Page 25 of Insurrection
Drayven’s eyes lit up with fury that I wanted to tease out, making him as angry as possible, just to show Amare how much better I was than him. I didn’t even know the man, but I instinctively knew that he was a threat to getting this woman in my bed and under me.
Before he could say anything, Ama pulled away from me, her energy going from confused and turned on to nearly fucking joyous. It pissed me off instantly because I knew I wasn’t the one making her happy, and clearly I had some serious issues with being jealous when it came to this woman.
She darted around me, avoiding Drayven, who tried to stop her, as I turned to watch her nearly run into…wonderful. She ran almost right into the House of Runes heir’s arms. Fucking wonderful.
“Motherfucker,” Drayven growled as Finias, who I hadn’t met personally but whose reputation for violence I was well aware of, engulfed her in a hug. I never felt anger, but in that moment, I felt absolutely furious.
“How does she know him?” I asked quietly, putting aside my annoyance with Drayven to get my answer.
“He came to our house just the other night,” he grunted.
Finias was talking with her, a smile playing on his features, as she ran her hands up his chest.I wanted her hands on me.This was bullshit. I felt like a child who’d had their toy taken from them. Not that Ama was a toy, but I wanted to fucking play with her. I wanted to explore every inch of that gorgeous body.
“Are they together?” I inquired, full of curiosity as to how the Dark Elf had managed to bond with her this much in just one night.
“No.” Drayven’s answer didn’t match the way they were talking to one another, and the way Finias was looking at Ama, though. It was clear they were definitely into each other.
Suddenly, Finias looked over Ama’s head at both of us, his eyes instantly going cold and flat, his expression filled with warning. It only lasted a second, but it was enough to even cause me to feel uncomfortable, and Drayven practically vibrated with violence next to me.
I didn’t move as Finias began leading her towards the large front doors. “Stay away from her,” Drayven warned, his eyes flashing with a ring of green as he stalked towards them. Before they disappeared, Ama looked back at me, her eyes sparking with interest as her lips pulled up into a tiny smile, making me uncomfortably hard. How a smile had the ability to do that, I had no damn idea.
When she looked away, I put my hands in my pockets and resisted the urge to go after her. Despite Drayven’s words, I had absolutely no intention of staying away from Amare. Not for my parents. Not for my kingdom.
No, I wanted her all for myself.
Chapter Eleven
Ama
What were the chances? Seriously. What were the chances that my sex drive, which had been essentially non-existent, had decided to explode to life in the span of two days?
Not to mention that, between meeting Finias and Nico, spending more time around Drayven, and running into the asshole from dinner, it felt as if a blush was permanently staining my cheeks recently. I hoped there weren’t any other alluring men lurking in the shadows around here, and if there were, I hoped they had absolutely zero interest in me. I was awkward and horrible enough at handling the attention I was already getting.
My history of being downtrodden and made to feel inferior in every way by other members of my house meant that I was constantly faking my confidence and repeatedly having to remind myself that I had something amazing to offer to the world. Even if others didn’t recognize it.
Having this much interest in me out of nowhere kind of felt like life had thrown me a curveball that knocked me on my ass. It felt surreal, and I kept wondering if it was some type of cruel joke at my expense. I was used to being lonely, so accepting affection was hard enough as it was—I think it would break something in me to find out that all of this was someone’s underhanded way of inflicting emotional pain on me.
The best option would probably be to ignore all of it. I wasn't here to find a boyfriend, after all. I was here to secure the seat for my house, and despite how much I was enjoying the attention of these gorgeous men, I had no way of knowing if they were just playing games to distract me or win votes.
I might have seemed friendly and laid back, but the truth was I didn’t trust easily, and these men—despite being absolutely unique and tempting—had certainly done nothing to earn my trust. There was no history.
Finias' rough hand held mine gently, and I looked down at it, feeling conflicted as I came to the conclusion that getting involved with any of them was a bad idea. I retracted my hand from his gently, playing with my hair to try to make it less obvious that I was setting boundaries now. Confusion flashed in his beautiful violet eyes as he glanced at me. I kept my gaze forward, but I saw it with my peripheral vision, and it took every ounce of self-control not to immediately grab his hand again to soothe him.
It was irrational how much I liked the Dark Elf prince after only having spoken with him for less than an hour the other night. The draw I felt to him was intense, and my heart was battling with my mind on my decision, telling me these feelings shouldn't be ignored.
No.I couldn't give in.
His gaze turned forward once more as he stopped next to a stone entryway that framed a beautiful black oak door. Speaking more formally than he had before, he held a hand out to gesture as he spoke, "This will be the chambers for your house during your stay here. You should find everything you need in there, and your bags will be delivered shortly, I'm sure."
My mouth opened and closed as I tried to find the right words, struggling with the chasm I was creating between us. I didn’t want it.Why was I doing this to myself?Because I knew I needed to keep my wits about me. I was too inexperienced with these types of politics, and I had absolutely no idea who was an actual ally and who wasn’t. The allure of him was too much, too overwhelming, and it seemed to consume all rational thought. It was too much change, too fast.
Also because…I didn’t trust myself not to somehow fuck this up. Not only because it was physically impossible for me to have a relationship, but also because I seriously questioned what made me think I would be any better than my mom. Hell, I had found myself inexplicably drawn to four men in two days. Finias deserved better than that. Better than someone who had such a hugely untrustworthy aspect of their nature. No, a relationship with Finias was just not possible.
I settled on a courteous nod and said, "Thank you, Finias. It was nice to see a friendly face so soon."
That was good, right? Polite, yet still showed I was happy to see him, without being too forward?Devil, I was hopeless.
When I met his gaze though, I could see the chasm between us growing, and it had less to do with my words and more to do with my actions. Finias wasn’t dumb, and I was horrible at hiding my emotions. He knew I was pulling away, and that made it all that much more painful to do, because it was so clear the man had me more figured out than most of the people in my life.
