“I’m sorry,” I mumbled awkwardly. I turned to the female who regarded me with crossed arms and a rigid demeanor. “Sorry,” I said quickly to her as well, his earlier words about her being a soldier finally penetrating the haze of my rage.
I rushed to leave the arena before I could embarrass myself further and made it just inside the tunnel before a rough hand clamped on my bicep, whirling me around. The action yanked me off balance, and I found myself careening into Sin’s chest.
With lightning fast reflexes, he trapped me against him. “Would you please stop for one second and actually listen to me? Peywyn is my partner in the Elemental Games. We were training in close combat fighting. She had a band of water at my throat choking me, or I would have explained when I first saw you.”
Behind him, Peywyn threw up her hands in exasperation and stomped out of the arena. It was the response of someone annoyed that their training had been interrupted, not someone upset that their boyfriend was now holding another woman. Which had to mean he was telling the truth. Once again I had made a complete and utter ass of myself.
“Oh.”
“'Oh?' That’s all I get?” His glare faded as the corner of his lip twitched up. “Fea Remia, you wanted to murder Peywyn. I believe I deserve more than 'oh.'”
“Well 'oh' is all you get,” I said, now struggling to break his tight embrace. I needed to get back to my room and die of mortification in peace.
He relaxed his hold on me enough to slide his hands down to my forearms, the firm grip indicating that he wasn’t letting go just yet.
“You never answered my question,” he said.
“What question?”
“I asked if you get jealous whenever Dey speaks to another female.”
Answering that was the last thing I wanted to do. His ego was big enough. I opened my mouth to give some flippant response, but he stopped me.
“The truth, Rain. I can tell when you’re lying.”
I didn’t know how the hell he could possibly do that, but the confidence in his eyes gave me pause. I glared at him and tugged my arms, trying to break free.
His grip only tightened. “Tell me the truth and I’ll let you go.”
I didn’t see any way out of it, so I grit my teeth and said, “I haven’t seen him speak to many other females, but no, I don’t get jealous. For some reason you manage to bring out my violent side.” When he grinned, I added, “That’s not a compliment.”
He leaned forward and whispered in my ear, “To me it is.”
I could feel nearly every muscle in my body clench with desire at the heat in his words. The gentle scrape of his stubble against my cheek and his warm breath on the shell of my ear had the memory of our kiss flooding my brain, and I could think of nothing else.
He pulled back slightly and my body protested the loss of his heat. I swallowed roughly and tried to find my north star. Sin was like a damned hurricane. Every time I was close to him I always seemed to lose my bearings.
“Will you let go of me now?” I asked tightly, doing my best to hide how he had affected me.
He gave me a sly grin. “Nah.”
I gaped at him and pulled against his grip. “But I answered your damn question. You said you’d let me go.”
“I lied,” he said, his smirk widening. “Asshole, remember?”
He was lucky he had both my hands trapped, or I would have smacked the grin off his face. Or I might have thrown my armsaround him and let another 'mistake' happen. My mind and body were frequently at odds when it came to him.
He let me struggle briefly, then the pressure of his grip loosened, and he stepped back. “You can go if you really want to, but I’d rather you just tell me what brought you here in the first place.”
I rubbed my arms absently, enjoying the slight soreness I felt there, the reminder of how tightly he had held me and how much he didn’t want to let go. I shouldn’t like it as much as I did.
“I need your help to manifest my powers,” I confessed. “I’ve been here almost a week, and nothing has happened yet. I can’t wait any longer.”
Sin’s curious expression sank into a frown. “What’s the rush?”
I didn’t want to tell him that my father was ashamed of me, so I settled for something safer. Lifting my chin, I said, “The sooner I get my powers the sooner I can travel to the Onyx Palace. I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to.”
A muscle feathered in Sin’s jaw. “And how exactly do you think I can help with this?”
