Shae faced forward, her violet eyes flashing with anger. “That woman infiltrated this kingdom as a spy. She pretended to be someone she is not, and then we learned she is a dark one. Yet your brother has accepted her deception and claimed her as his consort. What next? Will that thing eventually be the Queen of Nuria? He will force us to accept her, and if we do not, what then? Tell me, Princess, what then?"
Many people in their kingdom accepted their king's choice of consort. Yet thousands were also unsettled, and whispers of dissension were whispered carefully in the streets of the city. Xian understood their fears and uncertainty. She should hate all Darkans, and for as long as she lived, they would be her enemy for taking a woman for whom she hungered from her life. Every day, the aching loss of her mother was a living entity within her soul. Yet Tehdra El Kyn was a different creature altogether. A fierce warrior, a beautiful woman, Xian liked her and welcomed her into the court with open arms, simply because it was evident for the world to see, that Tehdra loved Ajali with every emotion in her soul.
Peering at them on the ballroom floor, the look on their faces was one of fierce passion and love. It was humble to witness. Perplexing to believe that a creature as brutal as Tehdra could feel such love for another. “Ajali loves her, Shae. And Tehdra…she would give her life for him. Nothing else should matter.”
A painful longing to know such a love for herself clawed through her and Xian's heart ached, endlessly. What would it be like to love so deeply…and to be adored with a similar intensity?
“You sound as if you have accepted her position here,” Shae murmured.
Xian walked away without answering. Her brother must know the people of their kingdom would not so easily welcome his consort, and her very life might be in danger from those who would never forgive the Darkans for killing their Queen in the last great war.
A kiss of heat drifted along her bare shoulder blades, as the gaze of someone traced every dip and hollow of her naked back. She could sense a presence lurking just behind her, dangerous and feral. A secret smile curved her lips, and she allowed her hips to roll with greater carnality as she sauntered.
She felt his approach, smelled his wild flavor, tasted it—a bewildering yet thrilling mix of menace and fire—atop her tongue, and her belly flipped alarmingly. Gavyn Westk’arr—a high Duke of the realm, one of her brother’s most loyal friend and supporter, and the man who’d been occupying Xian most lustful dreams for the past several years.
Heat stirred in her veins, hot, powerful, and so terribly frightening her breath caught in her throat in an audible gasp. Working to restore her equilibrium, she sauntered along the balcony, making her way down the intricate winding staircase to the thick of the crowd.
That touch of eyes followed her, and before she took the last step to the ballroom floor, a fleeting caress against her hips halted her. Fiery tingles of sensation coursed over her body and she fought the wicked ripple of response between her thighs from such a simple touch. Xian completed that last step then turned to face him. Icy darkness, yet also fire, and rage. The impression she’d always gotten of Gavyn Westk’arr. She had never understood the duality of the power which leaked from him, and he'd never allowed her close enough to explore his many complexities.
His face wasn’t so much handsome as it was utterly arresting, with the power to compel her gaze, and the fearsome scar that ran across his cheekbones did not detract from his masculine appeal. Though impeccably dressed in black trousers and jacket, with a white shirt and waistcoat, and his midnight black hair caught neatly in a queue at his nape, there was a vaguely uncivilized quality about him. Perhaps it was the slashing scar or the swirling silver of his eyes.
“Your Grace, you made it,” she murmured, lightly fingering the lapel of his jacket.
“What do you wear?” he growled, a welcoming possessiveness leaping in the depths of his mercurial silver eyes with rings of blue and green at its center. Something wicked pulsed through her at his slow perusal. He possessed a rough aura grace and danger in one package, and it was frightfully appealing to Xian.
Her heart skipped into an uneven cadence. “A gown,” she drawled with provocative amusement, running her hand down the side of the golden chains that crisscrossed her body. The entire material was constructed from precious gems. Several loops of gold lay on her skin like the touch of a possessive lover—unshaken and immovable.
“Has Ajali seen this, Xian? You are barely covered.”
Xian allowed an arrogant smile to curve her lips. "I am a woman, not a child to be monitored by my kalija. And if it had escaped your notice, your king is quite busy with his consort to be concerned with my dress or lack thereof.”
Gavyn’s eyes cut to the dancing couple entwined around each other, swaying to the erotic thumps of the drums, before swinging back to her. His gaze took in her form hungrily, and her throat closed. This lust and friendship which existed between them was a torture of its own. Gavyn would never move to take her, and he would not give in to the connection between them. The few times the flames of hunger had fanned out of control, they had only kissed, nothing more. Xian did not understand why, and he had never stated his reason for not taking what they both desperately needed. What she offered shamelessly.
Over the years she had gotten many offers for her hand. Xian had rejected them all. It would be far better to remain single than to marry a man for whom she felt nothing more than a mild liking. Nor could she marry another when her heart was hopelessly ensnared by the man before her. She was a princess, but he was a high duke, a favored friend to her brother. Surely, Ajali would have approved a match between them. Yet Gavyn wi
thheld asking for her hand in marriage, and she had too much pride to demand a reason.
“You will return to your chambers and change into something…more appropriate,” he said gruffly. “There is nothing on your body but chains of gold!”
Xian laughed and stepped closer to him. Heat flamed in his eyes before his expression shuttered. A few dukes and high lords close by arched their brows, but she was uncaring of their speculations. “Dance with me, Gavyn.”
His jaw clenched. His intent stare seared her, and her body pulsed in answering arousal. “I cannot.”
"Coward," she whispered, tipping on her toes, so her lips almost brushed his. "I believe I shall find another partner for dancing…and so much more later.”
Before she could move away, he dragged her into his arms and flushed her against his body.
“Unless you wish to cause the death of this partner you seek, I suggest you only dance tonight,” he clipped icily.
“Oh? So after I am to return to my palace alone?”
“Yes.”
“How curious,” she drawled mockingly. “Do you believe I have been keeping my pussy pure while I wait for you to claim it, hmm?”
Shock flared in his eyes before it was replaced by something cold and menacing. For one heart-stopping moment fear jerked in her heart before she suppressed the insidious emotion.
“Any man who has touched you...” he gritted his teeth with a grunt.