Chapter 208
CAMILLA’S P.O.V
I couldn’t look him in the eye as we packed up to return home. I was soaking wet but I couldn’t be bothered as I laced up my dress, I just needed to get into the palace and get away. I could feel Ryker’s eyes on me soft but questioning and as much as I wanted to give him an answer for my actions, as much as I wanted to let him know that this had nothing to do with him, I couldn’t, because the truth was that it had everything to do with him.
The walk back was tense and filled with unspoken words and anxiety. Every few seconds, Ryker’s hands would brush mine and I knew he wanted to intertwine our fingers but I couldn’t- I wouldn’t. I pulled my hands closer to my body and wrapped them in tight fists. To say he wasn’t annoyed would have been a lie but to his credit, he managed to keep it hidden.
We got to the palace and I was just about to rush in when Ryker grabbed my upper arm pulling me to a stop. He stared at me for a split second and I thought he was going to speak so I cast a wary glance at the people around. There were guards and maids who could potentially overhear our conversation. They were already staring at us with varying degrees of curiosity. Ryker noticed that as well because the next thing he did was place both hands on my waist and step close to me.
I could feel every ridge and contour of his body and his scent was all over my nose. I shut my eyes trying to keep a level head despite my senses threatening to overwhelm me. His hands didn’t move an inch from their position and I could feel the heat from them searing into my skin.
“Ryker,” I began but he shook his head slightly. “People are staring.”
“We are mated, let them stare,” he said simply before dropping his lips to the side of my ears. “I don’t know why you pulled back suddenly at the lake, I don’t know what changed but I know like I know my own name that you felt that.”
“That isn’t the point,” I mumbled and he scoffed. “What I felt was wrong.”
“Is that what you want to tell yourself to make yourself feel better? You are a lot of things, Camilla, but a liar is not one of them,” his voiced was laced with amusement. “You felt that, you felt us, I know what it feels like to kiss someone who isn’t willing and that was not you.”
I tried to turn away from him but he wouldn’t let me. His fingers wrapped around my chin and he forced me to look at him. I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to keep my expression stoic but there was something in his eyes, something that stopped me from being able to hide how I felt. He was reading me like an open book and for the life of me, I couldn’t tell why it was so hard for me to hide.
“Why?” he asked and I cocked my head to the side in confusion. “Why are you hiding from me? Why are you pulling away from me?”
I debated telling him. In that moment, I was willing to damn it all to hell and speak but when I opened my mouth, I heard something like hurried footsteps behind me. The momentary distraction was all that I needed to pull away from Ryker and smooth down my dress. I turned to check the source of the distraction and it was Marie. She looked between us with wide eyes and an amused gaze.
“Am I interrupting something?” she asked with a small smirk on her face. “I could come back later if you want. I‘ was just searching for-”
“You weren’t,” I cut her off clearing my throat. “I was just leaving. Can you come with me please? I need some help working on the ties on my dress.”
“Of course,” she said trying and failing to hide her smile.
I couldn’t look at I I
Vker as I walked away but I could feel his eyes boring holes into my spine. I couldn’t believe that I had almost shot everything to shit. There were certain things that should never be spoken and I had almost broken that rule. Marie said nothing the entire way to the room but I could tell that she was buzzing with excitement. To her credit, she remained quiet until we walked into the room and she turned to me with raised brows.
“Tell me everything,” she whispered, her voice brimming with excitement and glee. “How did it go? Was he nice? Did you like it? Do you like him?”
“One question at a time, please, if someone were to see, they would think you were the one who went out with him based on how wide you are grinning,” I mused and she rolled her eyes. “Can you help me take off the dress ‘please?”
She mumbled a few choice words under her breath before helping me out of my clothes. It was a relief because the undergarments were still wet and it finally felt like I could breathe. She raised a brow but didn’t say anything at least not until I had changed and was in a pair of clean clothes.
“Are you going to explain now?” she asked and I sighed deeply.
“Nothing serious happened, we just ate and swam a little,” I shrugged keeping the most important detail to myself- the kiss. it wasn’t something I wanted to share yet, it was private and intimate and I wanted to keep it that way. “I got tired because the water was cold and I asked to return early. It is no big deal.”
She stared at me unblinking for a full minute before scoffing. “That is so boring. You didn’t even try to kiss him or anything? The man is gorgeous and he is literally eating out of the palm of your hands.”
“You sound like you want him,” I drawled and her cheeks heated. I stilled and raised a brow in her direction. “That was a joke.”
“I know it was,” she mumbled. “I am just saying that it would be nice to have someone who was as concerned with me as he is with you. He obviously feels for you.”
“We’re mates, of course he does,” I was getting annoyed with the conversation and it wasn’t something I could hide for much longer. “I have some work to attend to so I think I’ll go do that now. Thank you for helping me with my dress.”
I turned on my heels and walked out without another word leaving her in the room. She was shocked by my abrupt departure but she followed after me calling my name. I refused to stop so she grabbed my arm and made me look at her.
“I was kidding, Camilla,” she said but I remained silent. “I would never think about trying anything with him. Why would you even assume that I would?”
“I don’t think you would do anything. I don’t know what this is about.”
“This is about you being jealous,” she crossed her arms over her chest. “You like him, don’t you? You are trying to hide it but I can see that you do or else why would you be jealous?”
“I am not jealous. You are seeing things,” the lie slipped effortlessly off my tongue.
‘The words felt like ash in my mouth but I needed to make it believable for her. I didn’t want to give her any
reason to think otherwise. She stared at me as if she were trying to see into my soul and for the first few seconds. it was uncomfortable. Just as I was about to tell her off, she shrugged.
“You must be harder to please than I thought. If I had a man drooling over me the way he was, I would have folded a long time ago,” she made to walk away but she stopped next to me and dropped her voice to a whisper. “For what it is worth, I think he is a good man and you should give him a chance.”
Without another word, she walked off leaving me alone in the hallway.
I finally found my way into my office and buried my head into work all day. It was meant to help me forget about everything that had happened by the lake but it did the direct opposite. Being alone gave my thoughts room to fester, it was almost like nothing I could do could stop them and soon I was burying my head into my arms in an attempt to calm my mind.
A knock on my door had me looking up and it opened long enough for Audrey to come running in. She threw herself on my lap before I could even process that she was the one. She had a wide smile on her face and I couldn’t stop myself from forming one in response.
“How was school?” I asked smoothing her hair out of her face and she shrugged. “When did you get back? Who brought you here?”
“I did,” I turned to find Ryker walking into the room. Every nerve in my body stood on end as I watched him make his way inside. “She wanted to see you and I figured it was a good chance for me to do the same.”
I swallowed deeply before turning my attention back to Audrey. “Are you hungry? We can go have lunch together out in the garden. What do you think?”
It was clear that she was excited because she squealed and rushed out of the room before I could say another word. I tried to ignore the fact that it was just Ryker and I in the office and made to side step him but he had my way blocked.
“Ryker,” I began but he cut me off by brushing his lips against mine. I was transfixed and unable to move. “What are you doing?”
“You’re not giving us a fair chance, so I’m not going to play fair either,” he said simply before taking a step back. “I’ll see you at lunch.”
