Xander flipped his middle finger in response before he grabbed his mug and finished the rest of his ale. Adriana had noticed him drawing during their quieter moments, often between training sessions or in the early hours of the morning when she was still half asleep. But despite her knowing of his hobby and her insistent demanding, he still had not shown his work to her.
“You danced with me at your ball,” Adriana pointed out.
Edward let out a sarcastic laugh. “Only to save you from that twat, and look what happened to him. Yes, I do think it may be best Xander never dances again!”
Xander’s silence spoke volumes. His glare lingered on Edward a beat too long before a harsh clang announced his mug meeting the table, making Adriana jump. In a silent display of disdain, he pushed himself from the bench and slunk towards the bar.
With one look from Deion, Edward scrambled from his seat and followed Xander through the crowd, coming to rest on the bar next to him. Adriana watched Edward place his hand on Xander’s hunched shoulders, noticing his slight flinch before he seemed to relax.
“Come on,” Deion’s voice distracted her. He stood before her with his hand outstretched. “Perhaps he will rescue you again, only this time it’ll be from my two left feet and no need for bloodshed. If I step on your toes just let me know, I am a Medici after all.”
Adriana laughed as she accepted his hand and joined the crowd of rowdy dancers, none of them following specific steps and instead choosing to skip and stomp around one another.
“Speaking of which,” Deion continued, “I know he has been feeding from you.” Adriana’s face began to redden at his words. “No, please, I did not mean to embarrass you. I only mean to say if you ever need my magic to heal, please tell me.”
Adriana nodded her thanks at him, grateful to have Deion’s approval and support. But in truth, she liked the bite marks Xander would leave her with, and she knew he did too. Even though she made sure they were covered whenever she left the house, it was their secret of his possessiveness, their bond.
With a playful smile, Deion hooked his arm around hers, spinning her in a carefree twirl that mirrored the lively jig. A couple began to stomp their feet in complicated quick steps, causing the crowd to part for them and clap along in encouragement.
“It has been wonderful to see him so happy,” Deion shouted in Adriana’s ear over the joyful chaos. “I want you to know how thankful I am for you, for bringing his humanity back to us.”
Adriana turned to face him as the music began to come to a close. “You feared he was losing his humanity?”
“We all did. I know he is not an easy person, he never has been. But the darkness he has surrounded himself with has grown almost impenetrable over the years, and as much as he claims to be content to live in it, his reaction just now is proof that he is not. So thank you, Adriana, for getting through.”
Xander
“I am truly sorry,” Edward slurred for the seventh time in the last minute.
Xander nodded at him again before flagging down the bartender. “I heard you the first time, Ed.”
“I should not have mentioned Abbot, I know you are concerned about scaring her off. I really do hope you will accept my apology. I never meant…”
Edward’s voice gradually faded away as Xander watched the group of dancers, his eyes fixed on Adriana’s movements, her laughter, her joy. As the drumming of her racing heartbeat echoed in his ears, his own seemed to speed up to keep in time with hers. Without even meaning to, his thoughts connected with hers, and he sensed the happiness she felt as she twirled under Deion’s arm as if it were his own.
Her attention snagged on a figure in the corner. The stable boy, Xander realised. But it was not a longing she felt for him, nor a desire to even speak to him, but a feeling of content as she watched the boy dance with a young woman. She was happy for her friend, happy he had found someone to share a future with, a future that Adriana would never have been able to give him.
The dull thump of a full mug of ale being slammed onto the counter before him snapped him out of Adriana’s mind, returning his focus to Edward’s persistent grovelling.
Xander grabbed the mug and forced it into Edward’s hands. “Stop apologising,” he sighed. “I was not irritated with you, but with myself. You are right, I have been worried she may run for the hills, but that is not because of you.”
Before Xander could step through the crowd, Edward’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm. “She is not afraid of who you are, Xander. She loves you. You know that, don’t you?”
A frown formed on Xander’s face as he struggled to dispute Edward’s statement, but he found that he couldn’t. Of course he knew.
With a slight nod, Xander left Edward at the bar and made his way through the crowd. “I believe I can take over from here,” he said, as he reached the two giggling dancers.
Adriana turned around to face him as Deion gave them a wink and sauntered over to where Edward was waiting. At her flushed cheeks and wide smile, Xander couldn't help but grin back in return. He knew he must have looked like an idiot, a boyish fool in love, and he didn’t care one bit.
He took her hands and brought them to rest on his shoulders before sliding his down to her waist, guiding her into a slow swaying motion to the softer music that had begun to play.
“I apologise if our earlier conversation made you uncomfortable,” Xander spoke in a hushed voice, bringing his forehead down to rest against hers as some of the dancers began to count down the seconds until midnight.
“Ah, you must mean the stories in which you pretend you are a seductive beast?”
“Oh, it is not pretend if it is the truth.”
A laugh escaped her lips as he grasped her hand and spun her under his arm before bringing her close to him again. She tilted her head up to meet his eyes, and Xander sensed her making sure all barriers to her mind were down, letting him know that she was open to read should he need confirmation of her words.
