Chapter 105: Oops!!
"Oops!" I blurted out, my hands flying up to shield my chest from his penetrating gaze.
As I moved to cover myself, Finnian caught my wrist and pulled me close. His grip was firm, unyielding. "What are you doing?" My eyes widened in horror as I found myself pressed against his solid frame.
Finnian didn’t respond. Instead, his fingers gently traced the marks and bruises on my chest, following the path of each purple bloom. The rough touch of his fingers against my tender skin was warm and ticklish, sending unwanted shivers down my spine. His gaze was intense, as if he were focused on an object of fascination rather than a person. It made me shiver. It was weird to feel a man’s touch on the traces another man left on me. Very weird. The contrast was jarring—Jayce’s passionate fervor now being examined by Finnian’s clinical curiosity.
"Darlington wasn’t the one who slept with you last night. It was Jayce, right?" Finnian suddenly questioned, his voice flat and knowing.
Gritting my teeth, I averted my gaze, feeling shame crawl up my neck like fire. My cheeks burned. I had no intention to discuss anything related to sex with Finnian. Not with him. Not with anyone. The memory of Jayce’s hands on me, his mouth, his everything—it was mine to carry, not to be dissected by his brother.
However, Finnian was relentless. He pinched my chin and forced me to meet his gaze. His fingers dug into my jaw, not painfully, but with enough pressure to make submission the only option. "Answer me!"
I shot him a fierce look, my eyes blazing with defiance. How dare he? How dare he demand answers about something so intimate, so humiliating?
Then something in his appearance caught me off guard. It was my first real look at his face. Really looked. I had seen him countless times before, but always in passing, always as one of the triplets, a blur of princely features that blended together. Now, up close, I saw the differences clearly.
He lacked Jayce’s wildness and Darlington’s gentleness. His features were sharply defined, carved from stone rather than born of flesh. His nose was prominent and straight, aristocratic in its severity. His lips were thin and had a soft shade of pink, a hint of warmth in an otherwise cold visage. He carried himself with the distant air of a noble, even now, even with his fingers on my chin and his body pressed against mine. There was an aloofness to him, a detachment that made him seem untouchable.
His eyes were particularly striking, different from the other princes’. They were like deep, amber pools, emitting a cold gleam, and unreadable. They held no warmth, no passion. Just that detached curiosity that made me feel like a specimen under glass.
Caught up in my thoughts, I suddenly felt a numbing, ticklish sensation on my bosom. Taking a sharp breath, I looked down to see Finnian’s fingertip casually brushing against my nipple, playfully and provocatively. The touch was deliberate, calculated. He wasn’t lost in passion like Jayce. He was experimenting.
"What on earth do you want?" I demanded, struggling to free myself from his grasp. I twisted and pulled, but his hold was iron. "Let me go!"
However, despite my efforts, Finnian’s strength overwhelmed me. He held me close, my struggles doing nothing but pressing me further against his chest. His eyebrow arched as a rare, mysterious smile crept onto his typically cold face. It was unsettling, that smile. It didn’t reach his eyes.
"I was curious about how you differed from the other sex slaves. Now, I understand."
How I differed from others? Suddenly, Darlington’s earlier remarks echoed in my mind. Something about my scent. Something about how I affected them. Was Finnian hinting at the same thing?
Sure enough, he went on with an intrigued look, his voice dropping to a husky whisper. "You carry a scent that stirs our desires and soothes our volatile wolves..."
His voice grew raspier by the moment, and he intensified the pressure as he caressed my breasts. His thumb circled my nipple with agonizing slowness, each rotation sending sparks of unwanted sensation through my body. Desire burned in his eyes, that cold amber now molten with something darker. The sight of it caused my heart to race with fear.
Was he going to subject me to the same horrors Jayce had? Was this just another prince claiming his turn with the slave? Cold sweat dotted my forehead as fear gripped me. My stomach churned. I forced myself to maintain a semblance of calm, swallowing the bile that rose in my throat.
"I don’t understand what you’re implying," I replied, my voice steadier than I felt. "Also, I’m not interested in having sex in public. I need to go rest."
Finnian paused and fixed a cold and detached gaze on me. The desire didn’t disappear, but it retreated behind that icy wall of his. I calmly met his gaze, even as sweat drenched my palms and my heart pounded against my ribs like a trapped bird. Silently, I prayed he would let me go. Please. Please just let me go.
To my shock, Finnian snorted dismissively and let me go as I had hoped. His hands dropped from my body, and I stumbled back, putting distance between us.
I barely had time to feel relief when he remarked, "I just helped you. Shouldn’t you repay the favor?"
"You helped me?" Sneering, I looked into Finnian’s eyes and added coldly, "Your Highness, you saw Molly and her group blocking my path long before, didn’t you?"
Finnian’s eyes narrowed as he scrutinized me from head to toe. The cold gleam in those amber depths sharpened. Maintaining my composure, I looked into his eyes and continued, my voice gaining strength with each word.
"I noticed you watching from a distance quite some time ago. You witnessed everything." I had spotted Finnian in a corner, silently watching as Molly and her followers blocked my way. He had stood there, arms crossed, observing like it was entertainment. He only intervened after I had started to defend myself. It seemed he stepped in only after seeing that I could handle the situation on my own so that he could get some credit for rescuing me.
I lifted my chin, meeting his cold stare with one of my own. "With that realization, I question you sternly, Your Highness. Your assistance wasn’t given out of kindness. Why should I feel obliged to repay it?"
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