Chapter 43
Chapter forty-three
Jacinth
The ball was made more bearable by having my friends with me, but watching Azurill work the room was a study in frustration.
At least so far, he’d avoided both me and Sania, thank Erodite. I wasn’t sure I could take it if he’d gone to her and ignored me.
Prince Ruri kept close to him, with Balthazar shadowing his other side. I couldn’t help wondering if he’d confided in them about what was going on. Their protectiveness was heartwarming, but I had a feeling I would soon be on the receiving end of their wrath once they knew the truth.
Prince Ruri had been suspicious of me from day one, thanks to his low, albeit well deserved, opinion of Carnelian. He’d probably be pissed when I demanded to be the one to kill him, but I wasn’t walking out of here without vengeance for my family. Even if the target had changed.
“Lady Jacinth.” I fought back a cringe as Casaan’s voice reached me, turning reluctantly to face him. I exchanged looks of commiseration with the ladies around me as he asked, “May I have this dance?”
“Of course, Lord Casaan.” I nodded demurely, taking his hand, and he swept me onto the dance floor.
“You’ve done very well so far, especially for one of your station.” His back-handed compliment was delivered haughtily, and I fought to keep my eyes from rolling.
“Thank you, my Lord. I’ve done everything I can to ensure our plans succeed,” I told him, but my eyes caught on the orange-haired figure Azurill was approaching.
I narrowed my eyes, watching as she smiled and took his hand.
I looked away, my heart throbbing in my chest, refusing to watch them together.
“And you’ve done so admirably,” Casaan smirked, his ruby-red eyes meeting mine. “You could quite easily fit into court, you know.”
I wanted to scream, especially as Casaan’s hands began moving south, caressing my hips. All the while, Azurill redirected his position on the dance floor, leading him and Sania directly into my eyeline. As Casaan babbled, I tried to keep from reacting, but Azurill’s glare was impossible to ignore.
We may have been dancing with other people, but the pull we felt to one another was inescapable, our feet and our eyes seemed to drift right back to each other each time we moved them away.
I jumped as Cassan’s hands began moving from my lower back down to my ass, making the bastard laugh.
My rage was palpable, but I calmed myself by imagining him with a knife sticking out of his ruby-red eyes.
Azurill’s glare, on the other hand, was arctic, shining with a silver gleam as he ground his teeth.
I shook my head at him subtly and stepped back, turning my gaze back to the cocky heir.
“My offer is still open.” Casaan licked his lips, running his eyes over my body, and I shivered in disgust as I practically felt the slimy caress skate over me. “You’re welcome to join me in my rooms tonight.”
“That would be a bad idea during the competition, my Lord,” I refused politely, giving him a plausible excuse.
The egos of men like him were so fragile.
I wasn’t even sure if he knew who I really was and he wanted to bed me before killing me, getting to claim he fucked the last of House Marit after murdering her family, or if his father had left him out of that aspect of his plan.
“We wouldn’t want to jeopardize my win so close to the end, would we?” I pressed when his lips turned down and a sneer of offense crossed his face. My words made him relax, and he chuckled, so confident in himself that he surely believed every woman here would kill for the chance to fuck him.
“Your dedication is something else, Jacinth,” He whispered in my ear. “Most ladies would have found a way into my bed no matter the obstacles once I issued an invitation.”
I rolled my eyes, looking to Azurill, who appeared to have had enough. He ended his dance with Sania, bowing to her and following the proper protocol, but her frown of confusion made it clear that he was rushing through it, his countenance tense and obviously on edge.
He walked up to where I was stuck in Casaan’s arms, and cleared his throat. “Mind if I cut in, Lord Casaan?”
The heir in question wrestled with his expression, trying to hide his distaste and only barely managing it. “Of course, Your Majesty.”
He bowed to us both, leaving me to take the king’s hand as Casaan rushed over to the table filled with alcohol where he downed a glass of champagne. I was happy to put him out of my mind however, giving Azurill my full attention instead.
He twirled me into his arms, holding me close to his body, the heat sinking in where he was pressed against me. My back was to his front, with our arms crossed and resting over my waist. It gave Azurill the ability to put his head on my shoulder, leaning in to whisper in my ear.
