Chapter Thirty-One
Setting Boundaries
Kalon immediately turned to me and took a step away from Lillia, and his cheeks pinkened ever so slightly when he met my gaze. “Allie. When did you arrive?”
“Not long ago,” I replied, standing next to him. “I was hoping to come and see you sooner, but Blair stopped by the tent and fell in love with Rina, so I did some platonic matchmaking.”
“I was wondering where Rina was. I told her to stay with you at all times.”
“I ordered her to stay behind. Blair so rarely gets to meet with a female knight, after all. Sir Otto was kind enough to accompany me in her stead.” I smiled, then turned to Lillia. “Lady Lillia, how lovely to see you. Once again, please do accept my apologies for my rudeness last night.”
She smiled, but the look in her eyes was one of pure frustration. “Please don’t worry yourself, Lady Alicia. Are you feeling better?”
“Very much so. It’s kind of you to ask.” I paused, then gazed up at Kalon. “Oh, I do hope I wasn’t interrupting your conversation.”
“Of course not,” Kalon said, sliding one arm around my waist to pull me in close. He practically squeezed me against him. “Besides, you often barge into my office while I’m meeting with people without a care. I hardly think this could be considered an interruption in comparison.”
“Don’t be rude,” I said, lightly smacking his chest. “I don’t barge in anywhere. I always knock first.”
“You’re supposed to wait for an answer before you enter a room, you know.”
I jutted out my lower lip in a pout. “Fine. Then I guess I won’t bother coming to see you anymore.”
“Don’t look at me like that.” He cupped my chin and rubbed his thumb over my lower lip. “You know I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Are they always like this?” Torin asked Bella.
Bella flinched. “I couldn’t say, Your Highness.”
“It’s uncomfortable.”
It appeared Torin wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Lillia was almost trembling, and the way her jaw was clenched said fear had nothing to do with it.
“What brings you to this area, Lady Lillia?” Torin asked, stepping into the conversation. “Oh, are you offering your handkerchief to the Grand Duke?”
“No, no,” she said hurriedly. “I was merely lost and trying to find my way back to my tent, so I hoped His Highness might assist me.”
Kalon glared at her.
“Well, thank goodness,” I said, touching my hand to my chest. “I thought I saw you with one in your hand on my way over here, but I’m glad to have been mistaken.”
Lillia turned to me, her eyes darkening, but she kept a sweet smile on her face all the same. “Yes. That was my own personal handkerchief I was using at the time.”
“Just as well.” I met her glare with a dark one of my own.
“It’s considered extremely bad manners to offer your handkerchief to an engaged or married man unless you’re related.
Some may even consider it an insult to their house.
It would be terribly unfortunate if you were to make an enemy of House Vermillion or House Stein during your official debut due to an innocent mistake. ”
Her smile wavered. “I apologise for any misunderstanding, Lady Alicia.”
“I’m glad we were able to swiftly clear it up.” I turned to Sir Otto. “Sir Otto, would you be so kind as to help Lady Lillia return to her tent? I’ll be quite safe here in the meantime.”
Sir Otto glanced at Kalon who nodded in response. “Lady Lillia, please allow me to escort you back to your tent.”
“Thank you very much, Sir Otto.” Lillia clenched her fists as she curtseyed. “Your Highnesses, Lady Alicia, please excuse me. I wish you luck on the hunt today.”
She had no choice but to leave. I’d backed her into a corner, and if she’d rejected the offer of my knight taking her to her tent when she was clearly alone without even a maid, I could have taken it as an insult.
She was smart enough to know that, even if she was stupid enough to lie.
“That was entertaining,” Torin said brightly, looking between us.
Oh, God. He wasn’t going to start anything, was he?
“Bella,” I said, stepping away from Kalon. “You may also return to the tent if you wish.”
She looked shocked. “Are you sure, my lady?”
I nodded. “Isn’t your sister here?”
“Yes, I believe she’s attending with House Carden as Lady Mona’s maid.”
“Why don’t you go and see her? I don’t mind as long as you return before the hunt begins.”
“Are you sure, my lady?”
“I wouldn’t say so if I wasn’t.” I smiled. “Rina has some personal time, so please take a little for yourself.”
“Thank you, my lady.” She curtseyed. “I will excuse myself, Your Highnesses.”
She disappeared, and Torin turned to me. “You’re far too nice to your servants.”
