Page 112 of A Bond in Blood

Olen’s eyes moved from mine. I raised my hand, brushing his sharp jaw, softly caressing the edge of his mask.

“Do not look at him,” I muttered.

Ulrich’s cold ran a chill up my back. “Keep an eye on her,” he said again, leaving me in the arms of his right hand.

I grinned at Olen, puffing out my chest. Hoping the man would stare in the way I wanted him to. Instead, he gripped my hand and dragged me back to the shadows I’d come from.

“What are you thinking?” he whispered, shaking my shoulders.

I shoved him away.

“I’m thinking I’m not bound to obey every single thing Ulrich tells me to do.” I stepped away, observing the party resuming in the light of the blood moon. “What is so different about this festival that Ulrich banned me from attending? Other than the naked bodies, very little is different from my island’s winter celebrations.”

Olen blocked my view of the grand room. “Princess, you are so foolishly wrong in your observations, but it’s too late now. Bjorn has made his public challenge.”

“Who is he?” I asked, finding the tall and slender man slinking around the room, his eyes meeting mine.

“Someone you do not want to find yourself alone with,” Olen sneered.

Olen held out his palm, and I met his gaze.

“You’ve already made an entrance, but do you care to make another?”

I smiled at him. “Please.”

He guided me back to the middle of the room while the whispers picked up again. Starved eyes tracked my steps. Tongues lapped at their lips.

I was the visual meal in a room full of starving monsters.

Olen spun me in place and my sheer gown spun around my body. It wrapped me in red with the crimson light of the moon shining down on me in approval.

My chest slammed into his and his hand landed on my back while I swayed my hips.

“I will get us drinks,” he whispered into my ear.

I nodded, allowing him to leave me briefly. The music rose the hairs on my body, and I spun in place. The energy was overwhelming, intimate, and thrilling.

I laid my eyes on the king, his eyes stared at me with the same hunger of those bodies swaying alongside me.

My feet moved before I’d decided my next choice. Guiding me to the king. Determined to win this battle I’d started.

When I reached the dais, I dipped low, allowing the cowl of my gown to reveal my already visible chest.

“You’re fitting in,” Ulrich said coldly.

I lifted the gown, stepped on the dais, and placed myself on the seat beside his throne.

His head turned toward me and he cocked his head. “Willingly?” he asked with a grin.

My chest heaved while I watched the twisting bodies before us. The view from the dais was different. Heavier. More tempting.

“I needed to rest my feet,” I replied, not meeting his eyes.

His shadows trailed from his fingers, gripping the legs of the small seat, dragging me until I was between his now open legs.

“That dress,” he hissed.

I leaned back, revealing my chest to him. “It’s rather comfortable.”

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