“You want to dance with me?” I blurt. “Then get me out of here. Get me as far away from him as you can and I will grant you a dance. I will grant you a dozen of them.”
Stillness.
“I’ll hold you to that,” my stranger breathes. “But as you wish….”
He swings his cloak over me, tucking me under his shoulder and the world vanishes, the dancers and the music dropping away. It’s like we took a step between this world and another.
I can see ghosts of the others still moving. Wisps of a skirt appearing here and there. Laughter ringing out before it cuts off.
My handsome stranger sweeps me into the crowd, an arm draped around my hips. A spin, and suddenly we’re in the middle of the dancefloor. I catch a glimpse of the back of Etan’s head, barely a foot away as he searches for us.
And then we’re gone again.
A guard I recognize as my mother’s appears, up on his toes as he scans the crowd. They’re all here. They’re all looking for me. There’s some kind of illicit thrill in stealing away from both of them.
A hop, a skip, a twirl.
It feels like I’m spinning in circles.
The stranger lets me go as I stagger into the trees, his cloak falling from my shoulders. Music hammers at me, drums vibrating through the trees. The fae are back, no longer mere hints of movement.
I press my spine to the ivy-covered tree, my eyes darting over his shoulder. Etan’s expression tightens with anger when he clearly can’t find me.
“Forget about him,” my handsome stranger whispers.
“I’m trying.”
Something soft brushes over her lip. “Does this help?”
It’s his thumb, tracing my lower lip so slowly that a fist of heat knots between my thighs.
Our eyes meet.
And then the back of his knuckles ripple over my jaw. He makes a small sound in his throat as if he finds the contours of my face fascinating.
A shiver runs through me. There’s barely an inch between us, as if he’s trying to give me just enough space that I don’t feel caged.
“What was that? How did you do that?”
He takes my hand in his, that dangerous smile back in place. “Magic, my love.”
I eye his cloak. “I need to get one of those.”
He laughs, and the sound catches somewhere in my chest as if some part of me knows it’s not a sound the world hears very often. “It’s not the cloak, princess.”
I can’t help stilling. Princess. “I wouldn’t dare claim such a title.”
“Not yet, anyway,” he says mysteriously, and then he tugs at my fingertips. “Let us leave this clearing far behind. You owe me a dozen dances anyway….”
“And so you intend to claim them?”
“Oh, yes.” There’s a look in his eyes that brands me. “I intend to claim them all.”
“That’s somewhat presumptuous of you.”
He pauses, one arm extended as he gestures for me to follow him. “Come with me. Dance with me. Please.”
I run my tongue over my teeth. There’s something about him that intrigues me.
And Maia knows I’ve spent enough years dancing to my mother’s tune. This time, it’s my choice whether to take this risk or not.
And I want it.
I want to take his hand. I want to dance with him. Maybe steal a kiss. He’s wickedly handsome, after all.
Maybe steal something… more?
Heat works through me again. I’ve played by the rules all my life, and this is where it’s gotten me.
I slowly release a breath and clasp our hands together. “Then I will.”
The celebrations spill from one clearing to another. The music shifts and changes. My dark stranger sweeps me into a jig, and then a reel, and then something slower.
It’s the something slower that makes me feel nervous.
His body is carved of hot sin, his eyes like smoke and thunder. He whirls me under his arm, again and again and again, until I’m dancing on the tip of my toes, my skirts flying around us. I come back into his arms, breathless with the sensation of his body against mine.
“I think I have paid you your quota of dances.”
“True. I thought perhaps to earn more.”
“Earn more? And how would you do that?” I tease.
“Come,” he whispers in my ear as the music lulls. “Why don’t we go somewhere private?”
You want a choice? Andraste whispers in my memories. Then this is your chance to make that choice.
“I don’t know if I trust you or not.”
He stills. “I would never hurt you.”
Of course not. They all say that. I press a hand to his chest. “As lovely as that sounds, you are asking me to disappear into the woods with you. I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you intend….”
“I intend to get to know you.”
“I’m sure you do.”
Another heated look. “I only intend to get to know you.” His smile is wicked. “I don’t let myself get lured into the woods by women when I don’t even know their name.”
I bite my lip and shake my head. “Best if you don’t know.”
“But if I don’t know, then how am I going to find you again?” His eyes search my soul.
“Vi.” It blurts from my lips and I nearly stifle a moan. I can’t believe I just betrayed myself like that.
“Vi.” There’s something about the way he says the word that undoes me.
“For V-Violet.” I look him in the eye. What’s the harm in this one little lie? He’ll never know. Tomorrow will come and I’ll vanish like the figment of a dream.
He looks a little disappointed when I don’t ask him the same.
And then he slips his mask from his face.
My breath catches. Again. I knew he was handsome, but I didn’t realize just how much. There’s a dangerous carnality to him. Green eyes. He has green eyes. They’re the color of a forest cat’s and just as predatory. Thick dark brows and silky lashes complete the look.
It’s like he strips away this layer deliberately.
See me. Know me.
And
