Page 17 of Daman
Nikolai chuckled and grabbed the queen’s hand. “I can deny you nothing.”
“Nor I you,” she responded.
Milena crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue, earning a laugh from Bellamy.
Daman’s green eyes shifted to me. He didn’t say anything, yet something passed between us. A nervousness we both shared. An uncertainty about how we should behave around each other. The moment was there and gone in an instant. He looked at his plate, and with my cheeks heating, I did the same.
Although my appetite was absent, I forced some food down anyway. At least enough to sustain me for the duration of the evening. It was a tactic I’d learned throughout my years of being a soldier. There had been times when I’d seen things that had turned my stomach, yet I’d made myself eat to keep my strength.
Our bodies were like a machine and needed fuel to operate. Emotions were of little consequence.
After dinner, Nikolai and Kira said good night and retired to their chamber. Milena left shortly afterward, but not until she gave Bellamy the up-down, a flirty gleam in her eyes. He had a similar build to Lev and the same shade of hair. That was probably the reason for her interest.
Poor Nikolai would have his hands full with her.
“I’ll show you to your rooms,” Armen said. “Please follow me.”
As Bellamy and Alastair walked with him from the room, I turned to Daman. Those green eyes were focused on me, narrowed slightly. As if he couldn’t quite figure me out.
“Might we have a word?” I asked.
He broke eye contact. “Sure.”
“I won’t pretend to know what I’m doing. This is new for me.”
“Not that new,” he said, his eyes meeting mine again. They appeared so cold. “This isn’t your first engagement.”
“Does that upset you?”
“Oh, not at all. Why would it? Doesn’t everyone like getting sloppy seconds?”
“I don’t understand your meaning.”
“If not for Castor being his mate, Kyo would be standing here right now. Not me.” Daman crossed his arms. “So let’s stop with the bullshit. We don’t have to be friends. This is nothing more than a marriage of convenience.”
“I…” I didn’t know how to respond.
Daman walked to catch up with the others while I stared after him, confused. Had I said something wrong?
Hoping fresh air would help me make sense of things, I stepped outside and walked through the courtyard. As a breeze picked up around me, I breathed in the smell of snow and glanced up at the clear night sky. The moon shone bright, its silver glow like an old friend. Comforting.
Daman was upset about my former engagement, but I’d never felt any type of connection to Kyo. Not like the connection I felt to him. A marriage of convenience, he’d said. Nothing more.
If that was true, why was I so disappointed?
Chapter Three
Daman
“I hope you feel like shit,” Bellamy said, sprawling out on my bed. We each had our own room, but he’d barged in and made himself at home in mine not long after the servant boy left. “Poor Warrin didn’t deserve that.”
“Save the lecture.” I added another log to the fireplace, watching the flames spread to the wood. Guilt clawed at my chest as I recalled the hurt look in Warrin’s eyes right before I’d walked away. “Envy took over. I couldn’t stop it.”
“Are you really jealous of Kyo?”
“No.” I went over to the bed and slapped his leg to make him move over so I could lie beside him. “Okay. I’m a little jealous. It’s dumb. I know it is. But I can’t help it. I don’t like being the second choice, even if this whole weddingisbullshit.”
“You weren’t the second choice.” Bellamy faced me, one arm tucked under the pillow. “Nikolai and Tatsuya set up the engagement between Warrin and Kyo. Warrin had no say in it. But this with you? He chose you, D. Alastair offered to marry him, and he turned Al down foryou. Don’t forget that. You were his one and only choice. It’s gotta make Envy feel a little better, right?”
