Page 52 of Claimed By the Fae Lord

His words felt like ice shards tearing through my flesh. I clenched my fork so tightly that I could feel the cold metal digging into my palm. The blood rushing through my ears drowned out all sound.

I swallowed hard, trying to compose myself. "I don't think that’s an appropriate thing to say," I replied quietly.

"Why not?" he pressed, a taunting smirk playing on his lips. "He's a strong and capable male, next in line to rule."

Was he truly suggesting that I should, what? Pursue Gunnar? Bed him? What was Liam playing at? And why did it bother me so much?

“Is my brother not high enough in the ranks for your tastes?”

“Liam,” Nox’s deep voice rolled like thunder across the table.

“That’s right,” Liam snapped his fingers. “It’s the royal family that’s caught your eye.”

Mirrelle jumped to her feet, her chair flying backwards, pointing her butter knife at him. “You’re dead.”

The table erupted.

"Excuse me.” I got up, sure no one had heard me over the shouting.

My heart pounded in my chest as I stormed out of the dining room. I could hear my friends yelling insults at him, but I didn't care. All I wanted was to escape the suffocating atmosphere and find solace in the privacy of my temporary bed chamber.

I barely had time to catch my breath before Liam barged into the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Who did he think he was?

"What is wrong with you?" I yelled, my voice shaking with fury. "Why would you even suggest such a thing?"

"Because I saw the way Lorne was looking at you!" he snapped, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "And you were giggling like some smitten teenager!"

"What?!” I screeched. “Is that what this is about? You’re jealous over some imaginary scenario you’ve created in your head? I wasn't aware that sharing a laugh with someone over dinner was a crime."

"Maybe not," he growled, taking a step closer. "But I saw the way you reacted to him. Do you know what that makes you look like?”

The implication stung, but I refused to let him see how much his words affected me.

"Maybe I was just enjoying myself," I goaded, jumping headfirst into dangerous waters. "For once, trying to forget, coping just the way you did."

If I thought his eyes were fiery before, they were an inferno now. Dark oranges and golds swirled the way they used to when he was deep inside me.

"Is that all it takes for you to forget?" he challenged. "A few laughs and a suggestive wink from Lorne? I didn’t realize you were that easy."

"Better than letting the past consume me while I wallow in self-pity and bitterness, taking it out on everyone around me," I snapped, the unspoken words hanging heavy in the air between us.Like you.

His chest heaved, breathing like a raging bull. He was losing it.

So are you, my psyche insisted.

"You have no right to be jealous, Liam. I’m not yours anymore, remember?"

"How could I ever fucking forget!" he shouted, stepping closer until our faces were mere inches apart. "But that doesn't mean I want to witness you throw yourself at every male who shows you the slightest bit of attention!"

"Throw myself at them? That’s rich,” I scoffed. “You have zero room to talk, Liam. I had to watch you at every function, with your slew of females fawning all over you. You’d wait to make sure I was looking before you stole a kiss or nipped their throats like you might mark them. At the Lunar Ball, you escorted one of them inside the bathroom and fucked her against the counter while I was in the stall, making sure I heard you bring her pleasure and then find your own.”

The memory was so jagged I choked on it. “What kind of male does that?”

He didn’t answer. Instead he tried to turn it back on me. “And how many did you let between your legs,hmm, flower?”

“Do not call me that.” The endearment was no longer his to use.

“Why not? Did you open those sweet petals for someone else? How many of them tasted that nectar?”

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