Dark Matter (7 page)

What was he doing here? I set my chin
higher and smiled warmly at Heath. A confused expression creased
his eyes, but soon we were dancing again. I was so caught up in the
moment that the whole world could have fallen away for all I knew.
When I was dancing with him, I didn’t care about anything else. I
stopped even trying to anticipate his next move and just enjoyed
the sensation of floating in his arms. To my utmost disappointment,
we came to a stop too soon. The grin I gave him was real this
time.

He looked down on me, a slight smile
curving his mouth. “I should have saved our last dance for later,
but alas, I was too overcome.”

I knew the feeling, but what was he
jabbering about? Wasn’t he my date? His only response to my
questioning look was a slight nod directed behind him. I glanced
around his shoulder and my jaw went slack. A line was forming. Jett
waited patiently toward the end.

I gave Heath a panicked expression. He
caressed my cheek. “Not to worry. I will be watching over you.
Perhaps we can have our own little soiree later?”

I shook my head at him and rolled my
eyes. “You never give up, do you?”

He leaned down, his breath tickling my
forehead. “Not with such a prize within my sights.” His lips
brushed my cheek before he stepped away. Refusing to release the
sensation of his soft kiss, my skin tingled.

Levi was the first to step in. He
didn’t even say a word, but I felt him pushing at my mind
throughout the entire song. He looked openly disappointed when he
left me to the next underlord. Most of them were very gracious and
didn’t speak much or at all. None of them other than Levi tried
subversive compulsion, including Heath. I was grateful for that. I
wondered why so many of them wanted to dance with me. Was it out of
duty, or did they think to find a way to claim me? I smiled at the
radiant face of the man who stood in front of Jett. He was a fair
dancer, but I couldn’t keep my mind from focusing on my next
companion.

At the end of the song, I asked him
where I could find a drink, hoping I could casually follow him out
of the hall. He just shook his head at me before he walked away. I
supposed he wasn’t up for that sort of battle.

Jett came forward. I stiffened with
every footstep he made toward me. How was I going to get out of
this? Could I simply refuse him? He reached for my hand, but I
pulled it away.

“
You will have to excuse me,
Jett. I am horribly thirsty,” I said, turning toward the
exit.

He caught my arm. “Not this
time, Rayla. You
will
dance with me.” He smiled brilliantly. “And then we will find
refreshment.”

Crap. And quadruple crap. I started an
inward pep-talk, reminding myself that it would be impossible for
him to take me in front of so many people. Besides, even if he
could manage to bypass the wards, I had been told that Zach was the
only lord capable of transporting another person. I just needed to
ride this wave out; then I could get rid of him. Hopefully for good
this time.

The lights seemed to dim when we
entered the circle. A seductive rhythm started. I gasped when he
pressed my body tightly against his solid frame. No one had held me
this close, not even Heath and that was saying a lot. I could feel
my skin molding to each hard line of his body. His gaze trapped
mine without much effort. His obsidian eyes were every bit as
fathomless as they had been a little over a week ago.

Had it really only been that long? So
much, yet nothing, had happened since then.

He moved steadily with the beat of the
music. I didn’t recognize the steps, but I didn’t really have to. I
might as well have been standing on his feet like a five-year-old.
Where Heath had led me and made me feel weightless, Jett merely
controlled every step I took.

Even though he repelled me, his scent
was intoxicating and impossible for me to ignore. He smelled of
fresh rain and sundrenched leaves. My body responded to him as
though he was the only man alive. I had forgotten how much he
affected me, and I didn’t like the feelings that surfaced whenever
he was near.

I couldn’t keep myself from staring at
his mouth. With all the will I owned, I fought the urge to let my
fingers dance across the taut band of muscles along his
back.

He didn’t say anything at all for a
really long time, igniting my curiosity of what was on his mind. As
if it were a window to my soul, he kept his gaze locked onto my
face. I looked away but immediately got dizzy as he twirled me
around. Without realizing it until it was too late, I leaned even
closer to him.

A small smile tilted the corners of his
mouth. “Are you enjoying your stay in Ignis?”

I rubbed my lips together. They felt
absolutely too dry. “It’s all right, I guess.”

He cocked his head to the side, his
mouth falling into a stern line. “Are they not treating you as you
deserve?”

I shook my head not wanting him to
misunderstand. “I have been well cared for. These are wonderful
people…”

“
But…”

“
I don’t belong here,” I
whispered, glancing around to make sure I hadn’t offended
someone.

A new lightness glittered in his dark
eyes. “It is good to see you understand that. You are welcome in my
home anytime you like. In fact, I could bring you with
me—”

“
No!” I nearly shouted,
stiffening in his arms. It took quite a lot of effort, but I forced
my muscles to relax. “What I mean is…thank you for your kind offer,
but I can’t leave yet.”

Jett sighed. “I am sorry for the way I
have treated you, Rayla.”

My mouth dropped open slightly. Was
that a real attempt at an apology? I almost said it was okay out of
nothing more than habit, but I stopped myself because it wasn’t
okay. I didn’t trust him, and he still terrified the heck out of
me. I decided to just nod in reply.

“
I find that I am much too
accustomed to ruling than dating. I hope you will at least give me
a chance to explain to you why I did what I did.”

“
I’m listening,” I
said.

The song was ending, and feeling the
oppressive burden of having him this near to me I wanted more than
anything at the moment to just fall into a soft chair somewhere. If
only it could be without him. The last lord that had tried this
approach with me had found a way into my heart.

It was over crowded as it was. I had no
desire to let Jett in there, even if it was just a little bit. I
found it so easy to see him as this evil overlord, but people were
rarely entirely good or evil, and I was starting to think that
included this particular fae.

He led me to the edge of the crowd,
bypassing the line of men waiting to dance with me. We got plenty
of glowers, but not one of them bothered to say anything. He moved
expertly through the throng, and we finally emerged onto an
overcrowded terrace. All the seats were taken.

An enormous sigh escaped me before I
turned back toward the Great Hall, but he pulled me sharply back
into the crisp, wintery air. All he had to do was look at the
people for them to scurry away. Within seconds we were alone. I
looked behind me and was actually relieved to see Heath hovering by
the doorway. He had his back to us, but his body was angled
slightly as if he were trying to eavesdrop. Jett either didn’t care
or didn’t notice.

I decided to get this over with. I had
no desire to talk to Jett, but I knew he wouldn’t leave me alone
until I heard him out. I walked over by the railing, letting my
thoughts wander with my feet. The world was blanketed in white even
though the sun had already set. Twilight was rolling in, shrouding
the air in haze. A pale-blue glow radiated from the icy cliffs in
the distance lending a regal quality to the evening air.

The land held a savage, breathtaking
beauty that captivated me much like the man that had been assigned
to protect me tonight.

Chapter Five

My skin prickled in goose-bumps but it
wasn’t from the cold. Jett had followed me. I could feel him behind
me. Standing near him was like being next to a high-powered
generator. He placed a hand on my shoulder. The heat from his skin
should have been welcome, but it only made my attempts at resisting
him harder. I glanced briefly over my shoulder to gauge how I
should react to him.

He was staring off into the distance.
“Eldrea is much more temperate than this winter-land.” His voice
was soft, but it still had the ability to send tremors through me.
“Do you not wish to see your mother?”

I stepped away from him, hiding my
shocked expression. He stiffened but relaxed once I was seated.
Facing me, he leaned against the railing. His eyes seemed sad, and
I couldn’t keep myself from feeling that perhaps he had gotten a
bad deal out of this whole thing. I was blaming him for losing my
mom, but I really had no idea what had happened between the two of
them.

I kept my tone solid even though I was
shaking inside. “My mother is dead.”

“
So you insist on denying
it? You insist on making this harder than it has to be? You have
been promised to me through a binding contract. Even humans have
DNA tests. Ours are much simpler.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You would
want me even knowing I hate you?” Hate was too strong a word for
what I felt for him, but he wasn’t helping his cause much by trying
to bully me.

He didn’t react to my question. His
face was blankly serene. When he spoke his voice was level. “Hate
works as well as love in bonding.” I stiffened, readying myself to
end this before it got out of control, but his next words kept me
where I was. “Should I tell you how you came to be promised to me?”
All I could do was nod.

“
I had been waiting for the
squadron of lords to return from the human realm. They had been
gone longer than they should have been, and I was eager for the
tournament that was scheduled for a few days hence.” His eyes grew
colder than the night. “I should have been the one out on that
hunt! I fought your mother’s bondmate in the previous tournament of
lords, but it was close enough that the counsel required a vote to
determine the winner. When the ruling came back in Theran’s favor,
I was stunned. There was nothing to be done except prepare for the
next tournament. But when I saw your mother for the first time, I
hated myself for not fighting the decision. At first glance all
thought of other women left me. She called to me like no other ever
had. I couldn’t resist her pull even though she belonged to another
man. We became fast friends, and I tried to help her adjust to her
new life. All she did was cry for the first ten years. Her bond to
Theran was weak, and it showed in the way her eye would wander. I
caught her looking longingly at me too many times for me to ignore;
it was all I could do to not take her myself.”

I sat up straighter. “How could you
take someone else’s bondmate?”

He gave me a glib expression. “When the
bond is not strong, another can override the first. There was a
time when we fought each other for every Elemental that entered our
realm. The practice is now forbidden.”

“
Yeah, I’m sure it is. Just
like bonding in the human realm.”

His smirk deepened. “So you begin to
see?”

“
What I see is a group of
people that will not follow their own blasted rules.”

He chuckled. “That is why Tabitha
started the tournament of lords and the wild hunt. She meant to
appease those of us that do not wish to have an Elemental handed to
us. She is a very wise woman.”

I nodded. “So why didn’t you just take
my—that woman you claim is my mother from Theran then?”

He didn’t comment on my near admission,
but his eyes glistened with mischief. “I was going to, but she
became even more withdrawn. That was how I knew something was
deeply wrong with her. She would disappear for days and eventually
had to have a royal guard assigned to keep track of her. I didn’t
see her much after that until the day she came to me and begged me
to get her out of the fae realms.”

“
Why?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Because
she was pregnant with you.”

“
You can’t know
that.”

“
She tried to deny it from
the beginning, giving me an excuse that she missed her family and
wanted to visit for a time, but I knew something was off. I have
always had a deep connection with Alithea. I became increasingly
suspicious when she disappeared right after I took her to see her
sister.”

“
You see?” I interrupted. I
found myself shivering, so I wrapped my arms around my chest. “It
can’t be the same person. My mom’s name was Sharon Tate. I already
told you. She’s dead.”

Jett came a few steps nearer but
stopped when I stiffened. “Call her what you want. She is the same
woman.” His eyes became wistful. “A woman I once loved.”

I kept my gaze locked to his even
though it was rather uncomfortable. “If that’s true, why aren’t you
bound to her? You could have done it. Why did you let her go back
to Theran? Why don’t you just take her now?”