Page 138 of Firestorm
You can’t seriously be considering that,I said, shocked Rafe was bowing down to his father so easily.
Rafe didn’t reply, only holding out his forearm to me and wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. I scowled as I took hold of him, and then gritted my teeth as my body dragged back into my office.
Chapter 39
Aiden
“He touched yourhair?!”I seethed.
Skye sniffled, swiping at more tears. “Yeah. He kept staring at me, and…fuck, this is so stupid.”
“It’s not,” I insisted. “What a fucking creep.”
Skye sniffled again, burrowing further into my chest. I tightened my arms around her and blew out a breath.
I’d known something was wrong when I’d arrived at Skye’s dorm to find her in a nest of blankets and pillows on her bed, only her face peeking out at me. It would’ve been adorable if she weren’t crying, and I may have been a little jealous of the blanket nest. It lookedverycomfortable.
The adorable-ness was quickly forgotten as Skye told me what’d happened. Now, I was seething with rage. How fucking dare that man touch her? It was only her hair, but I still wanted to burn him into a pile of ash.
“I’m assuming I’m not invited,” I scoffed. “Even though my mother goes to these galas all the time.”
“Aiden,” Skye whimpered into my chest. “I’m not going.”
“You’re not?” I whispered.
“No. Fuck that prince. He can invite me himself if he wants me to go so bad.”
I chuckled, kissing Skye’s temple. She was so perfect. Kind and forgiving, but fiery and headstrong at the same time.
“I wonder if the prince even knows this happened.” I said.
“What do you mean?” Skye tilted her head up toward me and I kissed her nose.
“Sorry, I forget you don’t know too much about Royal politics.” I said with a sigh. “I only know all this shit because of my mom. Alexander is on the outs with the Crown Princess. She has favorites within the Chain, and he’s not one of them. There was a rumor that he forced the prince into conscription to get back at the Crown Princess.”
“I mean…I don’t disagree with that. He’s literally going to be the monarch, why wouldn’t he fight for his country?” Skye said quietly. “I just…he was really young. Children fighting in a war doesn’t sit right with me.”
I kissed her temple again. “I keep forgetting I was raised a rich asshole, too. Most rich kids get out of conscription, regardless of their affinities or age.” I explained gently. “But there’s a heavy rumor that Alexander forced the conscription on purpose. A lot of people in the government were killed after the prince was hurt in action.”
“What happened to him?” Skye asked.
“I don’t remember exactly, but I know they had to pull him out of a burning building.” I shivered, remembering the images my mother had shown me. Supposedly, the Crown Princess herself had fucked with citizen’s memories to make sure no one alive had any recollection of how burnt the prince’s body had been.
“That’s horrible,” Skye whispered, tightening her hold on me.
“Yeah,” I said softly. “My mother told me…now, I have no idea if this is true. But my mother told me the prince has never said explicitly whether or not Alexander is to blame for what happened. But supposedly while the prince was healing…his father came to visit him and something happened. Alexander was…injured.”
Skye gasped. “He had a scar,” she said, her eyes wide with horror. “Alexander. Right here.” She traced a path over my shoulder rightwhere it met my neck. I shivered, then shifted slightly to hide how hard my dick got just from that simple touch.
“I still can’t believe he’s in this Chain.” I said, switching subjects since I didn’t have anything else to add.
“Me either,” Skye mumbled.
“I feel weird about it,” I admitted. Skye turned her face up toward me, resting her chin on my chest.
“He’s your Link-mate, Aiden, it’s normal if you feel things about it.” Skye said. I blinked at her. She huffed a laugh. “We’re in this family Chain together, all of us. Whether or not you develop a relationship with him, he’s still in this family.”
My brain short-circuited.
