Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 23 : A Dance With Jared

Jared extended his hand to me, beckoning me forward. I glanced over my shoulder at Aeris, who was looking smug and suspicious as he leaned against the railing of the terrace overlooking the city of Suncrest. Night was falling, and the city lights sent an amber haze rippling over the horizon.

It would have been beautiful had that orange-eyed creep not been standing right in front of my view.

"Eliza," Jared repeated more sternly.

I fixed Aeris with a steely glare and took Jared's hand. Aeris raised his brows at me but looked nothing but amused.

Jared placed my hand in the crook of his arm as we walked back into the ballroom, leaning down to hiss, “Don’t egg him on."

"He knows," I said, looking up into his eyes.

Jared looked down at me, nostrils flaring. “What did you say?"

“I didn't say anything! He said it was—it was my hair. It was my hair that gave it away. Someone in his circle must have recognized me from the auction.”

Jared cursed under his breath and broke from my gaze to look around the ballroom. Warriors were posted along the walls, watching the proceedings. Jared eyed them all, then found Archer and Brandt in the crowd.

"We're getting out of here tonight,” he said, leading me through the crowd again.

“But he hasn't given you the scroll yet-"

“I don't care about the scroll.”

"Of course you do! That's why you're here, and why you brought me here. You need it. I'll be fine" “He will stop at nothing to lay claim to what he believes is his," Jared seethed in my ear. I closed my eyes as a ripple of heat rushed through my body as his breath tickled my neck. “I won't let anyone else have you."

Anyone else?

Jared straightened up, catching Brandt's eye in the crowd. He nodded once, his pointer finger brushing against the tip of his nose. Brandt made another quick motion with his hand in response and disappeared into the crowd.

"What was that all about?" I asked, but Jared moved us deeper into the fray.

We arrived at the edge of the dancefloor where a dance was already in full swing. It was a group dance, the couples weaving in and out of each other and then twirling with their partners.

"We'll catch the next dance,” Jared said absently, his eyes still scanning the room.

It was obvious he wasn't going to tell me what was going on. Was Aeris going to announce to the crowd that I was his breeder? Was Jared really planning on trying to escape the castle when it was so heavily guarded?

Was he seriously about to give up on the mysterious scroll he needed because of me?

The song ended and applause erupted through the ballroom. The young dancers beamed with pride as a few couples made their way back into the crowd of onlookers, others staying on the dancefloor as the orchestra prepared for the next dance.

I didn't know how to dance like this. Every move was calculated and well-practiced. I'd watched some of the young women dancing with their partners when I'd first arrived at the ball. They danced with controlled grace, their faces screwed in concentration as they hit each and every step with precision. They'd been trained to dance like this, likely for years.

Archer and I had simply swirled in a circle, clutching each other's hands for dear life and trying not to mow down anyone dancing nearby. I had a feeling this next dance would be very different with Jared as a partner.

I looked up at Jared as he watched the orchestra prepare for the next set. His eyes were locked on the violinist. Aeris had mentioned a few times that Jared was acquainted with his court and kingdom. He would know these dances. He'd know how to play the game.

That's what this was, after all-a game. I was just a piece of it, a cog in the wheel.

Jared took my hand and led me out onto the dancefloor as the music started.

“I don't know the steps,” I said softly, trying to hide my discomfort as he slid a hand along my lower back.

“It's fine. Just pretend like you're enjoying yourself. That's what Aeris wants to see," he replied.

I scanned the crowd, seeing Archer and Brandt posted on opposite sides of the room, both of them looking in the same direction. I knew they were watching Aeris without having to crane my neck to follow their gazes. Aeris was testing us. I had to prove with this dance that I wasn't some lowly breeder saved from the auction block. I had to prove I was some high-born lady like the women in his court.

"Eliza," Jared whispered as he raised our joined hands to shoulder level. “It's a waltz.”

“I don't know how to waltz-"

“Move with me," he breathed, then he swept me into the dance.

I knew Jared was light on his feet. He'd mentioned being a good dancer, but the word "good" wasn't an adequate description of how the man moved. He was confident in every step he took, sure-footed and strong. He was as agile as he was graceful.

Me? Not so much.

“Let me lead," he said over the music. “Submit.”

And I did.

