Page 12 of Hopeless Kingdom
“Maybe we won’t be here long, but at the moment, you’re about to feed me to the wolves without any protection whatsoever.” A shaking sound fills my voice and I breathe hard to make that weakness disappear from within me.
Large hands settle on my hips, calming me with the simple connection of his body and mine. I want to hate him. I want to hate them all so badly, but that fuming anger just isn’t there when he’s looking at me like it hurts his heart to hurt me.
“I’d never let anything happen to you.” The quiet rumbling promise of his voice melts my ovaries; I swear it. I don’t know how Darrio and I got here. I can’t say when our relationship took this turn. But when he promises to protect me, I believe him. “What you said earlier about claiming you as mine.” His gaze dips to my lips and my hands settle over his broad chest. His heart pounds wildly against my fingertips. “You’re not mine, but you aremy fucking human.”
A small smile tugs at the corner of my lips, and it reflects in his eyes until fine lines crease the corners there with nothing but real happiness showing in his face.
I like the idea of being his fucking human. I’ve been his fucking human since we first met but now it’s a term of affection … I think.
The emotions in me grow until I have to shove them back down into the darkness of my heart.
Emotions are dangerous, and I can’t afford to feel them right now.
“If you lead me into danger,” I stroke my fingers across the swooping ink lining his collar bone as I speak in a sweet whisper, “your fucking human will kill you.” It sounds like a loving promise. In a way, it is; a loving, but sincere, promise.
A rumbling laugh shakes through his chest and his hand falls to my lower back. For only a second my hips are pushed into his, sending a twirling energy through my core.
“I’d expect nothing less.”
The warmth of his big hand sears against the small of my back as he pulls away and leads me down the quiet hall. My hip brushes his, our sides touching coyly. And ever so gently, with nimble fingers, I pull the small black knife from his belt.
It’s military standard; just like my father used to have. The royal emblem is engraved into the hilt of it, my fingers brushing against it for only a second.
One seemingly careless stumble later and I’ve hidden it away within my right boot.
I flash the man I care far too much about an embarrassed smile as he helps me to my feet.
Anger still pounds through my heart. It beats in time with the sound of our footsteps as he leads me closer and closer to what will most definitely be an entertaining dinner.
***
Dinner is … rather boring, actually. My spine stays glued to the back of my seat; tension fills my shoulders as I wait for the veil to be pulled away from this eerily mundane situation.
This room is the largest I’ve seen so far. To my left, Tristan sits at the head of the table. His food goes untouched as he stares hard at me. I feel his attention boring into the side of my face as I pretend to feign interest in my salad. The delicate green leaves haven’t touched my lips but I push them around nonetheless. It’s a shame to let possibly poisoned food go to waste, really. The wine at the corner of my plate tempts me, but I don’t take one sip. I’ll drink the dirty bath water Daxdyn’s keeping warm for me before I chance a drink of that.
An older woman with streaks of silver cast down her long ebony hair stares wide eyed at me as well. She’s the former queen. I haven’t seen her since my father died protecting me from her when my Hopeless scars first appeared. Her gaze makes me shift slightly in my seat, but still I don’t look at her.
Across from me, Ryder sits in silence, his hands clasped over his plate. Dark metal peeks out on his wrists from beneath his snug, long sleeve shirt. A spasm in his tightly held jaw tells me he’s counting down the seconds until we are dismissed.
“She’s quieter than I thought she would be,” the king muses. His comment still doesn’t pull my attention to him but I notice Darrio nodding carelessly along with Tristan’s words. “No man ever complained of a silent woman. Am I right, Darrio?” Self-assured laughter accompanies the king’s words.
Not one second passes and a chuckling sound rumbles through Darrio as he nods even more, taking a large drink of wine. “Right you are, your Highness.”
I study each individual prong of my silver fork. The shine of it catches my attention as I fist it in my palm, resisting the urge to embed the utensil deep in Darrio’s muscular thigh.
Asshole.
“I like you, Darrio. You’re not at all like your brother,” Tristan says and once more Darrio nods in agreement. The more he speaks to Darrio, the more I want to climb my ass on top of this table and slit the king’s throat with a butter knife.“The other one, the aggressive fae with the lashing attitude, he’ll be allowed out of his rooms once he learns not to threaten my life again.”
Daxdyn threatened his life? He didn’t mention that. He could have spared a moment during—after my orgasm to note that important detail.
I arch a brow at the thought.The aggressive one.Doesn’t really seem like Daxdyn. He has it in him, but what could have set him off to make him a prisoner just like me?
To my right, Darrio shoves heaping spoonfuls of mashed potatoes into his mouth like he’s trying to close the hole in his face with impossibly large portions of food. I cock a brow at him but, apparently, my judgment doesn’t affect his dinner. Another overflowing bite is shoveled right in.
Gods above, where is he putting it?
“Do you know why you’re here, Zakara?” Tristan’s voice halts Darrio’s obnoxious eating. His spoon lowers stiffly to the edge of his plate.
