“Oh, well, I never learned to dance. I can see how complicated the steps are just from watching. There’s no way I could navigate it. They’ve probably had instruction since childhood. I would only make a fool of myself.”
Kieran had not been taught the traditional dances required at these gatherings either. Occasionally, one of these parties would attempt a fae melody and he would recall the Winter version of steps he’d been required to learn. That didn’t help Sera, who wouldn’t know fae dances either. But Kieran had been coming to these balls for most of his working life. He had watched these same dances for years.
Kieran took Sera’s hand and led her through the crowd.
“Wha—where are we going?”
Every party had a terrace or balcony or some other secluded area with fresh air to act as a respite to the confines and heat of the ballroom. A surprising number of couples would inevitably use the darkness to indulge in pleasures that some still believed were better saved for marriage to the point where Kieran wondered if the whole point of these spaces was meant to include the odd dalliance as much as respite, given how ubiquitous it seemed. Now, however, it would serve his purposes nicely.
He led her past the few outside groups chatting in the moonlight, past the adventurous couples seeking privacy, until they reached an expanse of the terrace that lay outside the wall of windows. No one had ventured this far from the door and artistically sculpted hedges hid them from the rest of the terrace. A secluded space that shielded them from onlookers.
Light from the ballroom draped the area in a warm glow. The view from this side of the windows was clear and unmarred of the harsh reflection of light. The musicians played just beyond the window from their corner of the ballroom, music carrying faintly through the glass.
Kieran did not release Sera’s hand, instead guiding her into position in front of him. Her cheeks bloomed with heat as their bodies came together with the barest pressure that he sealed with a hand on her hip.
He had seen the form countless times and settled his gaze above her head, not entirely certain of his choice now that it was in front of him. He was not a dancer and he feared he was dangerously close to blushing for the second time in his life. All because of her.
“What’s going on?” she asked, though it was clear in her tone and the sparkle in her eyes she knew exactly what was happening.
Kieran cleared his throat. “I was never taught the proper steps either.” His gaze dipped, but her eager expression and dazzling grin had his eyes darting away again. “I learned fae dances, not the sort likely to be played in Levity’s ballroom. However, I have observed enough of these rituals, I believe, to fumble through some of the required motions. If you wish to accompany me.”
There. He said it. He felt oddly ridiculous now, but then, he only had to look at her smile to be reassured that he’d made the right choice.
“Why?” She breathed, her elation shifting to earnest. A mix of emotions tugged him in a million directions.
He lowered his head to face her. “Because it would be unacceptable if you didn’t dance at your first ball.”
The future was unclear. What would she choose when the threat to her inevitably ended? And was it wishful thinking to want to be part of that choice?
Deluded fantasy. Whatever she decided, he would not fault her. She deserved to make life whatshewanted. He could be content with tonight. It would take awhile, but he would recover. He recovered from his siblings. Or, rather, he learned to live withthe grief. He would learn to live with the loss of her, too. The loss of possibilities.
Kieran took the first step and she allowed him to lead. It wasn’t perfect. He could sense the missteps, even if he managed to keep his movements fluid enough that Sera hadn’t seemed to notice.
Performing a task that he was not adept at, and in front of someone else, would normally throw him off balance. Yet as she grinned, her odd bursts of joyous laughter, her sense of fun somehow eased the tension in his shoulders. He cared less and less about remembering exactly where his feet were supposed to go and instead moved however felt right. Her glee was infectious, seeping into him until he was… enjoying himself.
He spun her particularly hard, his mouth tipping into a smile when she giggled and threw her head back, clutching him all the harder. He held her tighter, feeling each heavy breath and giggle against his chest.
And just as before, the feel of her against him was enough to drive all other thought from his mind. He lost all sense of time and reason, just basked in her delight and how his body was alive for the first time in years.
He lifted her through more turns, kept his hold firm enough to feel her curves and warmth seep through the layers of clothes. It was impossible to say when exactly the mood shifted. Altered. Turned. Perhaps it had been a gradual decline. But Sera’s eyes grew heavy, darker. She looked up at him through her lashes. Her bare shoulders rose and fell, the tips of her shoes balanced on his boots. Her lips parted with the softest sigh.
He was going to break another rule. Probably the most important rule.
There was no version of this reality where he did not kiss her.
For a heartbeat, memories of the stolen kiss threatened to unnerve him. His fear of going too far, of losing his Sense for her, held him back even now, when it was likely in vain.
But her eyes closed, her chin tilted, and Sera’s light, impractical shoes pressed just a fraction harder into his boots as she attempted to lift herself closer.
Kieran hadn’t a thought to how he would kiss her. This was not an action borne of calculation. When his lips met hers, all sense of reservation abandoned him. And he was left alone with nothing but his impulses and the incredible sensations burning through his body.
Her mouth parted instantly and some inner part of him that fed on chaos cheered as his tongue swept the exquisite heat of her mouth. This taste had haunted his dreams. The feeling of her lips had lingered like a ghost, plagued his every waking moment, deprived him of reason.
Gods, this was all that he remembered and so much more, because now there was no voice telling him to stop. No voice urging that this was wrong. Only a voice driving him to take, to savor.
His arm still supported her and her skirts made prolonged contact difficult. Kieran meant to stop at her mouth, to simply enjoy this small victory. This was hardly the place to be hiking up her dress.
Her almond scent was already saturated in arousal as he moved from her mouth to draw his lips down her jaw, to her neck, kissing and tasting when he hadn’t dared before. Sera moaned, low and sweet, then she tensed.