I refused to meet his gaze. “I’m not the only one who left my family behind when I moved to Stein. While I could live quite happily never crossing paths with my sister again, Bella is not the same.”
“What are you doing here?” Kalon glared at Torin. “And what are you doing sniffing around Allie?”
Torin raised his eyebrows, looking more amused than anything. “Goodness, brother. Anyone would look at this situation and believe you feel threatened by me.”
Kalon grabbed my waist and yanked me back against him, and I squealed out an, “Eep!” in surprise.
“Do you think I don’t know she was the number one choice for Crown Princess? Not only by the Emperor and Empress, but by you, too?” He clamped his arms around my shoulders, pinning me against him.
Wait. I was Torin’s choice, too?
How annoying.
“If you knew, why did you propose marriage to her? Wouldn’t your life be easier if you found someone else?” Darkness glinted in Torin’s eyes. “You have to know that Mother hasn’t given up on making her my wife, and I’m not sure I have, either.”
Brat.
“Then you should share my apologies between you, because I would die before I ever let you marry her.”
“That can be arranged, Grand Duke.”
“I’d like to see you try, little brother.”
They glared at one another so intensely that the tension prickled at my skin. It was almost suffocating, and for the first time, I truly understood how deep their hatred of one another ran.
It was almost as if it were ingrained into their very souls.
“Kalon,” I said, holding onto his arm as I tilted my head back to look at him. “We ran into each other by chance while I was speaking with my sister. Crown Prince Torin ran her off and offered to escort me to your tent as he was heading this way, that’s all.”
Kalon clenched his jaw.
“And Your Highness, not everyone aspires to the seat of Empress. Please keep that in mind.” I turned my attention back to Torin, who almost looked shocked that I was addressing him in such a manner.
“Just as it’s improper for a lady to offer her handkerchief to a betrothed man, it’s equally as rude for a gentleman, regardless of his stature, to openly covet another man’s fiancée.
If what you say is true and you wished to marry me, then you should have taken the initiative and proposed to me first.”
Shock flashed across Torin’s features quickly followed by anger before he restrained himself. It was quite impressive how he managed to swallow back his emotions and present a cool facade even though I’d just borderline insulted him.
“You should go back to your tent and prepare to leave, brother,” Kalon said, his shoulders shaking. “Excuse us.”
He dragged me inside his tent before Torin could say a word, and once the curtains fell shut behind us, Kalon spun me around and grabbed my waist. He plopped me onto the table in the middle of his tent and, planting one hand on the flat surface next to me, used his other to cup the back of my neck, then kissed me.
“Mmph!” I gripped onto his shirt as I fell back from the force of his kiss. My legs were tucked between his as he covered me with his strong body, and I had no choice but to give myself over to his whims.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. Kalon’s tongue teased my lower lip, and as I sank my fingers into his thick, silky hair, I parted my lips, giving him the permission to deepen the kiss.
My body came to life with every stroke of his tongue. The heat of him on top of me was the sweetest thing I’d ever felt, and I wanted to free my legs from the prison of being between his so I could wrap them around his waist and hold him even closer to me.
Since when had my feelings changed this much? At what point did I stop wanting to run away and instead keep him closer to me?
When did my feelings turn from indifference to this desire that controlled every atom of my being?
When had he crawled under my skin like this? What made me so weak against him? Why couldn’t I resist his touch?
Kalon dragged his lips from my mouth to my neck. My arm fell from around his shoulders as I tilted my head back, and he grabbed my hand, linking our fingers together.
Every kiss he left on my skin burned a white-hot path of desire that made me want to squirm beneath him. I wanted to arch my body into his to see if he felt the same way I did, but all rational thought escaped me when he took my other hand and pinned them both above my head.
I was entirely at his mercy as his lips moved further down, and he nipped at my collarbone before sweeping his tongue over the same spot. I clenched my thighs together as the deep ache between my legs intensified.
“You have no fucking idea how frustrated I am that we’re here right now.” He grazed his teeth over my earlobe, and I shivered. “If you didn’t deserve better for the first time, I’d take you on this table right now.”
Oh, boy.
“I think you have a possessiveness kink,” I breathed, turning my head when he nibbled the sensitive spot just beneath my ear.
“I have a you kink.” He took my mouth again, sliding his tongue against mine instantly.
The kiss was deep and hot, and he was aggressive in his claiming of his mouth, almost as if he was saying that my lips belonged to him and only to him.
He was staking his claim on me.
Whether it was for my benefit or his, I couldn’t say.