Chapter 80 The Game You Never Let Me Play
Kira’s POV
The air in the hall felt thicker now, like someone had cranked the heat and sucked out all the oxygen.
Every word, every clink of cutlery, every slow sip of wine sounded amplified. And under the table, Adrian’s thigh pressed against mine so firmly I could feel the heat of him through my sweatpants…like sitting next to a furnace with a heartbeat.
I tried to focus elsewhere. Really tried. But nothing seemed to keep me engaged. All I could taste was the memory of his growl against my ear. All I could feel was the ghost of his threat curling low in my belly.
Darius was still watching me.
Not blatantly. He was too polished for that. But every few minutes those crimson eyes would drift over, lazy and hot, like he was daring me to continue my little stunt.
And Adrian noticed.
Of course he noticed.
His fingers had migrated from the back of my neck to the inside of my thigh…high enough that one wrong shift and he’d be touching places that would make me gasp in front of the entire alliance. He wasn’t moving them. Just… resting. Heavy.
Possessive. A silent reminder that every inch of me was his to claim.
I shifted…just a little. Trying to ease the pressure building between my legs.
Big mistake.
His fingers flexed. Once. Hard.
A warning. Of course I ignored it.
Across the table, Darius lifted his goblet in a tiny, mocking salute. His lips curved into a very subtle mischievous smile.
“Princess Kira, if you don’t mind me asking…what do you do for fun?” he said.
I actually froze.
My mouth fell open before I could stop it. Was he serious? Asking me that? Right here? With Adrian sitting so close I could practically feel the threat rolling off him?
Was this man trying to get himself killed?
“Um…” I stalled, buying time, my brain scrambling for something…anything…that wouldn’t sound ridiculous or dangerous. “Sleeping,” I said finally, shrugging. “I sleep for fun.”
The words came out more casual than I felt.
His face lit up like I’d just revealed a shared secret. “Oh! Same!” he said, far too enthusiastically. “In fact, there was a time I slept for an entire century.”
I blinked.
“Amazing century,” he added, nodding to himself like a man reminiscing about a perfect vacation.
I exhaled slowly through my nose. Vampires. Of course.
“Well,” I said, glancing back at the ongoing conversation around the table, voices overlapping, tension simmering beneath polite smiles, “then I guess we have a lot in common.”
And somehow, that felt more dangerous than the question itself. Adrain’s patience must have snapped just then because his hand slid higher.
Not a flex this time. A deliberate, slow glide up the inside of my thigh until his fingertips pressed right against the seam of my sweatpants right where I was already embarrassingly wet.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
His mouth found my ear again. Voice so low it vibrated through my bones.
“What are you trying to do here? You want to see how far I’ll go?” he murmured. “Keep flirting with him. See how many seconds it takes before I flip this table, pin you down, and fuck you so hard the entire vampire delegation hears every filthy sound you make while you come apart on my cock.”
My core clenched so hard I almost whimpered.
I could picture it too clearly: the heavy oak table shoved aside, my back hitting the polished wood, legs spread wide, his mouth on my throat, his hips slamming into mine while nobles and royals alike stood frozen at the doors, forced to listen to me beg.
The thought was obscene.
And I hated how much I wanted it.
I hated him for making me want it.
I turned my head just enough that our lips were a whisper apart. “You’re the one who announced me like a trophy,” I hissed. “Maybe I’m just reminding you that trophies can bite back.”
His eyes flared…gray bleeding into gold, pure wolf thingy. His fingers pressed harder, rubbing once, slow and deliberate, right over the nerves that made my vision blur.
“Then bite, baby,” he growled against my mouth. “Because the second you do, I’m dragging you out of this chair and reminding you exactly who you belong to. Right here. Right now. And I won’t stop until every last person in this room knows how loud my mate screams when she’s being properly claimed.”
My pulse roared in my ears.
I was trembling. Actually trembling.
Part fury. Part need. All reckless.
Darius cleared his throat…loudly and deliberately.
I jerked my gaze away from Adrian and to his direction.
The vampire prince was leaning back now, one elegant finger tracing the rim of his goblet, watching us like we were the best entertainment he’d had in centuries.
“Your majesties… Should we give you two the room?” he asked, voice dripping with amusement. “Or would you prefer an audience?”
A ripple of choked laughter and scandalized gasps swept the table.
Adrian didn’t even look at him.
His eyes stayed locked on mine. Burning.
His hand stayed exactly where it was…high, hot, unyielding.
Darius was still smiling that slow, dangerous smile across the table, crimson gaze flicking between me and Adrian like this was premium entertainment.
That was indeed the last straw.
Adrian’s voice cracked through the strained conversations like a whip.
“Darius,” he said, calm and cold enough to freeze wine in the goblets. “Stand by the doors. Now.”
A ripple of shock.
Prince Levi blinked like he just heard a foreign language. Princess Loretta’s perfect brows lifted. Darius’s smile only widened, like he’d been waiting for this.
Adrian didn’t look at them. His stare stayed locked on me.
“You’re distracting me,” he said to Darius, voice low and lethal. “And I don’t like distractions.”
Darius laughed…soft, delighted…and rose with exaggerated grace. “As you wish, Your Majesty. Wouldn’t want to interfere with…royal business.”
He sauntered toward the far doors, the rest of the vampire murmuring their disapproval.
The werewolf side erupted in whispers.
Lady Margaret shot to her feet again, robes swishing, face flushed with righteous fury.
“Your Majesty, this is unacceptable,” she hissed. “The princess should excuse herself right away. She is not acting right. She is embarrassing the crown, the pack, the entire alliance.”
“Exactly!” Levi’s voice echoed. “The princess has been nothing but wild since she came in. Need I remind everyone that today’s event is supposed to be about my bride and I?”
I laughed. Short. Sharp. Loud enough that heads snapped toward me.
“All because I’m trying to be nice to the in-laws?” I said, tilting my head at her. “Wow. That’s rich, from you guys.”
Margaret’s eyes narrowed to slits, but she didn’t respond.
I leaned forward, elbows on the table, ignoring the way Adrian’s fingers dug into my thigh in warning.
“You know what’s funny, Lady Margaret? All those years I was dragged into corners, hidden away, told I was too worthless, too dirty, too embarrassing to be seen at events like this. You made sure I never sat at a table like this one. Never got to speak. Never got to breathe the same air as the ‘real’ nobles.”
I spread my hands. “And now? Now I’m here. Freely. Officially. The king’s woman. The future queen. You think you still have a say about the things I do?”
I looked around the table, letting my gaze land on every shocked face.
“Blame yourselves. You never taught me the rules because you never wanted me in the game. So excuse me if I’m a little rusty on the etiquette.”
Lady Margaret opened her mouth to fire back, but I cut her off.
“But hey, if you want me gone that bad, just say the word. I’ll walk out. I’ll eat in the kitchens. I’ll eat in the damn courtyard again. But don’t pretend this is about decorum. This is about control. And guess what?” I smiled, slow and mean. “You don’t have it anymore.”
The silence was deafening until Adrian cleared his voice. “That’s enough, Kira.”
I was about to say something else…something sharper…when it hit me.
A memory that was definitely not mine.