Page 49 of Depths
Felipe gave a brisk nod and swam to the door, waiting until Ugo slipped back inside before my blue-haired guard disappeared with a flick of his mer tail.
When Watkins appeared at the door, I stiffened my posture and made my gaze cold.
Watkins saw my wrath, but it only made him grin. “You know, Your Majesty, fury becomes you.”
14
Painted faces are the truest representation of the human soul. We paint ourselves in a good light so that we hide our hideous true natures, for we are but beasts.
—Sultan Raj of Cheryn
* * *
“You knowwhat would become you? A set of shackles.” I eyed the rebel I’dinvitedto join the tournament as I wondered if I’d made a horrid mistake.
Watkins’ eyes drifted lazily to my bed; he turned his head, revealing that shock of white that ran through the side of his pitch black hair. His gaze flickered back to me, and his intensity was like a blow that knocked my knees out from under me. It made me breathless as he asked, “Did you already attach them to your headboard for me?”
Felipe immediately lowered his spear so it pointed threateningly at Watkins’ torso. The taller man didn’t even flinch. Instead, he kept his dark eyes on me.
Sarding hell, I’m in trouble.All of these men, all at once. Sahar had warned me that they’d be a mess of mating aggression. She hadn’t warned me that I’d be under constant assault from my own hormones, in danger of making some very bad choices. Right now, I was torn between smacking Watkins across the mouth and indulging his sarcastic whim by chaining him to the bed and then … well, I hardly had enough experience to pull off anything that happened afterthen—Mateo was my only experience—but my imaginary self would torture Watkins with teasing looks and touches until he begged for mercy.
The tension between the shark shifter and me built while I studied him in silence, wondering if the big man’s defensive posture was created by guilt. Did he know that hedge witch? Some of those men had been shark shifters.
But then he swam closer, ignoring Felipe entirely, and I saw the anger that radiated off him. This delicious, dangerous unbridled anger that called to me the way siren song called to sailors. For some reason, Watkins’ anger was captivating. He growled, “What are you doing today? Leaving lipstick stains on my skin before this parade? Your charade is pathetic.”
His anger told a different story than his words. “If my favoritism isn’t working, then you wouldn’t be so angry. You’d be smug. So that means some people believe it?” I couldn’t help my grin, couldn’t help but let him sidetrack the conversation, because as much as he liked the look of fury on me, I was certain that I liked the look on him much, much more.
His arms corded when his hands tightened to fists, and I had to remind myself not to stare. I was already half mad from gaping at Felipe, I couldn’t allow this shifter rebel to drive me over the edge.
“You know, when a woman sards me over, I at least like to come first.” Watkins drew even closer, and I could feel the heat from his body.
I had to lock my knees to keep them from trembling as his eyes scanned my skimpy dress with clear interest despite his anger, or maybe fueled by it. If only his eyes trailing up my thighs felt as good as his fingers would.
No. No.I scolded myself for letting the predator in him dazzle me. I shook off the stupor that always seemed to come over me when Watkins was around. “Do you have any pink dolphin relatives?” I asked as I fluttered my wings and swam backward, giving myself some much needed space as I wondered if a dolphin shifter grandfather could account for the fact that Watkins’ very presence made me dumb with lust.
“No. Of course not.” His lip curled as if disgusted that I’d compared a predator like himself to a smiling mammal.
I shrugged and switched topics, though I already doubted Watkins’ involvement with the attack. He might have been furious and disdainful. But he wasn’t smug. If the attack from the road wasn’t top of his mind when it came to dealing with me, then perhaps he didn’t have a guilty conscience after all. Perhaps he wasn’t involved.
I didn’t acknowledge that the line of reasoning might have been wishful thinking on my part, because my thighs clenched together even as he stared at me in derision. Part of me wanted to do exactly as he had suggested with the lipstick, lean forward and drag my stained lips across his collarbone, marking him. I’d enjoy the fact that it pissed him off just as much as I’d enjoy seeing my mark on his skin. But indulgences weren’t for queens. So I stuck to the matter at hand.
“What do you know about the rebel attack? Were you aware it was going to happen?” I tossed my hands behind my back, like many of the military men I’d seen in Queen Gela’s court.
He snorted. “If I knew it was going to happen, do you think I would have kept to my seat?”
He had a point. I stared past him to Felipe, who merely glared. Apparently, my guard wasn’t going to help in the interrogation that had been his idea. Wonderful.
“You might have kept that seat if you wanted both to attack me and to maintain your position to get insider information—”
“I’m going to stop you right there before I end up fighting that guard of yours because I can’t hit a woman. Not all rebels are the same, that’s the exact problem with you crown heads. You lump us all together and think us all fools.”
His audacity set my head ablaze. I swam a tiny bit toward him before I clenched my hand and stopped myself. “I gave you the opportunity to speak your needs. You shunned it.”
“Because it was a fake offer.”
“It was not!” Gah! I wanted to stomp my foot in fury.
“You only made it because you were angry with me.”
