Broken by the Horde King (Horde Kings of Dakkar #4) - Zoey Draven Page 0,69
jug and refilled it, the golden liquid sloshing around inside.
I took another long draw from it and felt Gabe’s eyes on me.
When I met them, he asked, “Will you dance with me now?”
Briefly, my gaze flickered to Kiran. I saw his carefully blank expression as he spoke to the female, though his eyes strayed back to mine.
I wanted to forget.
“Lysi,” I said, standing. “I will.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
This feast, I found, was a special kind of hell.
I wondered why the vok I’d announced it when the frost feast was to come soon anyways, but I knew. I had wanted the horde to celebrate Maeva’s arrival and our arrival to the south lands.
In a foul mood, I could hardly keep from scowling at the fifth female that had presented her goblet to my table. I kept my expression neutral though my eyes strayed to the female that I really wanted to approach me.
This female—her given name was Tiunu and she worked as a seamstress—kept her hopeful gaze on me as she propositioned what all the rest had.
“I am not seeking an alukkiri for the cold season,” I murmured to her, seeing her shoulders sink ever so slightly. My gaze flickered to Maeva, my jaw tightening when I saw the human male’s hand graze her bare shoulder as they danced.
Tiunu bowed her head in respect. “If you change your mind, Vorakkar, I would be most willing.”
I bit out a sigh of frustration as the female descended the steps of the dais. I saw another female begin to come forward and all I wanted was for Maeva to approach.
Though I was still furious with him, my pujerak cut off the sixth female’s path and strode up the dais himself.
“You look like you want to do battle,” Errok commented, snagging one of the goblets that littered my table and taking a hefty swallow. His gaze scanned the crowd, landing on Maeva dancing. “Ah.”
“You forget your place sometimes, Errok,” I rasped, cutting my eyes back to him, standing from my seat.
“Are you still angry about this morning?” he asked, frowning. “I was just jesting, Kiran. Surely you—”
“When it comes to her,” I growled, stepping closer, “stay away. You know nothing of what our relationship is or was. Lysi?”
Errok looked at me steadily. He clasped his hand on my shoulder, squeezing. Quietly, he said, “With all due respect, friend, I have a feeling you do not either.”
His words hit me hard. My body was tense and tight. Not even the brew could help loosen it.
“I know you, Kiran,” Errok voiced. “I have known about her for a long time, though you never said her name. You never needed to. She was with you. Always. And now you finally have her near. And what are you doing? What the vok are you doing? Because if I had a female I wanted above all else, you better believe I wouldn’t watch her dance and smile and laugh with another male.”
He was…right.
What the vok am I doing? I questioned, squeezing my fists.
I wasn’t like this.
I was a Vorakkar.
If I wanted something, I took it.
And Maeva?
Well, she wasn’t a something. She was everything.
When I looked passed Errok, I caught sight of Maeva. In a dress that reminded me of the one she’d worn the night I pushed her out of my life. A light purple that made her skin gleam. The golden flowers in her hair made her curls shimmer in tandem with the firelight.
She was laughing, her head thrown back, a bright smile—one I missed desperately—on her features. I’d always loved watching her dance. Because when she danced, it was mesmerizing. She was graceful and soft and sensual.
The first time I’d wanted her—the first time I’d desired her in my furs—had been when I’d watched her dancing at one of the saruk’s feasts. We’d both been young then and afterwards, I’d been ashamed. Because Maeva was my friend. I felt strange about the realization that I desired her in that way because it felt like I was breaking an unspoken agreement between us.
We aren’t children anymore, I thought.
She was a beautiful female. I was a Dakkari male in my prime.
And I vokking wanted her in my furs and in no one else’s. I wanted to slide deep inside her and hold there. I wanted to catch her gasps with my lips and do every wicked thing to her I’d fantasized about for years.