Kennix scowls. Dark circles hang under his eyes, and his stubble is messier than normal. “As you wish, sire.”
“Kennix—” I start, but he’s gone before I can stop him. He pushes through the crowd, heading back towards the castle. For a moment, I consider following him, until the sound of trumpets and drums pulls my attention to the stage.
My wife stands with her head tilted, her hands crossed over her tutu and her front foot pointed in the centre of the stage. Her sisters mirror her, one girl on either side, each dressed in fluffy white tutus.
As the music builds, her arms lift. My lips part. She leaps. Then I can’t look away.
The three of them dance together, but she’s the only one I see. She’s like an angel. More than an angel. Ethereal. Her body moves in ways I didn’t think possible, and I’m suddenly very aware of the crowd watching her, too.
Feasting their eyes onmywife’sswaying thighs…
Her arching back.
Her flushed cheeks.
Her soft rosebud lips?—
“Who’s the dark-haired beauty?”
She’s fucking mine.I whip around, my hands balled into fists, only to freeze. Surprise clogs my throat.
“Easy there, cousin.” A demon I absolutely did not invite holds up his palms, grinning.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Navir?” I shove him back a few steps. “Get out of my gardens before I separate your head from its body.”
The tall demon laughs, thrusting his hands into his pockets. “I heard darling Maeve had a child and that said child is now living here with you.” His raven hair and ram-like horns glint in the starlight. “Am I not allowed to visit my precious cousin’s daughter?”
“You are not welcome here,” I snarl. “You or your cronies.”
He smirks. “Mycourtisn’t here tonight. So you can relax, dear cousin. I’m all yours.”
“Your court?” I scoff. His brutish friends could never come close to the term, but I’m not in the mood to argue or spendany longer chatting to the son of my late father’s greatest enemy. “Leave, Navir. I won’t ask again.”
His smirk falls. But then his gaze searches over my shoulder, darkening. “Tell me who the dark-haired angel is first, then I’ll go.”
“That. Is. My. Wife.” It takes everything in me not to break his perfect nose.
Navir laughs. “Not her. The other one, the pretty girl on the left.” His tone is casual, but there’s a hunger in his words. A hunger I know all too well.
“Don’t even think about it,” I warn. I’m not about to offer Princess Blossom to an exiled demon. Especially not one who’s looking at her like she’s a freshly cooked steak and he hasn’t eaten in weeks. “She’s no one.”
“Hmm.” He doesn’t take his eyes off her. “Suppose I’ll visit the buffet then. All the best, cousin!”
The crowds part as he walks away, my guests too busy enjoying the party to recognise him. I’d call the guards to escort him out, but I don’t want to create a scene. As long as he behaves, he can enjoy the buffet, assuming that’s the only thing he enjoys at this party.
Besides, I have a more tempting problem to deal with. Like my dark-haired wife as she curtsies to the crowd.
I can’t help it, I charge towards her. But when I make it through the crowd to the backstage area, I find Blossom and Eden talking giddily to each other while their sister is nowhere to be seen.
“Where is my wife?” I demand.
They glance up at me, then look around, confused, until Eden gasps.
I follow her gaze. It’s then that I see her. She’s marching through the party, her jaw tight, heading straight towards my wicked cousin.
Fuck. “Dahlia!” I sprint after her.
She ignores me. I’m breaths away from grabbing her wrists when she reaches him, her voice furious. “If you don’t stop staring at my sister, I will break your face, demon.”
