Chapter 15 #3
I was watching men and women restrain their vision, relying completely on sound waves for this ritual. The whole thing reminded me of one big game of Marco-Polo. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed that this didn’t turn into an orgy. That would have been wild to see.
Drustan’s head whipped toward me at the thought, his red brows raised and eyes wider than I’d seen, with his lips parted. He looked like he was about to say something, but suddenly, after finishing his conversation with Sergei, Ilia stood from his throne.
Everyone walking around stopped moving, including the sirens with blindfolds on. All heads turned to face their king as hushed conversations came to a stop.
“Proceed.” Ilia waved a hand over the crowd.
“My son will oversee in my absence.” With that, Ilia and Sergei strode off to the side door that Liam and Caelena had left out of earlier.
I caught a glimpse of the king’s expression, which looked more annoyed than anything.
Panic spiked in my gut, and I hoped that Liam and Caelena had just gotten caught canoodling and nothing else.
As soon as Ilia was out of sight, hushed conversations continued throughout the party.
“Freaky,” Audrey whispered to me as she kept her eyes on the door.
To my left, Drustan stepped toward the throne before lazily falling into the seat. His father sat with a straight back, but Drustan’s posture was confidently relaxed. His legs were spread wide; his weight shifted to the side as he studied his people.
His abs and chest were perfectly on display thanks to the smallest, flimsiest corset I had ever seen.
I adjusted, reaching my hands behind me as I attempted to stretch my back out. The throne at least had a backrest. Whereas this glorified ottoman I was sitting on had no back support whatsoever. I found myself slouching in my seat often, which made my lower back ache worse. Thanks, cramps.
I wondered if Audrey was also struggling, or if this situation was just made worse with my looming period on its way.
“Come here.” Drustan’s words made me whip my head to the side to see him holding a hand toward me, over the armrest of his throne. I studied his hand, then his face.
“No thanks,” I replied. I snuck a peek at Audrey, whose wide eyes were staring at me in silent concern.
“Come here, Van,” Drustan ordered again. Something pulled in my chest toward him. Perhaps it was his sinndra, encouraging me to obey his words. I rubbed at the foreign feeling in my chest before I shook my head again, determined to hold my ground.
“Actually…” Audrey cleared her throat, leaning forward to get the prince’s attention. “We probably have overstayed our welcome. We should—”
“I will not ask again, Vanessa.” Something dark laced Drustan’s tone, interrupting my friend. A warm shiver raced down my spine from his words, and that solidified it for me. Drustan was trying to use his sinndra on me. Just a little bit. But I could still shrug it off.
“I think we should go,” I murmured, trying not to cause a scene, while allowing us to escape.
Audrey slowly stood; her eyes locked on Drustan over my head. As soon as I got to my feet, I immediately placed a hand on my lower back and pushed. Desperate to relieve the ache.
Drustan, still slouched in his throne, openly glowered at us.
“It would be a shame for the only full-blooded human to step foot into Hyvenmere in hundreds of years to disrespect the Prince of Lyndoruun on Bandthral, wouldn’t it?” Drustan threatened.
I whirled on him, my fists clenched at my sides. Audrey whispered a low curse at his words. His lips twitched in the corners, heat flaring in his golden irises.
Fuck you, I thought with all the rage I could feel.
Is that a request? his voice whispered in my mind.
“Five minutes of your time.” Drustan splayed his hand, widening all fingers. “Then you may leave with your friends without any fuss.”
I glanced back at Audrey. Liam wasn’t back yet. Her fingers were twitching, and behind her, a potted plant with large, green leaves the size of my face twitched in response.
Huffing a sigh of annoyance, I nodded once at Drustan, stepping closer to his throne. He widened his legs for me to step between; his lips pressed together in a tight smirk. Instead, I stood to the side. My hip rested casually against his armrest.
Audrey slowly, cautiously, sat down on her ottoman again, watching me like a hawk.
Drustan chuckled while leaning forward. He hooked a slender finger through the belt loop at my hip.
“So shy,” he murmured, tugging me around to the front of the throne.
As if I were an animal on a leash, he forced me to stand between his legs before gently pulling me down onto his lap.
I was so stiff, every muscle in my body was locked and on alert.
I snuck a glance out toward the party ahead of us, but hardly anyone was paying attention.
Conversing and wandering the party themselves, looking for their mates.
