I might not know what was going on between him and Thorin, but I did know Cillian. I reached for his hand on my hip and entwined my fingers through his. “Is that dance floor for show, or will there be actual dancing?”
Cillian cocked a brow. “I didn’t think you were the dancing type.”
“I’m not opposed,” I said. “Just never made it much of a habit.”
“And what makes you think I am?” he asked, a teasing note to his voice that I cherished.
“The way you move,” I murmured, my throat dry with want. He was wildness and restraint in the same breath, and I craved him with everything in me.
“That’s a very different sort of movement,” he said with a low growl, as he let go of my hip and intertwined his fingers with mine again, holding my hand. “However, I’m happy to take the distraction you’re offering.”
Busted. My lips twitched with amusement, as did his. I’d never fallen in love before, no one had managed to get close enough to me, but with him I was dangerously close. He brought me over to the side of the ballroom where a man stood by a setup for handling the lighting and music. I recognized him because I’d done the coordination in the first place.
“Start the dance music now,” Cillian said to him with the same politeness as always—which was none.
Yet the guy just grinned. “Sure thing, boss.”
“Are you ready?” he asked.
I stared over at the empty dance floor and gulped. When I’d suggested the idea, I’d thought we’d wait until everyone flooded in and then mingle amid the crowd. Yet Cillian didn’t seem to need crowds. He didn’t mind standing out.
And I’d be right by his side through the whole night.
“Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet now,” Cillian said, the teasing edge in his voice the exact push I needed.
I shot him a look. “I’m the one who suggested it. Come on, lead the way.”
A smug smile rose on his lips, one that made me want to kiss him.
Music poured through the speakers, louder, drawing the attention of the throngs of people who’d congregated for this gala. Based on some of the startled expressions, it would seem there was supposed to be more time for conversing before themusic started, but Cillian was never one to follow the rules. I’d seen it in his board meetings, and I witnessed it here now.
He was a fighter, and I admired that about him more than anything. Anyone who’d been born into his life could easily have become corrupted. He could’ve become the carbon copy his father wanted him to be. But instead, he’d chosen to serve his community. To make space for others. To protect those in his circle with his resources and power.
Music poured from the speakers, an elegant classical piece that fit with the opulence of the gala.
“Is this where I admit I have no idea how to dance to this?” I murmured.
“Don’t worry,” he said, his rich voice setting me at ease. “Just follow my lead.”
Cillian swept me out to the middle of the dance floor, and the press of eyes around us crept in, threatening to overwhelm me. Everyone stared at us, the casual conversation trailing to a trickle with the change in music and our appearance here.
And I didn’t know how to dance. My only experience was the occasional foray at a club, and that sort of dancing wasn’t the type to whip out here.
Yet Cillian gripped my hip with one hand and rested his other on my shoulder, and the way he casually possessed my body reminded me we’d already danced a dozen times over. He’d asked me to follow his lead, and I knew how to do that. The proximity of his body and the firm way he held me offered all the reminder I needed.
When Cillian took the first step, he swept me along with him, and I followed with ease.
Our bodies communicated even when our mouths couldn’t. No matter the secrets that still brimmed between us, when we came together, everything else melted away. We were stripped downto all that mattered, and at the core of things, that raw truth was exactly why I trusted him.
Cillian swept me across the ballroom floor, a back and forth, back and forth sway to our steps that was easy to follow with the beat of the melody and how he telegraphed his movements. I’d surrendered to him over and over in bed, so this felt like an extension of that as I trusted him to guide me here.
So many stared at us, but as I focused on my dance with Cillian, the pressure diminished. As with any time we were close to each other, everything else faded away. Right now, it was just me and him dancing on the polished floor, the music cascading over us. He whirled me around with a smoothness that didn’t surprise me but entranced me all the more. The tenderness in his expression struck me square in the heart. I never thought I’d witness it from a man I’d believed was formed from ice, but the more he melted for me, the more I craved him.
“You’re doing well, pet,” he murmured, his voice low enough only I’d hear. The praise trickled through me, filling me up with sunlight.
“You’re the one taking a risk here, not me,” I responded, unable to hide my snark. He grinned back at me, and the way his eyes crinkled made my heart reel. God, he’d ensnared me completely.
“Funny, because I’m not scared in the slightest.” He swayed with me on the floor, our steps in tandem with the constant forward movement and retreat that was wholly us.
