I swallowed, lifting my narrowing eyes to glare at her, shock filtering through my expression. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, he didn’t tell you, did he?” she winced overdramatically, even though her smile was firmly still in place.
“What didn’t he tell me?” I asked, assuming she was referring to Rhys. When she cocked her head to the side, slowly frowning, her mouth puckered into a tight line, and I groaned. “Spill it, Nyx!”
“Halfway through the night, they bare the maidens to the men. They strip us down to our undies before parading us through the courtyard. They do it so men who haven’t chosen a consort for the night can make their final choice on who to take into the forest until dawn.”
“Do they actually go into the forest?” I questioned, turning as a knock sounded at the door to my room.
“Well, no. Everyone has a room to sleep in, of course. Some will choose to go into the forest as is tradition, but pinecones in the vagina is a hard limit for some of us. Pine needles hurt in certain places, and they poke your ass as well.” She dabbed her finger against her ruby-red lips, fixing her lipstick before moving to the door, peering out into the hallway. “Your jailers are ready to escort us down,” Nyx called over her shoulder, and I exhaled a soft sigh.
I had knights escorting me everywhere since Rhys had started allowing me to move freely throughout his home. I was unable to escape them, even during mealtime. It was unnerving, but it made me feel safer while his family was here.
Moving to the door, I paused. Nyx grabbed me, turning me to face her as if she had something important to say. “You’re wearing something sexy beneath the dress, right? Like something that will knock Rhys’s dick right up to punch him in the nose?”
“It wasn’t that big of a dick, Nyx.” Swallowing, I listened as the knights choked or smothered their laughter with coughs. “Besides, he isn’t interested in me. He told me to choose a beta for tonight. That way, if I created a child tonight, he could take it. He isn’t choosing me tonight.”
“He named you the May Queen, and himself the Forest King. He basically wrote his name on your vagina, woman.” Coughing exploded outside of the room, and I stepped into the hall as my knight, Luis, smothered a laugh as he reached behind us to close the door.
“You look beautiful tonight, My Lady,” Luis said, bowing his head, which made me smile at the chivalry he was displaying.
“Thank you,” I replied, moving further down the hall. The knights surrounded us as other guests filtered from their rooms and into the hallway, making their way to the courtyard.
“Rhys wants you, Remi. It’s as simple and complicated as that. The issue is, he’s the alpha.”
“He doesn’t want me like that anymore. If he did, he’d have finished one of the times he started, but he’d rather answer the door or whatever, and leave me needlessly hanging.”
“He’s alpha, Remi. It’s his job to be available to people who need him. He must continue being the alpha because his brothers are all cold bastards and would let a war begin. Rhys wants to stop it from happening. I understand what he is doing, even if he did go about it horribly wrong. As your best friend, I know you understand it too. You’ve seen what creatures like us do to humans, and if we go to war, they will suffer needlessly.”
“It doesn’t make it easier for me that I was thrown into this shit hazardously. I have no choice in anything I do, and Rhys uses my age against me to trap me into positions that I shouldn’t be.”
We paused as we entered the courtyard, silently taking in the multitude of people talking and drinking already. I swallowed down the urge to tuck tail and go back to my room and hide. The knights closed in behind, preventing my retreat and anyone else from moving onto the stairs as I began to descend.
The steward announced my name, and the entire assembly went silent. I exhaled a shaky breath, taking in the eyes that examined me. I moved my feet carefully down the stairs, and locked eyes with Rhys, who stared at me as if I was the only woman in the room. I focused on getting to him without falling and breaking my neck.
“How uncomfortable is it to know that everyone here wants to murder you?” Nyx asked, and I almost missed a step, turning my wide eyes toward her.
“It wasn’t until you mentioned it,” I groaned, turning to look at Rhys, who was now glaring at Nyx. “Let’s try not to say it too loudly. I am sure some people in the back didn’t hear you.”
“Well, I mean, not everyone wants you dead. I don’t,” Nyx chuckled as we stopped in front of Rhys and Acyn, both bowing at their waist, lifting to offer their elbows to escort us into the courtyard.
“You are stunning tonight, Remington,” Rhys whispered against my ear.
“You clean up pretty good too, Van Helsing.”
“Were you ever taught to dance?”
“I can dance,” I swallowed, noting he was heading straight toward the dance floor, and all around us, couples were following our lead.
“Good, because everyone is watching you.” Rhys stopped in the middle of the floor, turning toward me as he smirked devilishly.
I paused to look around, noting that everyone was watching us. He held his hands up, and I placed mine against them, waiting for the music to begin. The moment it did, he closed the distance between our bodies, sliding one arm behind my back. He slowly turned us toward the others on the dance floor, moving forward before turning me yet again.
“What dance is this?” I asked, panic slowly sinking in.
Rhys didn’t answer. Instead, he turned toward me, encircling my waist as my arms wrapped around his neck. His eyes watched me, lowering to my throat to see my wildly racing pulse. There was a wicked smile playing on his mouth, but his eyes slid to something over my shoulder.
The music changed, as if whoever controlled the tempo noted that we’d changed dances. It was a slow song, one that allowed Rhys to move us fluidly across the dance floor. His hand reached up to mine, claiming it before he spun me around and yanked me back until I was flush against his warmth.
“You’re safe, woman. No one here will touch you tonight. Not unless you wish it to be so, Love,” he whispered into my ear, and then lifted me into the air while holding my waist.
Rhys stared up at me through heated eyes, my hands held on to his shoulders, and slowly, so very slowly, he lowered me to the floor. Smiling boyishly, he grabbed my hand, spinning me around the moment my feet touched the floor. He danced like it was a battle, one he raged against me as we spun around, coming body to body repeatedly. His mouth would lower precariously close to mine, but he’d move away every time I lifted on my toes to claim his lips. On the last few notes of the song, he dipped me back, his hands holding me as I slowly lifted my eyes to his, finding them filled with naked heat pooling in their endless depths. He slowly pulled me up, holding me close until his forehead pressed against mine.
“Cole is off-limits tonight, Remington. I suggest you choose someone wisely,” he swallowed, stepping back to watch me. I struggled to control the emotion that dancing with him had created within me.
I opened my mouth to tell him that I wanted him, but a blonde woman stepped in front of me, tying her ribbon to his wrist while he held my stare. My throat bobbed, and I smiled tightly, turning to flee the dance floor. I stopped in front of the bar, slowly calming the burning inferno of jealousy and need rushing through me.