Chapter Seventeen
The moment the music started Aasim drew me close to his chest in the centre of the dance floor.
His hand was settled on the small of my back, guiding me with ease.
The confidence of the Dragon King didn't surprise me.
Of all the land kings Aasim was the most self confident.
Years in seclusion could do that to a man.
I knew his hold, which was closer than the dance required, was intentional. He wanted people to stop and stare. Aasim wanted Rhael to notice, and wanted to get under his skin.
“You seem much more self assured than what I was expecting for Rhael’s woman,” Aasim murmured, his voice so low I almost lost it beneath the music.
“I move where I am placed. If you find that arrogant, I am afraid that I cannot help you,” I responded, as I forced my expression to say soft and composed. Even though I wanted to stand on his foot or snap at him.
Rhael’s words lingered in my mind. He needed this, and it was my job to find information that would help him.
“And if I was to ask you what you wanted, if I could help you? What would you choose?” Aasim’s lips curved, pleased. As if he enjoyed my polite, compliant tone.
I felt his hand as it moved across my back. Travelling until he held my hip. Pulling me flush against him in a way that felt almost invasive. His chin dipped as his warm breath flowed over my ear.
My instinct was to squirm away from him. I didn’t. I let him hold me how he pleased. Despite Rhael’s promises of me remaining untouched. Although, I suspected this is not what he thought would happen when he made this promise.
Thinking of Rhael I sought him out, finding him at the edge of the hall. He stood rigid, dark and commanding, even though he stayed still. His silver eyes fixed on me even though another courier hovered close to him.
A Fae woman draped in a silver gown that hung over her skin, the sides of her breasts exposed. Her hand brushing over his arm and chest as she laughed at something he said.
Something sharp twisted in my chest and I instantly recognised it as jealousy. I swallowed it, ignoring the way it burnt as it travelled down my throat. Instead of staring too long I turned my attention back to Aasim, who still held me too close as he waited patiently for my answer.
“I want what my King requires from me,” I smiled looking back up at him as he spun me smoothly. My skirts flaring as he caught me with his arm firmly around my waist. His grip lingered, tested. As if he was wondering if I would melt against him the same way I did Rhael.
“You would thrive in Pyrhador, you know. The dragons would feel your strength in their bones,” he whispered but I felt nothing to his closeness.
No pull, no heat. Nothing that sparked inside me the same way as when I felt Rhael.
When the Fae King stood near me, when his hand held my waist, or he whispered in my ear, I felt everything.
“You would be free with me. The Fae King would not harm you, he would not keep you here locked up,” Aasim smiled as his voice dripped once more, a seductive edge there as though he thought it would sway my mind.
I understood then, why the Dragon King had pulled me so close, why he had put on a show. He wanted me to choose him, to take revenge on Rhael by seeking what Aasim thought he wanted most.
I fought back a laugh. The great Dragon King thought that I was so valuable that he wanted to use me as part of his revenge. If only he knew the real circumstances of our arrangement, of how Rhael did not want to touch me unless someone was watching. How I was just a pawn in another King's game.
“What makes you believe I am not free here?” I asked with a smile so fake that it hurt my cheeks to maintain.
“You like being dressed up, paraded in front of his court without even a chair to sit on? For him to show you for an audience? If you were with me, you would not have to pretend,” Aasmin laughed, spinning me once more.
“Yet here I am, pretending all the same,” I smiled moving slightly so my hair fell back off my shoulder.
If the game was to make him want the alliance and that meant flirting, it was a game I could play. My hands held his as I kept my body still. Lighting up my eyes as I spoke playfully, making it seem like there was no way I could not be enamoured with the proud and brave Dragon King.
“If circumstances were different, I would have enjoyed breaking you in,” he whispered, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear.
“I suppose it would have to be in another lifetime,” I said with a heavy sigh. He needed to believe this. To believe he had a chance with me, then he would be able to confirm to Rhael he had an alliance. It would work. It had to.
“Perhaps.” He whispered, raising my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of my hand before stepping back. That familiar, arrogant smirk lingering on his lips as he turned his attention back to his men.
