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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Ellery

My skin tingled at his nearness, and my pulse raced as my throat went dry. However, I lifted my chin and pretended he elicited no reaction from me.

Ryker’s jaw clenched, and he didn’t look at me as we moved through the dance. I didn’t see any signs he was still suffering from my knee to his groin, but he sure didn’t look happy.

When his hand found my waist, I resisted a shiver of anticipation as he pulled me against him. Why did he always have to feel so damn good? It wasn’t fair.

When he dipped me, he whispered, “Meet me in the gardens in an hour behind the wall of roses.”

And how does he know that exists? But I already knew the answer to that question. This wasn’t Ryker’s first time here, and I doubted he’d spent all his nights here alone.

“Fuck off,” I retorted.

His eyes narrowed on me, but he couldn’t do anything other than spin me away to my next partner. Most of the joy I’d found in the dance vanished, and I found my gaze drifting to the garden doors, not because I wanted to meet Ryker, but because I was contemplating running… forever.

I went through fifteen more partners before the duke claimed me. What little happiness I’d retained deflated like a flower denied the sun.

Unlike his son and Ivan, the duke didn’t mostly ignore me as he smiled in a way that let me know he was the hunter and I was the prey. “Well, look at who it is.”

“Milord,” I greeted dryly.

I briefly stared at him before lowering my eyes. I didn’t look away because he intimidated me; he did, but he could also command my death and probably get away with executing me right now.

I still wouldn’t look away from him because of that. I’d stare him in the eyes until they chopped off my head.

I’d looked away because he expected me to be a beaten puppy. He wouldn’t tolerate defiance from me and would make me pay for such an action… and he would make me pay by doing something to my mother.

I wouldn’t let that happen again, so I inwardly seethed while staring at the floor.

“How are you liking the dance so far?” he inquired.

“It is lovely, milord. Congratulations on your engagement.”

“Thank you. Have you seen my son?”

“Yes, milord.”

“Have you spoken with him?”

Confusion caused me to look up at him when I shouldn’t. I didn’t know where this was going or what he wanted from me.

Had he seen Ryker pull me into the alcove? Had he witnessed one or both of us emerging from there? Or had he seen us on the dance floor?

I couldn’t lie in case he’d seen me and Ryker talking, but the shrewd gleam in his eyes sent a chill down my spine. “We exchanged greetings, milord,” I said.

Without another word, he dipped me and spun me away. My skin crawled, and I barely paid attention to the dance anymore as I pondered the duke’s words.

What was he after? What did he see? Or is he simply trying to drive me insane with worry?

That last part was a distinct possibility, but even if he was trying to screw with my head, it was only a matter of time before he came after us again. I’d committed the cardinal sin of making his son happy—if only briefly—and he would make me suffer.

When I encountered the sea merchant I’d started with, I realized we’d already gone through all the dancers and were starting over again. I have to see them all again.

A large pit knotted my stomach as I moved through the dancing men. The king continued to ignore me, but Ryker glared at me when we came together again.

“Meet me in the garden, Ellery,” he commanded when he dipped me that time.

“No.”

And that was all we said to each other before he spun me away.

The duke didn’t speak or look at me when we danced again. I wasn’t sure if that was better or worse as I kept my eyes downcast and tried to look like the defeated woman he wanted me to be.

I didn’t encounter the king again, but when I returned to the merchant, I glimpsed Ivan back up on his throne with a glass of cartha at his side. He kicked his crossed leg in the air as he surveyed the dancers with a look of boredom, but I sensed fury simmering beneath his surface.

My uneasiness grew as the smiling faces blurred past me. We’d just taken some of the man’s money, and while he’d come here to play his role, I sensed he was looking for a reason to snap.