Chapter 4 #3
“I wouldn’t say that’s true.” Hex’s eyes catch on a few of the people still watching us, and his expression tightens.
He’s as smug and charming as ever, but it’s clear he’s paying attention to more than our conversation.
He shifts in close again, one of his hands sliding along my waist to the small of my back.
“Lady Vardane had things to say about the monarchy during our card game.”
My body hums with awareness at the same time my mind starts spinning, bringing up what I know about the countess. I’ve heard her husband is quite vocal in Parliament, often pushing back against the queen. “You think Lady Vardane could be supporting the antis?”
“No. She loves the monarchy and can’t stop talking about how important the crown is for Candora’s future. But a few people had some sour looks for her while she was speaking.”
Which people? I want—need—to ask that question, but I can barely concentrate when I’m this close to the prince. Inhaling his clean scent. “Is this necessary?” I ask breathily and lean back into Hex’s hand to tell him what I mean.
“Is what necessary?” Virek asks in my ear, reminding us that our conversation isn’t private. “What’s happening over there, Storme?”
This would be so much easier without my boss listening in on everything I’m doing.
“You forget you were allowed entry because you’re my date,” Hex says and dips his head down, his breaths slow and measured to contrast my shallow inhales.
His nose is inches from my neck, like he’s breathing me in the way I’m doing with him.
“We’re being watched, and if we want to avoid suspicion, I’ve already ignored you for far too long. ”
“Yes, you have,” I agree before I can stop myself.
His hand on my back tightens, pulling me closer and tugging a gasp out of me at the same time. “Mm, I knew you didn’t agree with Virek about splitting up.” He speaks so quietly into my open ear that there’s no way Virek or Callum will have heard him, and my skin prickles with goose bumps.
How does he so easily mess with my head? He hasn’t touched me aside from that one point of contact on my back, but I feel like he’s everywhere, overloading my senses. “Whether I agree,” I whisper back, “we have to follow orders.”
He sighs heavily and drops his hand, stepping back again. My palm, still pressed to his chest, falls to my side and leaves me feeling like I’ve lost something I should hold on to. “I expected more from you, Storme,” he says at a louder volume, though still soft enough that I hope no one heard him.
Resisting the urge to glare at him, I glance around the room and catch sight of a viscountess’s sneer as she whispers something to the woman beside her.
The pair of them study me closely, their gazes full of derision, and instinct pulls me closer to Hex.
I have to tilt my head back to look at him, and I feel more vulnerable in this position than I’d like. “Keep your eyes on me, Prince.”
Hex tilts his head to the side. “Eyes, but not my hands. You are aware that this is going to make people think you don’t welcome my interest, yes? If I can’t touch you…”
That’s the point. It will make them think Hex is trying to win my affection because I haven’t given it to him yet; they’ll be too intrigued not to let me stick around.
But I’m not about to explain that to Hex when Virek can hear.
My boss will shut me down before I get a good chance to put my theory to the test. Giving the prince my sweetest smile, I ignore the disappointment that comes when he doesn’t react at all.
Of course he doesn’t. He’s here under duress, not because he has any interest in me.
“Surely you know the persuading power of the gaze,” I tell him.
“Surely you can stop flirting with the prince and go find Blackmere,” Virek says sharply.
Irritation and embarrassment rise in my throat, but I swallow them back down. Hex doesn’t think Blackmere is a suspect either, but Virek has at least three other agents analyzing what we hear tonight. If he thinks I should tail Blackmere, there’s a reason for it. Virek is annoying but not stupid.
I take a breath to recenter my focus. “We should—”
Hex grabs me by the shoulders, nearly triggering a defense response in me, and forcefully shifts me a step to my left.
Half a second later, the door that was at my back swings open to allow a couple of rumpled nobles to exit and hurry off in different directions.
Lady Graves’s hair is mussed, and Lord Wicklow has a smear of lipstick on the corner of his mouth and looks quite pleased with himself before he disappears into the crowd.
Groaning, I refuse to look at the prince’s smug grin as I slip away from his hold and go in search of Lord Blackmere.
But I feel his gaze on me the rest of the night no matter where I am, like he decided to take my order to heart and never look away. I don’t know why he’s so readily following orders, but I’m not about to complain when he’s finally helping me try to save Candora.
It isn’t until I’ve crawled into my bed hours later that I realize tonight is the first time the prince has ever touched me beyond a handshake.
And I liked it far more than I ought.