Page 13 of Reveal Me
She had to know it was me. The guard boy and the king were one and the same.
She was playing a game. She had to be.
I didn’t understand why she would go so far as to change her appearance. Was it to make me question her? To make me doubt?
I missed the niceties exchanged between her and Oz. She wasn’t paying much attention to him, either. Her gaze kept sliding back to me.
I knew that kind of gaze. It screamed come-hither.
It was impossible to ignore the electric pull between us. I couldn’t keep my distance from her. My hand reached out instinctively, taking hers. In that instant, a jolt of electricity shot through me. It was like touching a live wire, too much power coursing between us. I wanted nothing more than to pull her close. But I sensed I would lose a battle in the war between us.
“I wanted a tour of the castle,” she was saying. “I’ve occupied Stella enough. Would you take me, Your Majesty?”
Take me. That’s all I heard.
Her hand was still in mine. Her flirtatious smile remained, teasing, dangerous. I would’ve done anything she asked. Including play whatever ridiculous game she was running.
“Dion, you keep your paws off my bestie.”
I made up my mind to do just that. I wasn’t going to touch Niamh—at least not first—because clearly that’s what she was expecting me to do: touch her while wearing this new face. Clearly, she knew who I was. My likeness was everywhere in the castle; on the walls, on the currency. She still thought I was a fuck boy, and she was going to prove it by getting me to fuck her while wearing this false appearance.
“You got it, cuz.” And with that, I extended Niamh my arm, and she took it.
Chapter 9
Niamh
Iignored the current running under my fingernails, through my knuckles, and into the palm of my hand as it rested on Dion’s arm. At least I pretended to. But I wasn’t fooling anyone — namely myself, who was the only one who knew I was affected.
We walked through the grand hallways of the castle. The muscle under my fingers was solid, the power of it undeniable. King Dion moved with a grace that was deceptively casual, but I could feel the raw strength just beneath the surface. I couldn’t stop myself from squeezing his biceps again. The way they flexed sent a pleasant heat through me. I didn’t care if I was in a palace or out in the woods anymore. He was here with me, and I was still just as drawn to him as I had been when I’d thought he was a simple guard.
I wouldn’t mind sharing a bed with him. The silk sheets I’d seen in the room Stella said would be mine while I stayed here seemed like the perfect place for something more than just aflirtatious moment. A quick roll in the hay was exactly what I needed, but Dion wasn’t giving in.
He returned my flirtatious glances with polite nods. I’d brushed my boobs against his biceps, and he didn’t even have the decency to ogle them. I’d been manhandling his muscles for half an hour as he escorted me from room to room, droning on about big cats and battles, but I didn’t see a tent in his pants.
What the actual? It was the second time he wasn’t taking me up on my advances.
He had kissed me back there in the forest. He had kissed me like no man ever had. The front of my shirt was turning into headlights at the thought.
Was he just playing hard to get? Maybe my admission outside when I’d been, well, me. Maybe it had rattled him.
We stopped in front of a large portrait that caught my eye. The figures standing side by side were regal and unbothered by time. The resemblance was unmistakable. These were Dion’s parents.
While all the other royal couples in the hall faced forward, stoic and unsmiling, Dion’s parents were looking at each other, their eyes locked with an intensity that made the air around the painting feel charged. The love in their gazes leapt out of the canvas, so strong that it was almost tangible.
“They knew they belonged to each other since before they could speak. They were fated at birth.”
“So they never had a choice.”
Dion’s brow furrowed as he chewed on my words. “They never saw it that way. They told me the mating bond provided them comfort, knowing that they always had each other.”
I watched him, seeing the subtle shift in his expression as he studied the portrait. He seemed lost for a moment in the memory of them.
“They left this world within days of each other.”
“That’s so sad.”
He turned that cat-bright gaze on me. I felt pinned in place. “They were always together. Always. I’m thankful they still have each other in the world after this.”
