Taunting Destiny(130)

We moved around the dance floor silently, and awkwardly. I couldn’t keep count of how many times Adam and I both stepped on each other’s feet. We laughed, and, even knowing neither one of us wanted this, it was like old times again. We talked for several minutes in hushed tones about his encounter with Larissa. Fashions ranged from suits, like Adam and his brothers wore, to some outfits that belonged in a museum. Some of the male Fae wore what Adam called man-dresses and tights, which threatened to make me lose it laughing.

Adam apologized and told me he’d help me find a way out of this—together. When we’d danced for long enough, I kissed him softly on his cheek and excused myself.

I turned to flee to the sidelines and the safety of a wall when Ryder pulled me against him. “Dance with me, Princess. I would be humbled.”

I smiled as my heart accelerated. “You are not humbled by anything, Ryder,” I swallowed and allowed him to fold me gently into his arms.





Chapter Thirty Nine





I inhaled his scent and closed my eyes. The feel of him against me just felt so right, but I didn’t allow myself to embrace him any more than was proper for dancing, since we were at my wedding. I was about to become Adam’s bride, and I owed him the respect of being faithful, even if it killed me.

“You look so beautiful this evening, Synthia. You make everyone here pale in the face of your beauty,” he said softly against my ear.

“Says the man in a tuxedo. You, out of everyone else here, should be banned from wearing something that makes you look so,” I stopped talking because if I finished that, I’d be begging him to sift me out of here to do inappropriate things. The man was sinful in a t-shirt, but in a Versace styled tux, the man was dangerously seductive.

“Sexy, huh? Can’t look at me?” he purred as he inhaled my scent. It made heat pool to my core for him.

“We shouldn’t be dancing,” I said, trying to pull away, but he kept me there.

“Why? Because you still want me or because I want you, Synthia?” he growled low against my neck as he flicked his tongue against my pulse wickedly as his head hid his actions from everyone else in the room.

“You want me to be honest? Both. I want you. Right here, right now. Is that what you wanted to hear? Are you happy now, because the answer is yes? I’m afraid you’ll make me do things that I shouldn’t do. I’m not the type to cheat on anyone. I refuse to become that woman to any man, and Adam deserves better from me. I can’t cheat on him; not even for you, Fairy.”

He smiled, and it made me blush with how sinful it looked on his beautiful mouth. Knowing that this would be the last time I allowed myself around it, hurt deeply. I felt hot tears pushing against my eyes, but I managed to keep them hidden, just barely. He held me as we effortlessly continued to dance, oblivious to everyone else around us.

“Have you fed from him?” he asked quietly, and as I lifted my eyes, I flinched as I saw the pain bared in his bronze depths. “Have you fed from Adam, yet?”

“No, I was well fed before I left your bed this morning. You are a beast when it comes to hunger, but you make sure I’m always fully sated,” I replied with a small smile.

“Good,” he whispered, but his smile had gone behind the clouds as surely as the sun on a rainy day.

“Are you fully healed now, from the iron?” I asked.

“Worried about me?” he asked as a smirk lit up his generous mouth.

“Always,” I replied with mischief dancing in my eyes. “Someone has to worry about my fucking Fairy.”

“Your fucking Fairy?” he asked, lifting a brow.

“Syn,” Adam said from behind me. “It’s time. Ryder, Eliran was looking for you a few minutes ago. He said it was urgent.”

“Time for what?” I asked as he pulled me closer to his side.

“We have to sign the binding agreement with our parents,” he answered. I ran my thumb over Ryder’s arm before dropping my hands and stepping back and away from him. He dropped his arms at the same time, but where my face was a mask of pain, his was blank again.

I accepted Adam’s arm and walked back toward the area that had been set up for this formal signing of the contracts. The signing was more than uncomfortable, considering I wanted nothing more than to wipe the ugly smirk off of the Light King’s face.

We moved closer as the Kings discussed something quietly, and then stopped as they noticed we were approaching. I felt the vise around me loosen with the smirk Adam shot me. He leaned over and whispered in my ear softly.

“My dad can take yours. Willing to bet on it?” he asked in a stage whisper, making me laugh outright.