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Daphne appreciated facts. So I was allowed to admire her perfect tits. For observational purposes.

That was the logic I was sticking with anyway.

And Zeus forgive me, they looked damn good in that dress. Pressed up against the strapless hem, basically tormenting me. It would be all too easy to—

My willpower was hanging on by a paper-thin thread, was the point. Just waiting for the smallest brush of her hand on my skin to cut it.

I tightened my hand on my own glass, the condensation from the ice seeping into my skin. This night was fucking painful. Because I’d missed her.

I was a lovestruck, horny fool around her most of the time. But most of all, Ilikedher.

Sure, she was fucking brilliant at this court bullshit, but that was at the bottom of the list where I was concerned. I could get through all that without her, relying on sheer grit and love for what the sea could provide.

No, I just wanted her.

In fact, I have never wanted anything like I wanted her.

Daphne had a razor-sharp sense of humor and a kind heart and a way of looking at the world with a mix of curiosity and appreciation that I envied.

A flash of pain in my chest reminded me that despite what I felt for her, she clearly didn’t return the affection.

She’d explained away her absence to our court with a placating smile. She remembered names and asked questions and made people feelseen, making any doubt absolutely fly out the window.

A twisted part of myself wondered if that’s what she’d done with me. Simply turned her skill on me and I’d fallen for it, following her into the depths of the sea until the pressure suffocated me.

That’s certainly what it felt like. The ache in my chest and the seizing in my lungs.

I had to remind myself that we weren’t friends, that I couldn’t trust her like I used to. That I didn’t—couldn’t—care to know the reason behind her disappearance.

Daphne left. The one person who knew why it would hurt.

That was enough.

Though she made it fucking hard to remember that.

Putting that necklace on her almost did me in. The necklace itself was fine. It was nice that my mother gave it to her and all that.Thatwasn’t what had me clenching my jaw and breathing through my nose to keep me from getting hard two seconds before walking out in front of my entire court.

It was Daphne’s hair and those fucking freckles. For as long as I could remember, my hands ached with the urge to gather her hair, wrap it around my hand, and tug her head back to give me access to that perfect mouth.

It was even harder to restrain now, knowing what those silky strands felt like against my skin. Against my thighs.

And the freckles. Daphne didn’t have freckles in the traditional sense. She had darker dots that scattered across her skin like a constellation. The one at the base of her throat was my favorite.

It had always taunted me, practically begging me to drag my tongue against it.

And that necklace sat right below, bringing even more of my attention to it. I’d been staring at it most of the night, my stomach tight with anticipation and my mind running off into places it wasn’t allowed to go.

Wrestling back control of my thoughts before I embarrassed myself, I focused on the room.

I caught sight of Daphne ahead, watching Adrian walk away from her with a stricken expression marring her face.

After visibly shuddering, she peeled off the column she was leaning on and headed back into the crowd.

I caught Adrian’s eye from across the floor and nodded once. He was going to explain whatever it was he said to make Daphne look like the blood drained out of her face.

It made my instincts rise, preparing to run into battle for her.

Adrian sauntered up, hands in his suit pockets and not a hair out of place. He was a perfectly tailored prick most of the time, but he was one of my oldest friends.