I crossed the ballroom with measured grace, my heart pounding far harder than it should have as I neared Rhael. He had dismissed the female courtier and now stood alone, his back pressed to the wall, arms crossed over his chest.
As soon as I was close enough his hand closed around my arm, firm and possessive. Anger lingered in his eyes, and I assumed it was for me. The way he looked me up and down, evaluating me, it was new. Something he had never done before.
“Did he ask anything of you?” he whispered, his other hand pulling me against him, as his lips lingered into my hair.
“Several things, he was handsy,” I replied, keeping my voice low. Avoiding the eyes of others who were looking at us.
“You seemed to enjoy yourself,” he mused, an underlying anger in his voice that made my own rise.
“I played the game. Just like you asked.” I hissed, my eyes narrowing. Rhael had put me in this position and if he suddenly had a problem in the way I decided to do it, then he would just have to get over it.
“I need you to tell me what he asked of you,” he said, pulling me against him disguising his questions with his lips in my hair, his hands trailing over my shoulders.
“Here?” I whispered. His hands finally settled on my waist holding my lower half against him.
“No, it is too obvious. Just stay there. I need a moment,” he whispered as I tried to look up at him, silently questioning the thin restraint in his words.
“You okay?” I asked, knowing the question was loaded. I would not have expected an answer usually, but something about the way the Dragon King had held me made me brave.
“Fine. Just need you here for a moment. To remind him you are not up for grabs,” he sighed into my hair, his hands spreading warmth through my body in a way the Dragon King had tried to do and failed.
“I think he plans to try to take someone from you. He wants to hurt you. He told me he could make me free. He asked me what I would want from him if I let him have me.” I told him, the words the Dragon King muttered to me lingering in my brain. It was information he needed to know.
“He will not have you. You are mine,” Rhael promised, leaning his head back to look me in the eye and I felt my heart stop in my chest.
“You shouldn't call me that. This is just a game,” I whispered as one of his hands left my waist, to trail up my body before cupping my cheek. It was an odd feeling, the warmth spreading through me as I let his thumb stroke across my lip.
“What would you answer me if I asked you the same question?” He asked. My breath turned still in my chest. The way he looked at me at that moment set me on fire. His thumb stroked over my lip as he watched me. My breasts threatened to spill from the dress as I pressed closer.
“You know what I desire,” I responded, my hands playing with the detailing on his jacket. Around us I knew people were looking. Eyes narrowed as they watched the human slave claim their King as if she owned him and for just a split second I thought I did.
“Freedom,” he smirked, his lip ring catching the light. I wondered what it would be like to kiss him, if he would taste like metal or if I wouldn't notice it.
“Yes.” I agreed, it was the same answer I had given months ago. However now it seemed feeble, as if it wasn't really what I wanted anymore.
“And what else?” He asked, his voice taking on a more demanding tone. His hand dropped from my lip to my neck, his thumb pressing against my pulse.
Not enough to cut off airflow, but enough to show he was in control. Once again reminding me of my place, of his expectation of me to answer him.
“Rhael,” I warned. This was not the time to be having this conversation. Especially not in front of a King who already wanted to take what Rhael wanted most.
In the back of my mind I wondered if this was why he was doing it. To make Aasim’s desire for me grow more, to get me out of his hair once and for all.
“Ah King Sorenthis. Please join me for a drink.” Aasim calls over the music. Breaking the spell, I was under, as Rhael’s hands fell from my body and he stepped away from me as if the moment had never happened.
I watched as his back straightened and his eyes lost that possessive glow, dimming back to nothing as he steps towards Aasim. That same false smile breaking out over his face once more.
I cursed under my breath, trying to calm myself down as I stood alone now, by the edge of the dance floor.
My chest ached, as if oxygen was not reaching my lungs. So instead of finding someone else to talk to, I bolted for the door. Desperate to escape the heat of the room and the relentless words in my own mind.
Escaping out of the busy hall into the cold air I braced my hands on the stone balcony. Cold air filled my lungs and stung at my skin, but I embraced it. Closing my eyes, letting my lips open as I took in slow long breaths, as I tried to work out the emotions that rolled through me.