Chapter Twenty-Six
Luckily, Karvek didn’t intend for her to stay all night; once she’d picked up on enough to satisfy him, he’d sent Iryana to wait for her escort back.
She still couldn’t quite believe it.She would be forged.
“Iryana?” Pyetar’s voice came from behind her. “Karvek sent for me to escort you back to the—”
She turned around, stealing the breath from his mouth.
Pyetar’s lips were parted, with the slightest crease between his eyebrows, and his eyes were wide with shock. He looked like he had been pulled from his bed, not bothering to put a vest or armor over his white shirt. She doubted he had been asleep though; his eyes were too alert.
“Let’s go then,” she answered with relief, slipping past him out the narrow door he had entered through. She felt a thrill at the way his eyes followed her, magnified by the magic she wore.
Being around Pyetar when she was like this was not agood idea.
She was only a few steps into the small alcove that looked like it stretched around the building when Pyetar stopped her with a graze of his fingers on her shoulder. The touch sent a tingle all the way down to her toes.
“Pyetar,” she admonished, more playful than she intended, spinning on her heels to face him. She liked the way he scrambled not to barrel into her, how out of breath he looked.
She felt drunk. She hadwon.
“He paraded you around in this.” It was an accusation, not a question. His eyes were nearly black.
Her heart skipped. The idea of Pyetar being jealous made heat spread through her. She had been equal parts celebration and regret, but both were easily knocked aside.
She stepped closer. “I was a distraction. Well, I suppose it is mostly the dress, but someone had to wear it.”
“If I had known, I wouldn’t have let him force you to wear this.” He looked down and his eyes lingered, then yanked his head up as if he hadn’t meant to look.
Iryana sucked in a slow breath, feeling tense and hot under his gaze. “I’ve seen men and women half-naked in Karvek’s hall, sprawling across each other in the dark corners. You’ve seen more skin during dinner than you’re seeing right now.”
“Barely.” He swallowed. “It’s not the same as a few lovers in the shadows. They get caught up in the act, feeding off the attention.”
“So you wouldn’t have a problem with this dress then, if I were in the process of taking it off?” She didn’t know what had come over her, but she couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out of her mouth.
Well, shedidknow what came over her. The dress amplifying her attraction to Pyetar.
She raised a brow at him. “You wouldn’t have a problem if I were entwined with some man in the hall, his hands pulling off my clothes and baring my skin instead of a dress simply not covering it?”
The air whooshed out of Pyetar as he staggered. He looked like his world had been sent tilting on its axis. His eyes struggled to hold on to hers, dipping down to her mouth, lower.
She knew she was playing with fire, that she was pushing him and herself too far, but it felt too good to stop.
She haddone it. She could save her family. There was no stronger pleasure.
“Does this bother you?” she demanded.
“You being forced to wear it bothers me.”
“Of course I was forced to wear it,” she snapped without any bite. “But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth it. And it doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying the way you’re looking at me.”
He stared at her, and she found herself wondering what he saw.
She was flushed; she could feel how warm her face was. Whatever he saw seemed to make up his mind. Pyetar’s eyes explored her, trailing through her unbraided hair, tracing the curve of her shoulders, lingering on the gauzy fabric pooling above her bodice.
His gaze left a searing trail, as if he were touching her skin instead of just looking at it.
Iryana was breathing hard, her ribs straining against the tight silk, her chest rising and falling in a quickening rhythm that seemed to entrance him.
