Page 73 of Ocean of Silver

I turned around, having no idea why the gesture made me nervous. At least with the Complete Alluse on, Tezya wouldn’t be able to sense my emotions tonight—he wouldn’t know how his touch would affect me. That in itself had me feeling slightly better about what we’d have to do.

Tezya’s knuckles grazed the top of my neck, and I got the feeling he was taking his time clasping the chain. Maybe he was trying to delay the inevitable. Maybe if we showed up late, we’d have less time to put on ourperformance. But somehow, I had a sinking feeling that the King’s warning wasn’t an empty threat, that it would be worse than the cage in the dungeons if we disobeyed him.

“Let’s go,” Tezya said. His fingers grazed the back of my arm until they trailed down to my elbow. He hooked his arm with mine as he turned me around. Then we started walking toward where the celebration would be held—toward where Sie was. My heart raced, and nerves tore through me so thoroughly that I felt like I was going to pass out.

The King must have calculated our entrance into the dining room because we walked through the doors at the same time as Sie and Reagan. The latter glared at me, took in my dress, my mostly bare skin, and sneered, “Whore.”

Sie did nothing. He didn’t utter a single word to me or react to Reagan’s comment. I honestly didn’t know if he even heard it. He just stopped moving and stared at me like he saw a ghost. He acted like he was surprised to see me, like he had absolutely no idea that I’d be here tonight.

His onyx eyes were wide as he gaped at me, unblinking. I couldn’t see where his pupils merged with his irises, but I knew they were fully blown. His lips parted slightly before I forced myself to look away.

I didn’t take a breath until Tezya unlinked our arms and placed his hand on the open part of my back. He was so deadly calm as he replied to Sie’s new bride, “Be careful what you say on Luxian soil, or you’ll find yourself without a tongue. I don’t take people disrespecting others lightly, especially my date.”

Reagan balked as if only just noticing that I was standing with the youngest Luxian Prince. That I was with the Fire Prince. Tezya didn’t wait long enough to hear her reply as he led me through the doors in front of them.

I didn’t know how I would feel when I saw him, but I was surprised to find mostly anger. Seeing him with Reagan on his arm had me seething. I kept wondering what he would say to me if we were alone. Would he even try to speak to me?

Sie’s dark eyes never left mine as we entered the room, and I could feel him tracking us as we walked toward the table. My necklace felt like a shackle. It was so tight around my neck that if I started hyperventilating, it would choke me. It was a weight. A reminder that I was still a prisoner. That the Lux King could force me to do whatever he pleased. Would Sie have entered my mind if I wasn’t wearing it? Would he say anything to me if he could?

He had plenty of opportunities to explain his actions while I was still on Tennebrisian soil, yet he didn’t. I wasn’t wearing an Alluse necklace then. Nothing was around my neck when our marriage was annulled, and he never once reached out to me. He never tried. This wouldn’t be any different.

Tezya slumped into the chair, displaying a perfect image of arrogance, and I realized that they only gave us one seat,one.He grinned up at me. It was more of a sly smirk than his usual full smile, but it still made my breathing ragged. His legs were spread as he held his arm out—an invitation. Just like we were instructed to do.

I sucked in a breath as I sat on his lap. He was still grinning as I adjusted my weight on his legs, shifting, trying to find a way to sit without touching a certain part of him. Tezya gripped my hips and pulled me into him, right overtop where I was trying to avoid. There wasn’t an inch of my body that wasn’t now pressed into his. “We have to be believable,” he whispered, “or Athler will make things worse for us.”

My breath hitched. I hadn’t been this close to him since I had asked him to sleep with me in the mortal territory a week ago. Mercifully, Tezya never talked about it, and I never brought it up. We both acted like that night never happened.

I scanned the room, and to my horror, everyone was looking at us. Tezya told me days earlier that he had never brought a date to the annual meeting before, not even Kallon. So showing up with me tonight was going to make a statement. He warned me that everyone would probably be staring at us, not just the Dark Prince.

And Sie hadn’t stopped staring.

Tezya’s hand cupped my bare thigh through the open slit of my dress as his other hand snaked up my neck. Gently, he pulled my head down so that I met his eyes. The silver was outshining the crystal blue tonight. His lips brushed my earlobe, sending shivers down my spine. “Look at me,” he whispered so only I could hear. His voice was deep and throaty and had my stomach in a knot. “Don’t look at him.”

I could feel onyx eyes burning into me as Tezya and I were positioned in perfect view of Sie and his entourage, the strappy back of my dress on display for everyone to see. If Sie possessed fire, there would have been nothing left of either of us. I sank into Tezya ever so slightly, thankful that I wasn’t alone in this. Thankful that, even though he did a better job at hiding it, he was suffering through it too.

“He looks like he’s going to kill you,” I replied bitterly to Tezya. Where was Peter? He was supposed to warn Sie not to react, but the future King of Tennebris seemed shocked, like he wasn’t expecting to see me here, especially not in the arms of the youngest Luxian Prince.

“I can handle it,” Tezya smiled as he gazed over my shoulder to stare at the Dark Prince, and I could only imagine the pure rage it caused Sie. Tezya’s smirk widened as he drew me in closer.

“You’re making it worse,” I commented. “What are you doing?” Not that it mattered, we didn’t have a choice in what was still expected of us tonight, but Tezya didn’t need to look so smug doing it.

“I’m trying,” Tezya purred as his hand traveled up my back, “to get him worked up enough to enter my mind.”

“What?”

“I think we’re beyond him not reacting, so if I can get him pissed off enough to speak with me, then maybe I can explain everything to him. He won’t risk saying anything to me where others can hear, not on Luxian soil, not in front of the Lux King, but maybe he’ll threaten me mind to mind. It’s early enough in the night that if he stops looking like a jealous, pissed-off puppy, and he starts ignoring us, it might still work.”

“You really think he’d threaten you telepathically?” I asked. I hadn’t thought about the fact that Tezya wasn’t wearing Alluse. All we needed was to get Sie to initiate a conversation with him.

“Based on the look of murder in his eyes, I’d say so. I wouldn’t put it past him to tell me face to face if the Lux King wasn’t openly watching us.”

I sat up straighter, but it only caused me to accidentally grind against him. “Fuck,” Tezya groaned. His cock hardened in the process, and we both stilled. Tezya’s hand stopped midway up my back. I could feel the thick length of him growing against my thigh.

“Sorry,” I blushed, and then I laughed. I actually laughed. It wasn’t even remotely funny. Nothing about this situation was. I had no idea why I was laughing, but once I started, my emotions just kept spilling out, and I couldn’t stop.

Tezya smiled at my reaction, his scar inching higher on his face. “I hadn’t realized me being turned on was so funny to you.”

That got me to stop laughing. Was I turning him on? I didn’t know what to do or what to say back, so I said nothing. I just sat there as his fingers started to follow their path back up the straps of my dress again.

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