“Because I want to beat Olivier,” he said, his eyes burning with silent fire. “Don't you understand, little girl? I want to beat him in every way possible. I want to have what’s his. I want his property to be my own.”
My cheeks were burning up, but I couldn’t look away from him, not even when he raised his finger and gently touched it to the heat in my face. It moved over my lips, parting them. I held back the gasp that so desperately wanted to escape me.
“I want his pretty, young little toy whore, too,” he breathed. “I want her all to myself.”
"Stop," I managed.
"No." His voice was so deep. Troubled. "You love it when I'm bad."
“Why do you hate him so much?” I demanded, my heart beating into overdrive.
He smirked at me, saying, “You won’t believe me if I tell you now. And when you find out, you’ll long for the time you had no idea about little brother’s darkest secret.”
Once again, he left no room for a response. He took half a step closer, his lips lingering less than an inch from mine.
“Ask for it,” he muttered, and I whimpered at his closeness.
“W-What?” I whispered.
“Ask for me to kiss you,” he said.
I shook my head wordlessly and he started to pull back. My hand flew out, my fingers wrapping around his wrist. An electric current passed between us. Again. Fuck. No.
“Kiss me,” I whispered, my mouth remaining open in a silent plea for him to do it.
He did.
It took him less than a second to close the distance between us. His lips left no room for me to breathe. He enveloped my mouth, his tongue slipping into mine in a flash. He kissed me like he was paying me for it. Like he could do anything he wanted to me, knowing I wouldn’t say a word about it to a soul.
My hands found his chest and I tried to push him back, but he grabbed my wrists and held them to his pecs. Slowly, I stopped fighting it. I let my body fall into the submissiveness it knew so well.
“Fuck,” I whispered against his lips. I felt him smirking. Biting. Fucking forcing me to give him more and more, my body submitting as if it was what I was meant to do all along.
“Amber…?”
We froze. He pulled back a moment too late. A moment that meant we had been seen.
He turned around first, facing the girl staring us both down. She was shocked, and I watched her face turn from stunned silence into angry surprise as she faced us.
“I…” I started.
“Mademoiselle Safiya,” Bruno said coolly.
Without so much as giving her another glance, he collected me in his arms again and carried me over to the front door. Safiya followed behind us. I could feel her seething glare on the back of my neck.
“I’ll see you ladies inside,” he told us, bowing before disappearing into the house.
Safiya and I stood in front of the doors, with me blushing and her letting out a huff of air.
“I… Safiya, I’m sorry,” I managed. “It wasn’t what it looked like, I-”
“It’s fine, Amber,” she replied with a cool smile. “We all have our reasons for being here, right?”
“No, I…”
“Save it.” She held up her hand to silence me. “I don’t really want to hear your explanation.”
“Okay,” I managed. I felt defeated. Numb. Angry at myself. “I’m sorry, Safiya.”
“It’s fine.”
She knocked on the doors and the two servants on the other side opened them for her.
“Oh, Amber?”
She turned around to face me one last time. I investigated her gaze, realizing for the first time just how calculating her eyes were. “You owe me one.”
The ballroom was warm, too warm. It made me feel dizzy, and it wasn’t a good combination on top of the three glasses of champagne I’d downed.
My new stones glistened in their collar and I felt several pairs of admiring eyes on me, but I didn’t care. I just wanted the night to be over already.
I’d tuned out Zara’s conversation with Camellia next to us, focusing on the crowd. I tried to spot either Bruno or Olivier but couldn’t see either of them.
“You seem distracted today,” Camellia teased me, and I responded with a tense smile.
“She’s a woman in demand today,” Zara giggled. “First Bruno, and I bet Olivier will come find her any second. Right, Amber?”
I nodded, my eyes guiltily connecting with Safiya’s. She was staring at me across the room, her expression a mix of sadness and disappointment. I felt her eyes burning into my skin, and I couldn’t hold the weight of her gaze.
Horrible thoughts consumed me, reminding me of just how much I’d fucked up. I was everything Bruno had called me. A toy. A whore. I’d wanted him to kiss me. And I begged him to do it.
“Amber,” Zara said, motioning to the entrance to the ballroom. “I think he’s looking for you.”
I turned around, nearly bumping into Olivier who’d crossed the distance between us in mere seconds.
“Amber,” he said roughly. “I haven’t seen you all day. Where were you?”
“Around,” I managed. I felt guilty now for avoiding him. I’d thought being felt up by Bruno was his idea, part of his plan to make me the perfect wife. Now I knew it was the Queen and Bruno working together to widen the gap between the Prince and myself. And it’s fucking working.
“Come with me,” he said, gripping my arm. It was too hard for comfort and I yelped at his touch. He didn’t even flinch. “We’re leaving, Amber. Now.”
He pulled me away, so hard I stumbled in my heels. In a flash, everyone’s eyes were on us, and I picked myself up, flushing to the roots of my hair. Before I was even up yet, another strong figure appeared next to me, pulling me to my feet.
“Let go of her,” Bruno hissed. “You’re hurting her.”
“You’re intruding,” Olivier snarled. “Amber, come on.”
“Don’t,” Bruno muttered in my ear. “He’s drunk.”
I pulled free of both, wrenching my arms aside and blushing at the thought of the whole room watching. It was a scene I didn’t want. I could already imagine the Queen’s quips about this turn of events.
“Let me breathe,” I demanded when they both crowded me again. “I need to breathe. Just let me go.”
“Amber,” Olivier growled, and his half-brother repeated the same word, albeit in a slightly less threatening tone.
“Let go of her!” Safiya appeared in front of me like an unlikely savior. She took my hand and I only realized then I was shaking. She led me away, turning around to spit out, “You should both be ashamed of yourselves.”
She gave me a compassionate look and a huge weight fell off my shoulders.
Despite everything else hanging in the air, I knew I’d made one true friend in the competition.
Chapter Fourteen
Amber
The flutter in my stomach wouldn’t go away, not even in the middle of the night.
I tossed and turned until I finally decided to get up and take a midnight stroll to take my mind off everything. It was three a.m. according to the alarm clock on my nightstand, and I knew I wouldn’t be disturbed.