Page 18 of A Hunt So Wicked
“It’s not about fair.” I gasped as the dancing finally started to tire me out. It had been a long time since I’d done a full waltz, and it was surprising how quickly continuous dancing really took it out of a person. I twirled as Torin held my right arm up.
He chuckled. “Then what is it about?”
“When I figure that out, I’ll let you know.”
“Oh? How will you let me know?”
I thought about that and realized I’d have no way of contacting him even if I wanted to. “You know, by raven. Or a pathetically short letter.”
It was almost time to switch partners. Fantastic. Another royal I’d have to endure for the remainder of the song.
“You’re wrong, you know?” I looked up into his eyes. Registering my confusion, he continued. “You said that women are only given the time of day during these events.”
“I’m not wrong about that,” I defended.
Torin twisted us so that he was behind me. My head bent, arching my neck, just like every other woman on the floor. Suddenly, I felt his warm breath on my throat, eliciting goosebumps to erupt all over my body.
“Not that part.” He paused, and another breath of air teased my skin. My heart was pounding so hard that I thought I might pass out. “The nightly duties of a wife part.”
My eyes opened wide and locked firmly onto a pair of deep forest green eyes. The biggest man I’d ever set eyes on, a mere six feet away, stared at me with suspicion as Torin whispered into my ear. My face was hot enough to brand a cow’s hide, and I wanted to avert my eyes, to hide my reaction to Torin’s words and closeness. But I couldn’t look away.
“My wife won’t think of it as a duty,” he growled seductively, his hands tightening on my waist. “Nor will it be strictly a nighttime activity.”
Sweet Goddess, I was going to faint. Heat flooded my body so intensely that the room seemed to spin. The man with thick dark hair was glaring now.
“No,” Torin rumbled, his chest vibrating against my back. “She’ll love every second of it. She’ll want it all the time.” His right hand began moving upward, nearly to my breast.
The large man stepped away from his dance partner, which snapped me out of the trance I’d been placed in. It was time to switch partners. Spinning around to Torin, I found him just as red faced as I was and breathing heavily.
“You told me I was unexpected earlier at dinner.” I hated how breathy my words were, and he stared down at me like he was seconds away from dragging me off to a dark corner. A small smirk was tugging at the corner of his mouth as he studied the way he’d affected me.
“Unfortunately,Your Royal Highness,” I hissed the title as if the words burned my tongue. “You’re exactly what I expected.”
If I had a lick of artistic talent, I knew I’d have been drawing that dumbstruck expression on his face at my insult. I spun around and debated making a run for it instead of finishing this Goddess awful dance, and yelped when I slammed into a tree.
“May I?” the tree asked as I stared up at the man from earlier with the green eyes. Torin was a big man, but this guy? He was massive. Wider, bulkier, and a bit taller. I dropped my eyes to the hand he was offering me, noting that his hand would probably cover my entire face.
“Dair,” Torin spoke, clearly coming out of his stunned state. “I’m not done with her.”
“Yes, you are.” I slammed my hand into Dair’s open one, putting an end to Torin’s protests.
Dair’s dancing partner, who had been silent the entire time, stepped in happily, stealing away Torin. He couldn’t refuse her without looking like the asshole he clearly was, so the two of them disappeared into the group of moving bodies.
I reached for Dair’s shoulder, finding it hard to reach. “Goddess, you’re tall.”
“You are not,” he deadpanned, and I didn’t know if he was being humorous or not. I raised my hand to his arm, and we started dancing. Immediately, I noticed differences between Torin and this man. Torin was thinner, though his arm was hard, revealing the muscle that hid beneath his jacket. This royal was wide and solid, and while his arm was by no means soft, he simply had more mass than my previous dance partner. He also moved more rigidly, like he was following instructions on how to dance, instead of feeling the movements and the music, and I let him lead me for a few moments, getting used to his style.
It was hard fighting the urge to look up at him. He had a beard that was trimmed short, which suited him. Prince Torin had this almost ethereal appearance to his features that were hard to look away from, but this man was ruggedly handsome, and I found that equally appealing. The giant didn’t talk for at least a minute while I racked my brain for what I could think of in order to figure out who he was. He was wearing the Oberon house colors of green and gold, and the crown on his head told me that he was a direct descendant of King Aric Oberon. There was Alasdair and Alden. The heir and the younger brother. Torin had called him Dair, so this must be the heir.
“You’re Alasdair Oberon?” I asked, throwing him off for a moment after our silence.
“I am. Dair for short. I apologize for not introducing myself immediately. My mind is a little… off this evening,” he explained. “What is your name, my lady?”
“No need to apologize. I’m Evie, from Belney. The one who accidentally tripped Prince Torin earlier,” I said, pointing my thumb over my shoulder toward the table I’d been sitting at. Realizing I’d brought the situation up, I cursed in my head. What if he thought I was making fun of Torin? I was about to apologize for even mentioning the humiliating incident, but a deep chuckle erupted from Dair’s chest.
“That was glorious. Torin is my best friend, and regardless of the fact that we’re no longer teenage boys, I do still enjoy seeing him getting taken down a peg or two.”
I smiled at his words, and surprisingly it wasn’t forced. “I’m willing to bet it doesn’t happen often?”
