Property of a Gordon

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Those blue eyes were painted with so much humor that I had the feeling it would still be there when I choked the life out of him. I had been prepared to let out a string of words he might consider "unladylike" to advise him just where he could shove that name, but all the guards barreled in the room at once.

The two who had been running to catch up during the walk stood behind the guard who'd been so arrogant as to try to lose me on the way here. They all stood so straight with their hands clasped formally behind their backs that I wondered if they knew what the term "slouching" meant.

I glanced at the man-or Prince, should I say-and allowed my eyes to fill with uncovered surprise. Where there had once been a pair of amused eyes, there was now a pair of cold ones to match the hardened features of his face. His new aura even managed to elicit a shiver out of me, but I played it off as being cold as I drew the jacket closer to me.

He stood up, his cold features sweeping through the room, freezing us all. I could feel his power radiating off him and rolling to the ground like sunlight, something I hadn't noticed in the cellar. I was amazed by this because he was a mere human, but that clearly didn't stop him.

"I hope you have an explanation as to why you arrived earlier than I instructed," he spoke in a simple tone, but it didn't stop the guards from bowing their heads in acknowledgment to him. I just glanced between them, letting my eyes land on the Prince, not completely believing him.

"Your Highness, we tried-" one of the guards stumbled, but his words were cut off as I swept my hand, earning wide eyes of disbelief before they narrowed. He was about to speak once again, but I didn't give him the chance.

"It was a minute early, not even that," I snapped at the Prince. But as his eyebrow raised, I gritted my teeth, remembering my plan to "play nice." "Your Highness," I added after a lingering moment and proceeded to bow my head with much reluctance.

He didn't reply to my submission, only continued his sweet way around the grand desk and over to the guards. He made sure to do so slowly, allowing the suspense to snake around us all, waiting to shatter. He stopped right in front of the guards, and I peeked up through my curtain of hair just in time to see beads of sweat building up around the guards' hairline.

"Please explain to me how she also managed to get past not just you, Lance, but also the two guards accompanying you today," he asked, looking straight at the arrogant guard who could only bow his head and remain silent.

"Not a single answer for me?" The Prince questioned causing the guards to tense and brace themselves. "Do not show your faces until you can supply me with an adequate answer. You are dismissed," he snapped coldly, and the guards darted out the room like fleeing mice, leaving only me and the Prince.

He turned around to face me and I looked at him with suspicious surprise. A confident smile was playing on his lips, leaving no trace of the hardened man who'd been standing there not even a minute before. This man's stance was casual and relaxed, clearly seeming not to find me a serious threat. But if he made one mistake, I'd have his lifeless eyes staring emptily at the ceiling.

An equally confident smile covered my own lips at the thought. I watched as he strolled leisurely to his desk, slowly taking a seat before sighing and letting his eyes meet mine.

He gestured to a chair that screamed "stiff" in front of him, waiting patiently for me to take a seat. I hesitantly sat, the wolf in me stirring. She wasn't pleased with the idea of sitting because it made her feel defenseless. I calmed her down by counting the exits, finding a large window behind the Prince and feeling the mahogany door behind me.