Page 104 of A Vow of Embers

I rested my hands against his chest and pressed slightly with my fingers, loving the feeling of his warmth and strength. I should have asked him what he thought he was doing. I should have told him to stop.

Instead I reveled in the feel of his body on mine, the weight and heat of his hands on the bare skin of my back. He had ensnared me and I was thrilled by it. I was still a novice at this game but I was eager to play.

Pathetic,a voice whispered in my head but I ignored it. I wouldn’t even care if he called me weak later, just so long as he kissed me now. I ached for it. Felt like I would die if he didn’t do it soon.

One of his hands moved up to my face, and he dragged his thumb gently along my lower lip. I stifled the moan of pleasure that caused. I licked the tip of his thumb, struck with the urge to draw it into my mouth. He made a strangled noise and moved his hand away and I wanted to protest. I was overwhelmed by heat and aching and wanting.

His eyes darkened and he focused his gaze on my mouth.

“Pretend that I’m him,” he said, as he lowered his lips down to mine.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Him? Did he mean Jason?

“Who?” I whispered, then wanted to kick myself as it stopped him from kissing me. His lips were so close to mine that they were almost touching and I needed him to close the gap.

“The man that you love,” he whispered back.

And for a full five seconds I had no idea who he was talking about, until I remembered that he believed I loved someone in Locris.

The prince didn’t know that I didn’t need to pretend anything. It was going to be embarrassingly easy for me to go along with whatever he wanted.

“Good afternoon to you, prince!” A booming voice broke through the moment that Alexandros and I shared, and I felt the prince’s shoulder be pushed against mine. Someone must have hit him on the back.

Alexandros released me and it felt torturous. Like he had slammed a door in my face and left me out in a pouring rainstorm, shivering, desperate for warmth and shelter.

“Zethus, I’m glad you could attend,” Alexandros said and shook hands with the man. He was older, with bright white hair. Given his reddened nose and the smell of alcohol wafting from him, I guessed that he certainly enjoyed his wine. “This is my wife, Princess Thalia.”

“A pleasure.” Zethus slurred the words, and I did not care for the lecherous way he looked at me. Like I was a dish being served up to him and he intended to enjoy every last bite. “We were very nearly family.”

“We were?” Did I sound as alarmed as I felt?

“I had hopes of marrying Iolanthe until she went off and joined the priestesses.”

My distaste for him increased. Io had despised this man, found him disgusting, and I understood why. I was so glad she was safe from him.

“I think your companion is missing you,” the prince said, and I saw a very young woman waving at us. A hetaera.

“Wouldn’t want to keep her waiting,” Zethus said with a wink and a nod, elbowing the prince before he lumbered off.

When he was far enough away, I said, “That was the man your stepmother wanted Io to marry?”

“He’s also on the council and will be the most difficult one to win over. He’s a hedonist dedicated to his own pleasures, intent on burning through all his fortune before he dies.”

That man was an archon? I thought of Themis and Heliodora and was shocked that the man pawing at the hetaera in front of everyone was on the same level with them. Someone like that could be easily bought by either side, back and forth. His loyalty would be impossible to pin down.

“So he might be harder to win over,” I observed. “What about the other two?”

“One is Pelias, and I don’t believe that we’ll have success with him. He’s bedding Erisa.”

“But he’s married,” I said, scandalized.

Alexandros gave me a withering look, as if I were a child. In Locris couples were loyal to each other, even when the marriage was arranged. I didn’t understand these cheating people or their culture.

It was a harsh reminder that my own husband had no duty to be faithful to me. That it wouldn’t have been expected of him in Ilion even if we actually were intimate. I thought back to Quynh’s concern, that he might set me aside to marry someone else in order to secure his crown.

Someone like Chryseis.