I stepped down from the ladder, dusting my hands, and caught Amanda standing in the centre of the room with her gaze tilted upwards. The soft gold of the lights washed over her face, thousands of catchlights glimmering in her dark eyes. She looked dreamy. And that wasn't a word I would have applied to her last week.
‘Ready?’ I asked.
She turned, her eyes focusing as if she had been miles away.
Probably thinking.
More likely overthinking.
‘Can we test it?’ she asked. ‘With all the other lights off?’
‘Sure.’ I crossed to the far wall, where the rank of light switches lives, switching off all the main lights, leaving just the fairy lights and the slowly spinning disco ball, which Amanda had fitted with warm white light rather than silver.
It was like being tossed into another world. For being a village hall, the room had been transformed into a truly enchanting space. Even I was awed.
Golden light rippled overhead; the fairy lights twinkled slowly to create a blanket of magic, while the disco ball threw moving lights around the room. Not a single space lacked dancing gold. Lanterns flickered warm and soft. Garlands covered the sketchily painted white ceiling, dulling its brightness and letting the lights stand out. The dark panelled walls reflected the light back at us until the whole space felt enchanted, like a place made for making promises and stolen kisses.
Amanda took a quiet breath. ‘It’s perfect.’
I crossed the floor to her, unable to resist the pull. She didn't move as I approached, just watched me with that half-guarded, half-yearning expression that had been haunting me since we got back from my parents.
I held out a hand and waited to see if she’d take it. When she did, I pulled her close to me, gathering her with one hand while I held her other against my chest.
‘May I have this dance?’ I asked.
Her eyebrows knitted. ‘There’s no music.’
‘I don’t need music. Just you.’
I began moving in small steps that carried us in circles. Amanda followed my lead, her cheek brushing against my jaw.
The lights glowed around us. The patter of her heart quickened beneath our hands. Mine too, no doubt.
After a few minutes, I brushed a kiss over her temple.
‘You’re quiet. Somewhere else, maybe. Are you alright?’
She tipped her head back to look at me. Her eyes sparkled with light, her pupils huge and unreadable. Then she smiled.
She said, ‘I'm okay. Really.’
I didn't quite believe her, but I didn't want to press and ruin the moment.
Instead, she slid her hands up my chest until they came to rest on the back of my neck, fingers lacing gently into my hair. The shift in her expression hit square below the belt. Wherever she had been in her head, she came out of it looking ravenous.
‘You still haven't rewarded me,’ she said, almost innocently.
‘For what?’ I played dumb, knowing well the games that still lay beneath the surface.
‘For being so very jolly at Betwixtmas.’ Her lips curved. ‘Have you gone off me already? Do I need to find another pierced gardener to make me see stars?’
She was teasing, but jealousy flared hot in my chest anyway. I knew she was joking, but Amanda wasmine.
Low sound rumbled out of me as I traced her lips with mine. ‘Princess… I’m going to make you see more than stars. You’re going to soar high enough to fuck amongst them.’
The way she trembled had me hard right there in the village hall.
Then she whispered, her voice a soft, warm, lethal thing:
