Kaelen's POV
I held her waist at first with a possessiveness I hated immediately. Yet, rather than relax my hold on her, I dragged her closer to my body.
Her petite body melted into my bigger one as I led us back into the party. She felt right for my arm and was made just for it.
I introduced her to the Moonbloods first. "Meet my lovely wife and Luna, Leila. The woman who defied death." I threw my free hand in a gesture to her.
"It's nice to meet you," Alaric Moonblood chimed courteously. His wife, Stella, chimed even louder while checking Leila out, focusing more on her shoes and dress rather than her body. It was like she was working out which was more expensive. Leila's or hers.
I grunted beneath my breath. A woman's greatest competition is another woman.
Alaric leaned out of his hand, and Leila took it. Thank hell she wore on a polite smile, even though it was fake. "You are one lovely woman, Luna Leila." He said, his handshake lingering for some seconds too long.
I was almost tempted to smack his face in with my fist, though he was the most important member of my council as the Alpha King of the North.
I held tighter to her waist, my hold more possessive than ever, and I steered her away from the Moonbloods and towards the Westwoods, another important Alpha and member of my council.
She glanced up at me. "Don't you think you are taking the role too damn seriously?" She whispered, that smug smile graced her lips again, shooting off my irritation metre to the roof.
"What do you mean?" I hissed.
"You are holding me too tightly; I almost can't breathe. I understand that you are kind of jealous, but—"
The hell! scoffed at the ludicrousness of her words. "I am not jealous, especially not about you. I can never be."
"Good," She hissed through teeth clenched tightly. "Then let me fucking breathe, you are suffocating me."
It was then that I glanced down, and I saw how tightly I was holding her. Fuck! I was holding her too tight, like she was my most prized possession, like I desired her. I snatched my arm away from her waist at first, almost like her body had just burned my fingers.
Then I remembered the role we were to be acting, and I placed my arm on her waist again, more conscious this time. The walk to the Westwoods was a little bit slow, as the questions on my mind weighed heavily on me and affected my pace.
Am I desiring Leila now?
No! There was no way in hell that was possible. Not a chance. I would rather choose to be soaked in her blood than buried between her thighs, as every inch of me seemed to long for right now.
Whatever was happening now was a biological reaction arising from the fact that I had deprived myself of female company for years.
I knocked my thighs closer to keep my growing erection in check. For some reason, the proximity of her body to mine, the feminine warmth, softness, and scents heavy around me, seemed to be affecting me as it never did before.
I tried my best to keep back the thoughts of her from my mind, and introduced her to the Westwoods, then the Van Halen's, and most of my new substitutes in the court, now replacing the bastards and traitors her family used to control.
Since she claimed she was amnesiac, she wouldn't be able to actively work against my plans even if she was lying about her amnesia.
We carried on with the party, moving past the Valens a couple of times. Each time there was a slice of tension in her body, a tightness to her muscles, something akin to murder pulling like tight veins along her arm. But she did nothing against them. She barely even stared at them.
I would have been bothered with her infatuation with the Valens if they were of my court and not of the south. So otherwise, I didn't care.
The party ended quickly enough. The Alphas had all come on short notice, so they had to return early. By nightfall, we were out in the driveway, seeing the last of them to their car.
The Nightblades waved as they dropped into their car, and their chauffeur steered the car down the driveway to their home.
I breathed a sigh, and I dropped the act, dropping her waist. I did it so forcefully, she staggered on her heels.
She made a shrill cry as she struggled for balance. I just strode past her, climbing up the short, wide stairs of the porch.
"Since you have lost your memory, you might not remember, but dinner will be in an hour, and I expect you to be ready for it," I said over my shoulder, refusing to glance back at her.
"Did you forget you almost injured me just now?" She yelled behind me. I could literally hear her grinding her jaw from rage.
I said nothing and continued into the manor. I wished she knew how hard I was trying to keep my fingers from folding around her neck and strangling life out of her. She deserved to suffer far more than what she and her family put Selene through.
"Dinner in an hour," I yelled over my shoulder again, as I disappeared into the dimly lit lobby. "Be there."
I kicked the door to my room and stormed in. I headed quickly for the bathroom. My fingers trembled as I turned the faucet. I threw my head down to the sink, and I let the cold water wash over me. Perhaps it would wash away the stupid thoughts in my mind about Leila, wash away that inclination that made me desire that bitch even for a minute.
I should be hating her for Selene's death, hating her for her and her family's crimes, yet when I held her tonight, the only thing I was feeling was desire. Raw, blatant desire, I even had a fucking hard-on.
I looked up, staring at the person in the mirror, watching water dripping down his face, his hair a mess. I stared hard, long, and cruelly until he remembered just how much he hated her, how much he wanted to strangle her and watch her croak out her last breath.
I made sure he remembered that whatever strange appeal her body was making to him now was nowhere near the damage she had done and was going to do. After I made sure he remembered everything, I spun back for the door and left for dinner.
Now, there was no need for acting, no need to play the loving and caring husband role anymore. Now, it was time to take on the role of the devil, one she created with her very hands.