“Mini-Dite,” he purred, making me relax slightly, my eyes closing in relief at hearing the ridiculous nickname.
“Veri,” I returned breathily, leaning my head back onto him as we swayed together.
“Watching you dance with him was a torture I can’t describe,” he murmured, making my breath catch in my throat.
“As it was to be forced to dance with him.” I replied, making him chuckle.
He spun me out, only to bring me back in, pressing my chest against his as his hands quickly found my hips.
He made an effort to map every spot Casaan had touched, banishing the feeling of his revolting caresses and overwriting him completely from my body.
“I find myself both jealously coveting you and yet frustrated beyond belief with the circumstances we find ourselves in,” he said quietly, even as his fingers burned into my skin through layers of cloth.
“I wish I’d led a different life,” I told him sadly. “When I was a child, I told my father I wished to marry you, you know?”
He pulled back to look at me, his eyebrows raised in surprise, but I could see the pleasure brimming in his eyes as he chuckled. “I wasn’t sure you’d even remember that. Your father had mentioned it to me, but I didn’t think…”
He trailed off, before meeting my eyes once more, the light in them dimming and swirling with confusion. “Does that wish still live on? Even all these years later?”
“It does,” I breathed, tears pricking my eyes as I nodded with a trembling smile. “I can’t erase the past, but I can promise you a future. As long as I can finally get the vengeance my family deserves and put them to rest at last.”
“Yes, about that.” He grew seriously very quickly. “Meet me in my rooms after the ball. We need to plan quickly and quietly. We don’t have much time.”
“No, we don’t.” I agreed darkly, shadows forming in my eyes at the thought of what was to come.
Azurill’s expression softened slightly, and his hand left my hip to clasp my cheek, “I promise you, I will ensure they get what they deserve.”
“No, Az.” I shook my head adamantly. “I will.”
His heated look in response stayed with me through the rest of the ball.
Since he couldn’t play favorites in public, we spent the rest of the night on opposite sides of the hall, only our eyes meeting again through the remaining hours.
When it was finally over, I paced my rooms until a quiet knock sounded, and I opened it to find Alfrikr waiting.
He took me to Azurill’s rooms and let me inside, and I stopped short in surprise when I realized that no one else was present.
I thought that he’d surely have his council present to discuss what to do about Ruby Court.
But instead, I found only Azurill, his jacket stripped off, leaving him in a silver button-down and a teal vest that matched his pants.
“Jacinth,” he greeted, smiling slightly. It was a highly encouraging sign.
“Azurill,” I returned, sauntering over to the drink tray by the sofa that had two glasses and a bottle of champagne set on it. I poured myself a glass as I continued, “So, does this mean you forgive me?”
Silence followed my question, and I set my drink down, about to turn to look at him, when a rush of air blew past me and my back suddenly hit the wall. He grabbed my wrists, holding them in one of his large, slender hands and pinning them to the wall above my head.
His other hand came around my waist, pressing our lower bodies together even as my upper body remained flat against the wall.
I looked up into his eyes, his blue-green orbs refracting over and over like the most brilliant diamond.
My breath caught as he leaned in, until all it would take was the slightest movement to take his lips with mine.
“Forgive you?” He gave an amused rumble, the vibration echoing through my body. “Not quite yet.”
“And what will,” I began breathily, undulating my body pointedly against his, “Push you over the edge?”
I bit my lip, wishing my dress wasn’t in the way so I could press myself to him more fully, when I gasped in shock—the gods or Azurill or whoever having apparently my prayer.
Azurill ripped my surely very expensive but definitely very beautiful dress straight down the middle, the two pieces falling to the floor and sending rubies flying in all direction.
I felt myself growing wet at the show of strength, and pressed my now bare thighs together to try to relieve the ache.
I was left in nothing but my measly underthings and my long, pinkish-red gloves. Azurill licked his lips as he watched me panting in anticipation against the wall. There was nothing to hold me back now. I could give into him with zero guilt, and the freedom I felt in that was a revelation.