their right minds would wear that color. What is it you’re trying to do?” He couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Ora might have Ren fooled that she wanted the best for him and his mate, but what she really wanted was him.
What he couldn’t figure out was what she thought she’d gain by pissing off his mate.
“How would you know what’s in style?” she snapped. “You wear leathers everywhere.”
Finn normally didn’t stay for Amelia to open her gifts because he needed to get back to training. The rebel attacks were getting worse, and he and Rennick spent their time either training or on scouting missions. Ren would take over as king interim this year, and they’d be even busier. But Amelia’s expression when she read Ren’s last letter intrigued Finn, and he’d stayed.
The boots were the ugliest color he’d ever seen, but the fact that Amelia didn’t look surprised told Finn the gifts she’d previously received were likely equally as bad. He’d never seen her, not in her pajamas, and now he couldn’t help but wonder what else Ora had helped Ren pick out. Now he wished he’d stayed to see them all.
“I’m telling Ren to not let you anywhere near her gifts,” he told her.
“You’re being dramatic,” Ora said, but he saw the panic in her eyes. “You’ve always been jealous of how close Ren and I are.”
Finn blinked. She had to be joking, but when he saw the conviction on her face, he burst out laughing.
She marched forward and shoved him, but he barely budged. “Why are you laughing?”
“Because you’re insane,” he said, trying to hold it together. “Do you really think you and Ren are closer than he and I?”
Now she looked at him like he was the crazy one. “We are!”
Ren stepped into the library and looked between Finn and Ora. “What are you two fighting about now?”
Ora’s bright eyes challenged Finn, daring him to say something. In a way, he felt sorry for the girl. She had no other friends other than he and Ren, and while he always suspected she thought she was Ren’s mate, it was possible she was worried she’d be pushed out of their circle.
He’d do what he could to ensure she wouldn’t interfere anymore. Shaking his head, he looked to Ren and shrugged. “Nothing. Are you ready to go?”
Ren appeared suspicious, but he nodded. “Yes. Father is waiting for us.”
Finn smirked at Ora, who glared back. “See you around, princess.”
12
EIGHT MONTHS LATER
Rennick wavered in the middle of the celebration as Amelia’s emotions stole his breath. They were celebrating the capture of the leader of the rebel faction they’d chased for years, but the celebration halted, and people stopped to stare at Rennick clutching Finn’s arm.
Nervous energy zipped through him, and his breaths grew shorter. His brain tried to sort out what he felt. Not fear or pain, but excitement and pleasure tainted with…obligationandguiltwere the best words he could think to describe it.
He knew her self-pleasure like the back of his hand, but this was different than when she touched herself at night. It continued to build, and he was hyperaware of everyone in the ballroom watching him.
Amelia’s orgasm brought him to his knees. A moan of pleasure tried to break free, but he slammed his lips shut. There was no choice but to ride it out in the least humiliating way possible.
As his breathing evened out and the tingles subsided, his heart dropped at the realization of what he’d felt.
She gave someone what Rennick thought would be his.
It’d been almost five months since he’d seen her, and six since he’d written. Over the last few years, the rebel faction had grown bolder, terrorizing the four fae kingdoms with an unfathomable amount of attacks and resulting casualties. Rennick spent most of his time with the warriors, the council, or hunting down those who burned and pillaged villages.
He took over as king interim last year, as is customary in the Mountain Kingdom, adding more stress to his plate. Being one of their top warriors, Finn spent most days training new and established warriors or leading scouting missions, so he couldn’t spare time to deliver any letters.
