A Discovery of Secrets and Fate (Chronicles of the Stone Veil #2) - Sawyer Bennett Page 0,98
like he’s her next meal.
CHAPTER 21
Finley
My stomach clenches tighter and tighter as Carrick and I stay at our table, but watch the royals getting closer and closer. I sort of expected Nimeyah to have her throne chair set up down here and insist on everyone forming a line to kiss her hand or something. Instead, she leads her family around, inclining her head left and right in greeting to her subjects. No one bows or curtsies, which also surprises me, but there is no hiding the absolute adoration on the face of the Light Fae as their queen makes eye contact with them.
Callidan will sometimes chat a few words, Pyke openly flirting with the single ladies, and Deandra… well, her stare stays riveted on Carrick. I grimace as she licks her lips more than once.
Just as they’re approaching, I pick up my drink and take a hard swallow for fortification. Carrick’s head whips my way, and I receive a look of warning before he turns to greet Nimeyah, who has come to stand squarely in front of us. I’m not worth her notice, so her eyes are only for Carrick.
“Carrick… I hope you’re enjoying this party in your honor,” the queen says lightly.
“It’s a magnificent event,” he agrees with a smile, tipping his head as a sign of respect and gratitude. I stay statue-still, not wanting her to notice me at all.
“You must join us at our table for food and drink,” she declares, and it’s clear there will be no declining this flattering invitation.
Carrick smiles, again tips his head, and says, “We’d be honored too.”
His inclusion of me isn’t lost on the queen as evidenced by the flattening of her lips for just a moment before she gives him a tight smile. “That would be lovely, but we have time before the food will be served, and I know Deandra has been dying to get some time alone with you all day. I think you two should go and dance… get reacquainted.”
A moment of panic seizes me as Deandra steps into Carrick, looping her arm through his. The queen shoots a vindictive smile before walking away, her husband following without so much as a word to any of us.
“Come, Carrick,” Deandra murmurs seductively. “I’ve been dying to have your arms around me all night.”
“One dance,” he agrees, then turns his gaze to me. “Don’t move from this table.”
I swallow hard, feeling so frozen in place I think it would be impossible to move from my spot. Not only is my protector and the one man keeping me safe getting ready to walk away from me, but he’s also doing so with a gorgeous, nearly naked woman who I’m quite sure is prepared to walk him right off the dance floor and into the nearest set of bushes to have her way with him.
Without another word, a reassuring smile, or a backward glance, Carrick leads Deandra to the dance floor. As I thought, she attempts to pull him farther away from me, but he stops in the middle and sweeps her into the flow of another waltz-like song.
For a moment, I’m mesmerized not by Deandra and her beauty and blatant sexuality, but rather by Carrick’s elegant moves as they glide around. While Carrick has always exuded that upper-crust sort of vibe, he’s always seemed rougher and more hardened. He’s the man who pins dark fae to walls with iron daggers for torture, not the smooth dancer who spins so fluidly while he and Deandra converse.
“You look like you could use another drink,” I hear from my left and I turn in surprise to see Pyke still standing there. I had assumed he’d walked off with his parents, but he moves to my side and nods down at my half-empty glass.
I shake my head. “No, thank you. I’d prefer to keep clear-headed tonight.”
Clasping his hands behind his back, he silently watches with me as Deandra and Carrick dance. While Carrick’s hands are attempting to be polite and distanced—one hand at her hip, the other grasping her hand—Deandra does everything she can to crowd into him so her body is pressed against his.
I don’t know what she’s saying to him, but it’s clear by the half-lidded look she’s giving him that it’s probably something inviting and naughty. Carrick smiles down at her, as if amused, and even laughs at something she says.
Fuck… she’s seducing him right there on the dance floor. How could he not be when she’s all but naked in