Page 108 of To Bleed A Kingdom

Seeing his displeasure and feeling my own, I make an impulsively foolish decision, quite possibly a dangerous one, and loosen the clamp on the tether, allowing a trickle of the bond to seep through. I sigh in relief as he fills the void within me.

Kace slaps at the flaps of the leather canvas, jarring me back into the moment as he walks through the opening to the stall, rubbing the side of his scraped cheek. “You didn't have to throw me so hard.”

Darius snaps his arm out, pointing in Zander’s direction without removing his gaze from mine. “Stand over there,” he barks.

Kace tosses him an accusing glare while dragging his feet towards Zander, mumbling profanities all the while.

“Hi,” I breathe, but Darius says nothing. He just stares back with those glacial blue orbs. So wild and intense, it’s like he’s fucking me with his eyes. I've heard the saying before, but that's all I thought it was. A saying. With the desire curling within my belly and the sensations pulsating between my legs, I can no longer be sure.

Can you orgasm from just a look? Hopefully not, otherwise this situation may become quite embarrassing.

Attempting to regain some of my mental faculties, I clear my throat. “What are you doing here?”

“Aurora told me you’d be here today,” he says in his low, gravelly voice, speaking directly to me for the first time today. “I thought I’d join you.”

I feel a smile stretch across my cheeks. “Is that so?”

He glances towards my lips. Seeing the joy there, his mouth creeps up into a smile of his own. The dimple one I've become so fond of. “It is.” He swallows, his throat bobbing with the motion. “How are –” he begins to say, but his words cut off at the sound of a feminine growl, dragging both our gazes towards the source. “What's going on?” Darius folds his arms over his sculpted chest, brushing his arm on my shoulder. A physical hum spreads with the contact.

“Amara’s causing trouble,” I reply, watching her get angrier by the moment while the gangly male she's arguing with seems to be getting more flustered.

Peeking at me out of the corner of his eye, Darius’ lips curl into a teasing smirk. “You're not aiding her?”

“I don’t always cause trouble,” I retort in the same moment I hear a snort.

That snort!

“Stop it,” I snap, ducking around Darius to glare at Tristan.

He raises his hands innocently. “It was just a snort.”

“No,” I hiss. “It’s that condescending snort you do that makes me want to punchyou in the face.”

“Fine. I'll admit it was.” Tristan arches an unrepentant brow. “If you admit that the only reason why you're not letting your psycho loose right alongside Amara is because you’re not in need of new trousers.”

Folding my arms over my chest, I snap my gaze from his. “I’ll admit nothing.”

Darius barks a laugh and I elbow him in the ribs as I return my attention forward, watching Amara’s movements become more aggravated the longer she speaks with the poor vendor.

“She’s getting really angry,” Griffin notes from his spot beside Darius. His voice startles me a bit since I hadn't even realized he was there.

“And she’ll be even angrier by the time we leave,” Tristan says.

“Shouldn’t one of you do something?” Griffin asks, waving a hand towards Amara.

Zander and I share a look before we both bellow a laugh, Tristan joining in with his own quiet chuckle as everyone watches on in various states of confusion. Except for a snickering Kace, of course. Since crazy always recognizes crazy, Kace doesn't need to be told how foolish Griffin's question is.

Zander wipes tears from his eyes and leans against Kace. “Now Griffin, if I were to intervene, Amara would not only get angrier, but she would then direct that anger at me.”

“We try very hard to avoid being the object of Amara’s rage,” Tristan adds, Zander and I nodding in agreement.

Griffin huffs a laugh and gives each of us a disbelieving look. “It can't be that bad.”

“Oh,” Zander says, smirking at me. “He's adorable.”

I cock my head to the side. “Isn’t he?”

Griffin is right, though. Amara is getting angrier. Much angrier. Her muscles are tense and her chin tilts downward, her hair curtaining forward to partially conceal the glare beneath. But don’t forget that smile. That terrifying, deranged smile that no sane person is capable of producing is directed at a male even more foolish than Griffin. A male who should be backing away from that smile, but is instead, visibly irritated by it.

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