Page 75 of Ocean of Silver

Even without sensing my emotions with his abilities, he knew the effect he was having on me. He knew exactly what he was doing. I’d never seen him so terrifying. He looked like the commander of the Luxian army that I heard about. He looked like a warrior, no, like the Fire Prince, and I realized I wasn’t afraid.

“Scotlind Rumor. I do not give a shit about the Tennebrisian Prince right now. And if I hear you say his name one more time, I’m going to fuck you so hard that you’ll forget it.”

I was trying my best not to pay attention to his hand moving further and further up my leg. His other arm was still entwined in my curls, forcing me to meet his stare. His words made my heart skip a beat even though the entire room definitely heard them too. He hadn’t whispered them, and now Sie knew I was talking about him.

But despite the humiliation from everyone witnessing this chaos, despite knowing Sie was still watching, despite understanding the consequences, it felt right. Wrong and right all at once. The feel of his lips against my throat. The way he held me, pressing his body into mine, keeping me locked against the wall. His chest beat in time to my racing heart.

His lips were soft as he slowly leaned back into me, drawing my full attention so I could no longer think of anything else. He kissed me everywhere but my mouth, like there was some part of withdrawal he was holding onto. Tezya hardened against me as he moaned into my ear. The scar against his cheek scraped my face as he pulled me in closer.

His hand cupped my breast, and Goddess kill me, it was all I could focus on. I wanted his lips there instead, sucking and teasing. “You’re so fucking perfect,” he murmured into my mouth, his calloused hand brushing across my peaked nipple.

“Tezya,” I breathed, stopping him right before he was about to finally kiss me. As much as my body wanted it, I couldn’t let it happen. Not here. Not like this. Not when it wasn’t our own choice. “You’re only acting this way because of Athler.”

“No, I’m not, Rumor,” he growled. “I meant what I said. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time now. I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you.” His fingers finally released and let go of its death grip on my hair, but now his hand was gliding down my face, cupping my cheek.

More sweat dripped down his temple. He shook out his white locks in frustration, like he was fighting it. His eyes lost a bit of its glaze, returning to normal enough to say, “Fuck. You need to leave right now,” he ordered. His voice was low, but he didn’t release his grip on me either. My legs were still loosely wrapped around him, my back pressed into the cold wall as he held me up, pinning me. He closed his eyes. “Scotlind, please. I can’t fight this much longer.”

I lost my breath. The way he said my name… Everything left me but him. “I can’t take this back,” he panted into my mouth. “What I’m about to do… what I’m going to do to you in a matter of seconds… I can’t… take… it… back.”

“I don’t want you to.” I surprised myself. I hadn’t meant to say it. I knew Athler wasn’t affecting me too, not with his powers. I was wearing the Alluse necklace, but it felt like my emotions were jarred. I wanted Tezya. I wanted all of him.

His eyes snapped open, searching deeply into me. Moments passed, and I didn’t know how long we stayed like that. My hands slowly found their way to his face. My fingers stroked the shaved bottom half of his hair. I was surprised that I could feel his scar wrap around the back of his head. How did he get a scar so brutal and survive? It looked like someone went to cleave his face in two.

My own scar from my palm was brushing against Tezya’s. I pushed his hair back, exposing the full breadth of it. It was thick and raised over his skin. A piece of his dark eyebrow was missing as the smaller scar sliced through the dark hair there. An inch lower and he would have lost his eye. His beautiful silver eyes. I stared at him, studied him, as he did the same to me.

I pressed my forehead against his, inhaling his scent. Our lips were so close that I could feel a tingling charge in the air, egging me to close the distance. Tezya didn’t move. We stayed like that, breathing shared air, lost in the moment.

Sweat no longer poured from his temples. His shaking subsided slightly. He was still panting, but his breaths were slowing, gradually returning to normal. He wasn’t under Athler’s spell anymore, but he still held me against the wall. I forgot about everyone around me. How long had we been lost in our own protective shield?

Then everything happened at once. Sie was a step closer to us. I hadn’t realized he moved. He looked like he was one second away from strangling Tezya. His fists kept clenching and unclenching at his side as if trapped, contemplating what to do next.

Athler clicked his tongue and walked off, drawing my gaze from Sie back to Tezya. Tez’s eyes flared to life as he realized what had just unfolded. He gently set me down and withdrew his hands from my body the moment my feet hit the floor. The straps to my dress were torn, causing half of it to hang off. The material that he pulled up my thigh slowly slid back down my leg. My hair was fully down now. Any pin that was used to maintain its updo was scattered on the floor around us.

The proof of his attraction still showed through his pants, but he didn’t seem concerned about his own humiliation as everyone gathered around us to gawk. I could hear people whispering, but it was all too much to make out what anyone was saying. His eyes never left mine.

“Scotlind, shit. I’m so sorry,” he whispered low enough for only me to hear. His trembling picked up again. “I never would have. Not like this—”

I reached for his neck and pulled him into me. I didn’t know what drew me to do it. If I wanted to hide his boner from all the onlookers who weren’t hiding the fact that they were openly gawking, or if I wanted to send him a silent message that it was okay, I forgave him. I knew this wasn’t his fault. I knew Athler caused this. His tense posture relaxed as his chest hit mine.

I was on my tiptoes, hugging Tezya, when I saw past his shoulders, noticing the room around me once again. A head of black hair was storming in the opposite direction. I watched as Sie weaved through the crowd until he disappeared out of view.

And I realized in that moment I had picked Tezya, that when he spoke to me, when he said sorry… He looked so wounded, so hurt by what he was forced to do, that I was only concerned about him. I forgot about Sie, forgot that he was still watching, about how he must have felt to see all of that unfold.

I didn’t know how that made me feel. I was still hugging Tez, his boner digging into my leg, when I saw Reagan glare at me from my periphery. She shot me a look that promised vengeance before she stalked off after her betrothed.

I had to remind myself to not feel bad for Sie, to let go of the guilt eating away at my insides. Sie chose this. Sie sent me here. Sie picked Reagan.

But I had never been so confused and conflicted in my entire life.

TWENTY-EIGHT

SIE

Tonight was tiedfor the worst fucking night of my life, right up there with the day I sent Scottie to this Goddess-foresaken island. It took every ounce of self-control I possessed to not storm up to the Fire Prince and rip him off of her. My blood was boiling. I couldn’t stop replaying the fucking entitlement he possessed to place his hands all over her and right in front of me. And the smirk plastered on his face as he pushed Scottie further into his lap… I wanted to give him another scar to match the one across his face.

I had contemplated using my abilities on the bastard so many times. I was so close to compelling him to never lay his hands on her again, but I knew the King of Lux wouldn’t take it lightly if I used compulsion on his youngest son, and I was worried that he’d retaliate on Scotlind. I had no right over her welfare anymore. I knew that, even if my mind refused to believe it. Not to mention, attacking a Luxian Prince would be seen as Tennebris officially declaring war against the Light Kingdom.

I just hadn’t expected to see her during the meeting. It caught me off guard and rattled me. I thought I’d have to go hunt her down afterward. I assumed they were keeping her locked up when she wasn’t forced into training. I knew from Peter that she spent a lot of time with the Fire Prince and that she was forced to work with him, but I never imagined what I saw tonight. Not that I didn’t put it past the Prince to try to put his hands on her. I just hadn’t anticipated that she’d be so willing…

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