Shit.
He led Kailia forward, and the moment they stepped onto the first stair, the entire room rose. Excited chatter broke out as they watched them descend the staircase, a path left open down the center of the room that led to the dance floor.
Once in the center, Kailia turned to him, and as they got into position for the first dance, he said, “Back to the topic at hand.”
She was looking at her feet, and she glanced at him before looking back down. “What topic?”
“Of me showing you touch can be more than torture.”
Her gaze flew back to his. “You want to discuss this now?”
He shrugged, taking her hand in his and sliding his arm around her waist. His magic lingered beneath his palms, dark tendrils winding between their fingers. “Seems as good a time as any.”
The music started, and he urged her into the first steps as she replied, “This hardly seems like a good time to discussthat.”
He hummed, twirling her out and pulling her back to him, tucking her in a little closer this time. “I stand by my comment.”
“What comment?” she demanded, her gaze locked on his and her amber eyes blazing.
“That you would like my orders.”
“Perhaps you would like mine,” she retorted.
“Oh, wife, you have no idea,” he said, his voice dropping an entire octave.
She scoffed, but there was a tentative spark of intrigue that danced in her eyes. “As if you’d let me give you orders.”
He twirled her again, her steps perfect.
All of this so effortless.
When he pulled her back this time, her front was flush against his. His voice was low, his words feathering across her lips when he said, “You want me on my knees, I’m at your feet. You want me crawling to you, tell me how far. You want me to prove touch can be ecstasy, done. Tell me how to make you feel good, and I’ll obey every word down to the letter. As long as it’s my name on your lips when you fall into pleasure, I’ll take any orders you want to give me, wife.”
She was staring up at him, her hand clasped in his against his chest and a flush creeping along her cheeks. “You act like you’ve been thinking about this,” she murmured.
“I absolutely have been,” he answered.
He’d spent every night beside her in bed since thenagasky, and as he’d known it would, every night became an increasingly difficult exercise in self-control. Of forcing himself to keep hishands to himself. He’d had moments of weakness though. Like when he was sure she was in a deep enough sleep, he’d gently brush a knuckle along her cheek or run his fingers through her silky strands. If he were lucky, she’d roll over in her sleep, and her fingers would graze his arm or her leg would nudge against his. He absolutely understood how utterly pathetic it was. That he would hold his breath in those moments and hope that would be the night she’d seek him out in her sleep.
So yes, despite knowing it was a terrible idea, he’d been thinking about all the ways he could convince her to let him touch her. To prove that touch could be as pleasurable as it could be painful. To prove that she would only ever find the former at his hand and never the latter.
“Cethin I—” she started, but the song ended then, the crowd applauding. Her eyes widened as she stared up at him. “You were distracting me.”
He smirked. “Yes, but every word was true.”
He stepped back, wishing he didn’t have to, but this was still a celebration. People came from everywhere to see them. So he took her hand and twirled her under his arm, her train flaring around her, and she laughed, caught off guard by the action. The crowd clapped more, some whistles sounding, and when he pulled her back to him, he pressed a kiss to the place just below her ear. He felt her stumble into him, felt her heart stutter. The musicians were starting their next number, and they were swept into another dance as others joined them.
Cethin managed to keep Kailia to himself for three more songs before others approached. The guards were under strict instruction as to who could be allowed near Kailia, while he was more than comfortable dancing with whomever asked. He’d been attending such events since he was born, raised to play the role of Crown Prince and then king from his first breath.
But after every dance with another, she came back to him without fail, relief flashing in her eyes as she took his hand and his arm went around her waist, pulling her close.
Maybe he was proving something after all.
Chapter 33
Kailia
This night had been exactly what she’d expected it to be but also everything she hadn’t.