As soon as my butt hit the muscle of his warm, large thigh, it took everything in me to support as much of my own weight as I could. But Drustan wasn’t having it. He leaned forward, adjusting his seat so he could sit up straighter, and draped one long, bare arm around my waist.
Slowly, slowly, he pulled me in tighter. Until my back was flush against his chest, and my toes were lifted off the ground. I was dependent on his support to stay upright.
His body was producing so much heat; it was as if he were a furnace. I wondered if my back was going to start sweating.
“Better,” Drustan hummed. Releasing my waist, he allowed me to lean forward a little bit. I wasn’t flush to his front anymore, but before I could create even more space and put my feet on the ground, both of his large hands gripped either side of my waist.
When I froze in his hold, his thumbs slowly started to massage my lower back.
Without hesitation, I moaned from the pressure he put on my sore muscles. Horrified, I slapped a hand over my mouth. Audrey glared at Drustan as he rubbed my sore muscles with his massive hands.
“No need to be embarrassed,” Drustan murmured to me, his timbre low and soothing.
“My father is remarkably petty. Those seats are torturous.” With his hot, large hands touching me, his muscled thigh flexing under my ass, and the soothing press of his thumbs up and down my lower spine, warmth started to burn between my legs.
Oh god, no. Absolutely not. I tried to think about other things, not sexy things. Old, saggy, wrinkly men. The full dumpster outside Sun Bean. Socks and sandals.
Drustan chuckled, putting more effort into his ministrations, successfully loosening my back with his massage.
“How much time is left?” I asked him through clenched teeth.
“Still desperate to leave?” he asked, and I could hear the smile in his voice.
His scent was invading my senses, making the room feel like it was spinning.
It took every drop of willpower I had left within me not to fall limp in his lap, mold against his warm body, and allow him to soothe me in all the ways I never knew I needed.
His use of sinndra was strong and dangerous.
I nodded to his question, because my pitiful human libido was no match for him, and I needed to get the hell out of here.
He hummed something, sending a pleasurable heat down my spine. My cheeks were flushed, both from how warm he was and how good his hands were making me feel. The familiar sound of sand started to rush in my ears from being this vulnerable and this aware of the pulse between my legs.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had a massage as good as this that I didn’t pay for.
His hands moved lower, lower, lower. His thumbs eventually dipped underneath the waistband of my pants.
My vagina clenched from awareness, and I shifted uncomfortably on his lap.
Desperate to relieve a new ache building inside of me.
“Your friends can leave whenever they want, but I still have three minutes left with you,” Drustan whispered near my ear, his nose teasing my hair.
My heart was hammering, practically begging to race out of my ribcage.
My nervous system was completely shot from his proximity.
His thumbs dipped past my waistband again, teasing the flesh of my ass cheeks with gentle but firm circles.
I pressed my thighs together, only staying balanced on his thigh because of the hold his hands had on my hips.
“Two minutes,” Drustan breathed against my neck.
I bit my lip, desperate not to make any more embarrassing moans or whimpers or anything.
To the side of me, I wondered if Audrey would be disappointed in how little effort it took for Drustan to manipulate my body to his liking. But then I remembered that Drustan was a powerful and sexy siren, and I was just a human, so she could fuck right off with any judgment she may have.
I shifted, rubbing my thighs together as he moved lower on my back again, slowly pulling the back of my pants down as his thumbs rubbed further into my glutes.
Oh god, oh god, oh god.
Behind me, Drustan’s chest expanded, pressing against my back. I shifted again, silently noting the wetness in my underwear.
I hated it.
I loved it.
“One minute,” Drustan hummed, his fingers flexed against my hips with his words. As if he was worried that I’d try to jump off him before our time was up. He had good instincts, at least. “Unless,” Drustan continued. “You’d like more. You just have to say the words.”
I pressed my lips together, and the spicy scent of him burned into my nostrils and made me lose my train of thought. My hands were balled into fists on my lap, desperate to hold my ground and not spread my legs so I could hump his leg like a dog in heat.
“Time’s up,” Audrey said. My head jolted to the side to see her standing and stepping in front of us.
I moved to jump off of Drustan’s lap, but his fingers flexed on my hips, keeping me there. I turned to look at him over my shoulder, noting how expanded his pupils were. Blackness practically overtook his gold irises.
Silently shaking my head at him once, I grasped his hands and gently pushed them off of me.
As soon as I landed on my feet, the side door on the dais opened, and Liam was storming through without Caelena. He gave the two of us his outstretched hand, and without hesitating, we slapped our palms in his.
And then the world started spinning.