That woman was still staring…
If I weren’t an elf, would I find that attractive?
My gaze homed in on his muscles. I tipped my head in thought, his vest opening enough so that I could see the dips on his hips arrowing down to the goods these shifter women so desperately wanted, his black, leather pants hanging shockingly low. Why hadn’t I noticed that before? His stylist was just as risqué as Mother’s prodigy. He could stand to pull up his pants—now.
But those muscles… What was so great about them?
They were far too large ever to be viewed as an elf’s, way too disturbing and disgusting to be attractive.
I tapped on my mouth as a visceral flashback sliced into my thoughts:his biceps flexing as he placed his hands on the mattress next to my shoulders, his stomach musclesclenchingwith each thrust he made inside my body. I choked on air, and patted at my chest, heat spiking hard inside my gut. Oh…my. I swiftly pressed my thighs together, not expecting that.
King Athon’s head snapped up from a ring he was viewing from a haggling merchant who had interrupted their discussion—that man should be removed—the shifter king’s suddenly brutal gaze roaming the ballroom, all civility from before lost on his features, showing the beast he truly was. His nostrils flared wide on his warm russet face, and his angular jaw hardened to rock. Those solid black eyes pegged my person in the next second, his shifter’s sense of smell more accurate than I cared to think about.
I placed my hand over my mouth and looked away.
Holy Fairy. Was that how he was jumping our intimate hurdle? Thinking about our sexual experiences instead ofwhatI was? We were many things to each other, none of which were good.
This was beyond confusing. He was ashifter.
He was my Fae damned enemy. We killed each other’s people without a second thought when we deemed it necessary for our own kingdom. The death toll in the realm had gone down in recent years, albeit assassinations still occurred with nary a tear shed. Wehatedone another.
I slowly straightened my shoulders and lowered my hand, clearing my throat brutally. Once I had myself under control, I hesitantly slid my gaze back in his direction.
The King of Shifters wore a roguish smirk while he spoke to the two women of his kind—one of Father’s guards now dragging the haggler away by the scruff of his neck. I didn’t even need to cheat to understand what King Athon was feeling. It was blatant in the arrogant tilt of his chin and that self-assured smile he kept flashing the women.
The fucker was smug as Fairy right now.
I sniffed.Bastard.
This wasn’t humorous in the slightest.
And still…my gaze raked over his muscles underneath his vest, the ties to it bizarrely missing, allowing anyone to view his naked chest. A smidgen of lust heated between my legs again—embarrassingly so when another unwanted memory assaulted my mind. This was rightly strange…and I wondered if I could convince him to put on a cape. There had to be clothing large enough for him here—it was a great castle, after all.
I toyed with the idea, and then tossed it aside.
There wasn’t a chance in Fairy he would agree.
A servant stopped behind my frozen frame, a flash of white hair in my peripheral as I turned my head. A voice I knew well whispered against the back of my head, “Move along, Trix. Others will notice your absence soon.”
I nodded once. Caspian was right.
“Guarding me tonight?” I questioned.
He quietly chuckled. “Of course.”
Caspian slipped further back into the shadows, vanishing from view completely, as he maneuvered between conversing guests.
I reverted my attention to the King of Shifters.
His nose wiggled the barest bit, and a slight sneer formed before he hid it from his companions—the quickest glower flew in my direction and then disappeared.
I sighed and turned my attention from him—it was much safer this way for now. I drifted back out into the ballroom to continue meeting my people, trusting him to behave and not have any of his kind charred down to ash.
It would be dreadful if I ruined my parents’ party, after all.
Burning fleshstinks. Horribly so.
* * *
