Shadow Seer [18+]

~ Fourteen ~

Sanaa could feel every move he made.

Every breath, every shift of clothing against her leg when he crossed and uncrossed his ankles, Sanaa could feel him.

Amir was infecting her very soul just by sitting beside her for the last two hours of the emperor's torturous feast. No matter how she continued telling herself she hated Amir, didn't want to be near him and despised him for being a killer; she remained flushed and aching between her thighs. It burned Sanaa to feel this way, a roaring fire in her loins that erupted from nowhere and continued burning for Amir no matter what she knew of him.

He was a murderer!

He'd admitted to killing his own family and yet within such close proximity to him, she wanted nothing more than to have his mouth on her. She raged, her body heated and aching at the illicit thoughts running through her head. And why, why did she still want to know who he would have left the feast to fuck, so she could kill that woman and take her place?

Amir hadn't said more than two words to her all evening, instead focusing his attention on his father's and Khalar's tales of war and conquest. When he failed to communicate with her orally, however, Sanaa was very aware that he kept touching her. Whether it was a brush of his fingers against her thigh to alert her to another course or nudging her shoulder to make room for a server, Amir kept finding reasons to have physical contact with her. At first she'd been sure she was imagining it, but when she'd found the courage to look at him when his fingertips rested on the top of her thigh and didn't move, she found him looking back. She'd opened her mouth to say something but as he continued looking at her, daring her to call him out on it, the words were lost in her throat. What had changed since his time in her room, she did not know but she needed it to stop.

Determined not to give him the satisfaction of reacting, Sanaa had turned away without a word. The heat of his fingers remained against her skin beneath her dress. She continued to be molested by the intoxicating scent of him. It was no longer the mint and wood smoke that she had come to expect, but now a deep, heady smell that although she couldn't place, felt as though it was seeping into her skin. Every word he spoke felt like a caress, a purr across her flesh that erupted into tiny minor bumps as the bass of it rumbled through her.

Intent on ignoring him, Sanaa sat playing with yet another course of food, pushing it around her plate. She was restricted to what she could consume, not only because of Ghassan's specific instruction not to indulge, but because of her veil. Having to lift the infernal thing was a constant irritation for her. She was forbidden to remove it, to add to her allure, but she was thankful for the barrier. She could watch guests with her expressions hidden even if her eyes were on show. Sanaa was so engrossed in keeping attention off herself, hidden in plain sight behind her veil, that she wasn't prepared for the warmth of Amir's breath against her cheek.

"He wants you."

Sanaa jumped, her desert fork clattering to the plate before she quickly picked it up and set it neatly to the side of the plate. Against her better judgement, she turned to look at Amir and instantly regretted it. He was gorgeous. His green eyes were hypnotic as he licked his lips, never taking his eyes off her.

"Excuse me?" She was thankful her words came out steady.

"My father... he wants you." He didn't bother to elaborate and it angered her.

"Thank you for that less than wonderful reminder, Amir. Your conversation remains riveting as ever."

The corner of his mouth twitched into something that might have been a smile, "He wants you to perform, now, for the guests. I'm to escort you around the room."