It was a complicated dance, and I was truly along for the ride as Jared took my hand and spun me in a tight circle. Another twirl, then another, my feet barely touching the ground as we wove between several other couples along with the music, which only seemed to be getting faster.

He knitted his fingers in mine, squeezing softly as I breathlessly looked up at him, totally under his spell.

"How did you learn how to dance like this?" I breathed.

He gave me a playful grin, then had me spinning on my toes before sweeping me across the dancefloor.

“I wasn't raised a bandit,” he said wryly. “That came later."

"What-" he spun me again but let go of my hand, his other hand trailing over my back as he sent me twirling freely across the dancefloor.

My outstretched hand met the hand of another woman roughly my age, who took my hand and led me in a tight circle for a moment before I was sent spinning again, right back into Jared's arms. That happened again, and again, the two of us joining and then separating as we wove between the other dancers. I was out of breath by the time the music reached a pitch, and not from the physical demands of the dance.

Jared's hand pressed against my lower back, his palm spread wide. My chest was pressed firmly against his, our fingers intertwined.

For a moment it felt as though we were the only two people in the room. The music seemed to slow, our movements sure and deliberate as his body moved in rhythm with my own. I was in a trance as the music thrummed through my blood and my bones.

I looked into his eyes while he turned us as if in slow motion. He was looking at me now in the same way he'd looked at me when he'd asked me my name that night at the breeder auction.

“Trust me," he'd said.

I had.

But why?

Why had every glance from him set my entire body on edge? Why had every word he'd ever said to me etched itself into my mind?

Why couldn't I stop reliving that night in his study over and over again in my dreams?

I didn't realize I'd been clutching his shoulder tight enough to crease the fabric of his shirt until I found myself on the other side of the dancefloor from him, practically gasping for breath as the men lined up on one side and the women on the other.

Jared was dressed in dark fabrics, a suit that fit like a glove. He hadn't shaved his face. His hair was still unruly and ruffled. The freckles that trailed across his cheeks and over his nose flared against his sun-kissed skin. His eyes were downcast, his shoulders trembling as the music faded.

The room was silent, still. I could hear the blood hammering in my ears as he slowly raised his head to look me in the eyes as he bowed to me.

Something within my heart I hadn't known was there snapped into place. He must have felt it. He must have seen it written all over my face.

Because the look he gave me was knowing and primal, filled with nothing but the same crushing reality I'd just realized myself.

I dropped into a low curtsy, bowing my head to Jared like the women on either side of me were doing to their dance partners. I met his eyes once more. His expression had softened, his longing gaze replaced by something I can only describe as regret, maybe even pain.

I backed into the crowd, holding his gaze until I finally turned around and walked breathlessly out of the ballroom.

I was trembling by the time I made it to my bedroom. I fumbled with the door, my hands shaking so badly I had to hug myself with my hands pinned against my sides to still them. I fought against the tears welling in the corners of my eyes as I walked to the center of the room and stood in the dusty rays of moonlight streaming through the windows.

I knew what this was. Maybe I'd known the whole time. Maybe that's why I pushed against him at every turn and why I felt that same soul-sucking power within the Cryptex when he'd placed it in my hands.

Maybe that's why I'd never tried to escape, not really.

The odds were astounding, almost unbelievable. I shouldn't be feeling this way.

Maybe I was wrong. I was probably wrong... I had to be, especially because of the look he'd given me after the dance, the pain in his eyes... that look of sheer regret etched in every plane of his face. It was ripping me to pieces.

“You're losing it," I whispered to myself, loosening my grip on my body and letting my arms fall to my sides. “It's not what you think. You're just... afraid. You're afraid, and you're clinging to a foolish, romantic notion of-"

There was a soft knock on my door.

I slowly turned around. The room was dark, the only light that of the moon. Everything was bathed in blue-hued moonlight as I took a few slow steps to the door.

I pressed my hand to the door, trying to swallow past the lump in my throat. I knew who it was before I even opened it.

Another knock.

I slowly turned the knob, letting the soft amber light of the hallway flood into the room. Jared was standing with his hands on either side of the doorway, his head bent and eyes downcast as if he'd been resting his forehead against the door. He slowly looked up at me, his eyes locking on mine with unadulterated vehemence.

I took a step backward into the darkness.

He followed me inside, closing the door behind him.