prey. You’re young. Give it time, and you’ll learn how to keep those secrets better.”
Chapter Fourteen
The next morning, women came to my room to take measurements, fitting me for a dress. This situation was made more uncomfortable by Rhys sitting in the room, pretending to work while the women measured me in my panties and tank top. I’d bathed for over an hour to alleviate the aches and pains from standing in front of the forge the day before. I hadn’t even realized I’d been in that room for fourteen hours straight until Rhys had told me.
The forge was my safe haven. The place I escaped to when things weighed down on me. I wasn’t shocked to learn I’d been within it for hours without realizing exactly how long. I was surprised to hear people speaking about the sword I’d given to Rhys today. They acted like I’d gotten down on one knee and proposed. Which, I guessed, was what I had involuntarily done in the way our world worked? It was insane archaic type of shit, for sure.
“Stand up straight, ma’am,” someone whispered. I bristled, standing up to square my shoulders while Rhys’s eyes lifted from the laptop in front of him, locking with mine.
His mouth tipped up at the corners, watching me fidget beneath his intense stare. I felt like I was on display. Lifting my arms, multiple sets of hands measured every inch of me. I wanted to hide from them, sneak back into the forge, and create more weapons, but mostly to use on the obtuse jerk who had outwitted me.
I was so out of my league here. I wasn’t sure why my mother had ever thought it wise to wait to educate me about our enemies. Had I known anything about the Van Helsings, I may have armed myself better to deal with Rhys. Instead, I was in his mansion, being fitted for a dress for Beltane.
“Finish. Remi needs to eat,” Rhys said, lowering his stare back to his laptop as he began typing quickly. The sound of the keys was almost soothing compared to the silence of the room when he stopped. “Have the ingredients for her bath ordered as well. Roses and daisies are preferred. See that she has them available to her. I want her dress to be silver, but to keep to tradition, have ribbons that match her pretty eyes added to the corset, along with the necklace I had made for her. I also want what lies beneath her dress to match as well. Make sure there is a pouch sewn into her dress. It needs to contain rosebuds, primrose, mint, and the rowan tree’s bark within the pouch. Come, Remington. Let’s get you something to eat and drink before we head to the sanctuary to meet with the other alphas who wish to verify your existence.”
“I don’t wish to be displayed like something you own. You don’t own me, Rhys,” I stated, crossing my arms to glare at him while he slowly moved toward me.
“Everyone out,” he ordered.
I watched the women scuttling out of the room. I swallowed as Rhys settled in front of me, smiling with heat pooling in his eyes. Before I could guess his move, he reached up and ripped the shirt from my body. Stepping back, he watched as I lifted my hands to cover my breasts. My breathing grew labored beneath the smoldering intensity of his stare.
“You’re beautiful, woman.”
“You needed to rip my shirt off to say that?” I asked, lifting a brow.
He vanished from sight, and I stood there silently, looking around the room. I started to move away from the spot I was in, but hands grabbed me from behind. One snaked up around my throat, while the other settled on my belly, slowly moving down to push beneath my panties. I whimpered as his fingertips pushed through my sex, feeling the pull of his magic as he walked me toward the couch he’d been sitting on.
Rhys pushed me down, staring at my body, lowering himself between my thighs. I started to sit up, but he grabbed my legs beneath my knees, pushing them up until my back was leaned into the couch. Rhys lowered his mouth, slowly dragging his heated breath over the inside of my thighs. He smiled at the moan that escaped my lips, watching my chest rise and fall with the storm he created.
“I want to spread you apart and devour your pretty pussy. Do you want me