“Forgive me, seeing as it isn’t Rule Ten, I did not know if you felt obliged to follow or not,” Collin said so quietly, only I would hear.
I glowered at my Mate as he led me to the center of the room. The Elite gathered to watch.
“Look up,” he whispered to me.
The noise from the Elite and the music faded into the background. Above us the stars seemed to fall into the dance floor, some illusion or trick of the light. Yet I felt comforted, like they were winking, cheering me on as they danced around me.
“Now bow,” Collin instructed. I did as he said.
A new song began, and shock filled me as Collin bowed—to me.
It was the first time Collin had ever done so. An Illum was bowing to a Minor. Every single person stared, eyes drawn to us, unable to look away. A buzzing spread out over the dance floor as whispers flew.
“Ready?” The sapphire pools of his eyes reflected the falling stars, almost turning them silver, and I focused on nothing else.
It was a slower dance, the steps simple. I had never paid much attention to it, preferring the ones that were more physically exhausting. But as I grasped his shoulder and he pulled me close by my waist, capturing my other hand with his, the dance transformed into something else entirely.
Collin began to move, leading us across the floor. Like everything he did, he moved with grace. I fell into his rhythm. The spectators became a blur as I released Collin’s hand and spun. The sheer skirt billowed and rippled all around me, refracting the starlight in a dazzling display. I couldn’t help but smile, wishing Rose were here to see her creation in action.
Collin traced my breathless grin with burning eyes.
My breathing quickened. I told myself it was from the exertion.
Following the training, I turned until Collin was behind me, my hand outstretched. Then I felt his hand on my hip. The other dragged along my outstretched arm, making me gasp at the closeness, the intimacy of the move. I didn’t remember that part from the video. I felt Collin chuckle behind me more than heard it before he spun me again to face him. We were back in the Sphere when his lips had found mine. I was too warm, something traitorous pulsing in time with the musical beat.
He smirked at me, clasping our hands above our heads. It was the man from those first dinners who danced with me, the version of Collin I had desperately wanted to believe in.
“Different from dancing alone?” Collin whispered as we continued to move around the floor.
“Yes,” I breathed, and he turned me again, my back against his front. I was ready this time as he trailed his hand along my arm, but my body shivered against my will as I felt his breath hit my neck, heard his inhale as he breathed me in.
“You dance very well,” Collin commented as he spun me to face him. The music began to build, the end approaching. “You enjoy it.”
It wasn’t a question, his sapphire eyes assessing me. “I do. It quiets my mind.”
“Is your mind often not quiet?” Collin asked, his gaze piercing.
He spun me a final time, the music swelling and crescendoing, until again, joy sparkled through me.
The music down swelled, and his right hand held my left above our heads, our bodies pressed flush together, my chest heaving against his. We were in his living quarters; he was begging me to say no. I clamped my mouth closed, my gaze on his lips. The moment dissolved with the music.
Collin released my hand, stepping back from me. Without the music, I realized my heart was carrying its own frenzied beat. My cheeks felt warm, but there was a lightness under it all that only music and running had ever given me.
“Would you like another dance?” Collin inquired. The next song started, dozens of Elite couples joining the floor. It was a faster-paced dance with more spins and passing partners.
My heart begged for another go, but I said, “I would love a drink.”
Collin looked away as he nodded, and his firm hand guided me from the dance floor. I forced myself to look ahead even as my body protested, desperate to join them. Collin pushed to the outskirts as Elites bowed. The suffocating feeling returned.
Everywhere I looked, brightly colored gowns met me. I wondered if I could ever look like them, the simpering smiles. Their insipidness was as foreign to me as this ball—a part of me content with that never changing. My black gown was a glaring mark to their cheerful display. I was not the stars at all but the unending darkness, threatening to suffocate their Elite light.
An attendant appeared, holding a silver tray with bubbles. Collin grabbed two delicate glasses, handing me one. The man disappeared.
Collin took a long drink, looking over my shoulder, and he shook his head a fraction.
“What?” I asked.
“You will wish you stayed on the dance floor in a moment,” Collin whispered. “Remember what I told you.”
