His hand snaked out faster than my eyes could track. Warm fingers folded around my forearm, sending a jolt traveling up my arm, much like the static charge I got from dragging my feet over a carpet. He eyed the bracelets with a sardonic twist of his lips. Would the Prince recognize what they were? I wasn’t sure.
Then his gaze lifted to mine as he folded two fingers under my chin, guiding my head farther back. A sound rumbled from him, reminding me of a very animalistic growl. My stomach hollowed. A long, tense moment passed and then he pulled his fingers away from my chin.
“So, Sally, I am confident that you entered a room with someone I am looking for.” His thumb slipped over the skin just below the cuff I wore. “Those outside told me he was in here.” He paused. “Then again, those outside this room are unable to tell me anything else.”
What did that mean?
I thought about the odd thump against the wall. Had he done something to the fae out there?
“He was in here and now he’s not.” The thumb moved in a slow circle along my skin, causing a tight, confusing shiver to hit me. “Now, what could’ve happened to this fae? There’s only one small window behind you, but I doubt he’d be able to climb out of that. So, it appears as if he… disappeared into thin air.”
Well, that did kind of happen.
“I’m rather disappointed, as there were things I needed to discuss with him.”
I wanted so badly to ask why the reformed Summer Prince needed to talk to a Winter fae.
His hand slid up my hand, so now his thumb was tracing idle, slow circles on the inside of my elbow, just below another scarred bite mark. A mark Tobias could’ve noticed if he hadn’t been so arrogant and stupid.
“Sally, Sally…. What am I going to do with you?” he mused as thick lashes lowered, shielding pale, wolf eyes.
That was… that was a really bad question. And why was he touching me like this, coming so close to the bracelet? And why was it making me shiver instead of making me want to scrape the skin off that he was touching?
I was going to blame his unexpected appearance for my reaction.
When I didn’t answer, one side of his lips kicked up in a mockery of a smile. “Stand.”
Having no idea if he really believed I was entranced, a tremble coursed through me as I stood on locked knees. The change in position was a blessing. I wasn’t looking at his eyes anymore. My gaze was level with his chest.
“Where are you from, Sally?”
The question caught me off guard and it took a moment to answer. “Lafayette,” I threw out, figuring my accent betrayed that I was from somewhere south.
“Lafayette?” His other hand landed softly on my waist, and my entire body jolted.
Damn it.
A human entranced would have no reaction. He had to know I was faking this, but that didn’t mean that he knew who I was. I couldn’t imagine that he did, not when he’d only seen me twice, and both times I hadn’t looked like this.
Another tremble coursed through me, and I knew he could feel it, because his grip on my waist tightened, bunching the material of my dress.
“Well, Sally from Lafayette, there’s something very interesting about you,” he said, and a stuttered heartbeat later, the entire front of my body was pressed against his.
The contact was a shock to my system, and when I drew in a deep breath, he smelled like summer thunderstorms and reminded me of glistening beaches. My skin burned and tingled and the reaction was swift, potent. His hand slid to the center of my back, and the next breath I took caught in my throat.
What in the world was happening? Was he—?
“Your pulse....” His hand followed my spine, tangling in the strands of hair as it curled around the nape of my neck. His warm breath danced over my forehead as he tipped my head back, pressing his thumb right against my wildly beating pulse.
Without warning, he spun me around. My heart skipped a beat as he hauled me back against him. I drew in a ragged breath, fully aware of how my body fitted against the hard slabs of his muscles and the…holy crap, the other thing that seemed equally proportioned to his large body, and I desperately wanted to pretend I didn’t feel that.
And I also desperately wanted to pretend I didn’t feel how my stomach twisted in a pleasant, confusing way or how liquid heat pooled low. I wasn’t attracted to him. No way. No way at all, because behind the raw heat building inside me was also fear.
The Prince brushed the heavy hair off the back of my neck and then his fingers were against the taut muscles, working to soothe the tightness there.
What in the hell was he up to?
I’d never had a neck massage before. Honestly, I kind of hated random people touching me, but this was… this was oh so nice. Against my will, my neck arched into his hand as the warming in my stomach spread low, really low. My body seemed to relax and tense all at the same time.
I needed to stop this. Right now.
My eyes drifted shut as his hand made its way from my neck, skimming down the side of my body, over my lax arm. The tips of his fingers coasted over mine, and then found their way to my hip. A pumping pulse picked up in several key points in my body, responding to the light, forbidden touch.
He didn’t speak as his warm breath kissed the curve of my cheek and I didn’t say or do anything. I could stop him. I knew I could. Or I could at least try.
I did nothing.
His hand slipped over my stomach, below my navel. I jerked, bringing us closer. Way too close once more, and I couldn’t breathe as something bizarre happened inside me. It was like all my senses woke up at once, sparking with life and flaming heat through my veins.
His hand dropped to the front of my dress, right above where a deep, deep ache had started. He growled deep in his throat as he said against the flushed skin of my neck, “Your pulse is racing so fast—too fast for someone entranced.”
Hell.
Oh hell.
The Prince might not recognize who I was, but he knew I wasn’t entranced. Fight or flight response kicked in, overriding the confusing heat pumping through my body.
Two years ago, I would’ve chosen flight. That was all I’d been capable of. Not anymore. A whole different instinct took over, a newly developed one. I had no idea why the Prince was here, in the pit of his enemies, and I wasn’t willing to risk finding out or being caught by him.
Spinning around, I gripped his forearm as I ducked and twisted, slipping free of his grip. I saw the flicker of surprise on his face and then I spun back toward him. Still holding onto his arm, I used his weight as an anchor as I leaned back. Planting my left leg back, I lifted my right and slammed my knee into his midsection.
The Prince grunted as he let go, but he did not move even an inch. That kind of kick would’ve brought a human down. Probably would’ve even knocked a normal fae back several steps, but not an Ancient. He lifted his chin, eyes narrowed with annoyance.
“That was unnecessarily violent,” he said, straightening to his full height.
He hadn’t seen unnecessarily violent yet.
I spun, picking up the chair. It was surprisingly heavy. Grunting, I swung it around, prepared to at least knock him once upside the head. Wouldn’t kill him, but would definitely give me a chance to escape without having to answer questions.
The Prince’s speed was mind-numbingly fast.
I didn’t even see him lift a hand. He just suddenly had ahold of the leg of the chair. He wrenched it from my grip, tossing it aside. The chair hit the wall with a bang, shattering into three large pieces.