“I’m not interested in pretending I don’t want you, that I don’t think about you constantly. It’s insulting to us both.” He swallows, and his gaze dips from my face to the V of my robe. His hand follows the same path, grazing down my neck and over my collarbone to between my breasts, where he nudges the silky fabric to the side.
He strokes his thumb across the swell of my breast, and pleasure whips through me, so intense that it takes me a moment to realize what he’s doing— where he’s touching. His thumb circles the rune tattoo that symbolizes my bond with Sebastian. “I want you so much, Abriella. More than I ever thought was possible. More than I should admit. But as long as you’re bonded to him, you’ll never be completely mine.” He lifts his gaze and locks his silver eyes on mine. “And I am just as selfish as the males who loved Queen Gloriana. I don’t want pieces of you. I want all of you, and I won’t share.”
Because he looks so sad, so devastated by this, I lean forward and brush my lips against his again.
The kiss isn’t passionate or hungry like the one we shared in the lake. It’s a kiss that says I hear him, and I understand, that I feel it too.
When he pulls away, I lean into him, instinctively chasing more.
He groans and tucks an errant curl behind my ear. “I could take you right now, Princess. But I want you mindless with pleasure—lost to it. And if I do my job right, those shields of yours wouldn’t stand a chance. He’d feel you, and you’d feel him, and in the end, it would be painful for all of us.
That is why I didn’t come back to the tent last night.” He drops his hand and takes another step back.
“Enjoy your bath.”
The High Priestess of the shadow fae is, in a word, a bitch.
We arrived at the temple eight hours ago and were told she’d see us soon. Pretha and Kane left, and Finn and I were escorted into a cramped, stuffy room inside the temple and made to wait. Then we were left alone and locked inside. We waited. With no water or food, without a chair to sit in or even a window for fresh air, we waited for what felt like an eternity.
By the time a servant comes for us and leads us into a vast, window-lined sanctuary, the sun is setting. The sneer hasn’t left her face since we stepped into the room, as if she’s being forced to converse with the dirt on the bottoms of her shoes.
“High Priestess Magnola, thank you for seeing us,” Finn says, bowing his head to the dark-haired, finely dressed female before us. She’s seated on an ornate throne of sorts on the dais at the front of the sanctuary. It’s studded with jewels and pearls, as is the priestess herself. They’re everywhere— around her neck, her wrists, and up her arms, even woven into her hair.
“Finnian,” she says, inclining her chin. She cuts her eyes to me for a fraction of a second before turning her gaze to Finn again. “You know I can’t deny an audience with the rulers of this court.”
“Yes,” he says. “That’s why I brought Lady Abriella.”
“She is no lady,” the priestess says, her lip curling as she looks me over. “She wasn’t a lady when she was a human servant, and she’s no lady now. She’s a mistake. ” Her nostrils flare. “Nothing more.”
“With all due respect,” Finn says, but I put a hand on his arm and shake my head. I don’t like this female. I don’t like the way she’s treated us or the way she’s looking at me, but mostly I don’t like the feeling of something crawling beneath my skin when I’m in her presence. Finn wants to defend me, but she doesn’t deserve his explanation.
Those cold, bitter eyes narrow in on my hand on his arm. “When I was young, a soul bond meant something.” She glares at me, and I want to wipe that sneer right off her face.
I clench my hands into fists and focus to control my power.
She continues. “It wasn’t something done on a whim. We bonded only with those we loved, and we were true to that bond until the day we died. But you stand here before me, bonded to one male while smelling of another.”
For the first time since we stepped before her, I bow my head, unable to look into those angry eyes while she shames me. I might not care about being a lady, but my complicated relationship with Finn and Sebastian and the choices I made along the way? I consider that a failure. An embarrassment.
Finn stiffens beside me. “Abriella didn’t know that Sebastian—”
“I don’t want your excuses,” she snaps. “It’s been corrupted. Just like the crown, just like the court. It was never meant to be like this.”