She looked at me, a mix of hope and concern in her eyes, but I gave her a little push.
“Go,” I urged. “Dance. This is your chance, remember?”
“But what will you do?” she asked, leaving the poor man standing there. “Sisters before misters, that’s what my mum always said.”
“Well, this sister wants you to enjoy yourself dancing with…” I glanced at the man.
“Frederick,” he replied. “Mr. Frederick Carlton.”
“Dance with Mr. Frederick Carlton,” I said. Another nudge and she was moving towards the man. “I’ll see you back at our rooms.”
Turn on my heel and march out of the courtyard, that was my plan. Sometimes it felt like there was a candle inside me and it was lit the moment I was around others, burning down lower with each second. Pleasant company or not, it still ate away at the wax, the wick of me, until there was nothing left to burn. With a shuddering sigh, I made from the entrance to the keep, ready to step into its stony depths.
Only to be intercepted by a large male presence.
For such a tall man, he managed to step into my path in seconds, my hands going up too late, landing on Kael’s chest. With a gasp, I snatched them back, but he was there, gripping them tight, before I managed it. Tight as manacles, they held my wrists, pulling me back against him.
“And where are you off to, little bird?” His smile spread slowly as he gazed down at me. “Dancing? Not something I usually engage in, but for you…?” I stiffened as he looked down the line of my body. “I think I’ll make an exception.”
I’d spent my life waiting for a man to ask me to dance and when it came, I felt rush of anger, not appreciation. That arrogant smile, those hard, blue eyes, they had my teeth grinding together.
“Kael of Blackreach.” His head bent only slightly in my direction. “Dance with me, Lady Fern. If the only way I can get you in my arms tonight is on that dance floor?” I was spun around and then marched back across the courtyard. “Then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”
Chapter 17
Kael
“Dance with you?” she said. I felt Fern pull against my grip and gods help me, I couldn’t help but hold her tighter. Only an act of will stopped my fingers digging deep into her wrists, leaving their imprint on her bones. Something about her awakened something hungry, grasping in me, and it had my teeth grinding together even as I grinned down at her. “I’d rather die.”
“No chance of that happening, little bird.” I let go of one hand and spun her around. The way she moved, the wide legs of her pants flaring out as she twirled, I couldn’t understand how she didn’t feel it. We would be so perfect together. “Nothing and no one will harm you while I draw breath.”
“Except for you.” Her feet came to an abrupt stop, her arm straining as she stood as far away from me as my grip would allow. “First, you grab me like a sack of potatoes in front of every single person in the keep.”
I frowned at that. Did I hurt her? I sent a query to Slate, asking him to probe her mind and see if this was the case.
Just her pride,he assured me.
“And now what?” She glanced at the dance floor and that’swhen I saw my in. There was longing there, mixed up with irritation. “You want to stomp all over my feet as well as my personal boundaries?”
I shouldn’t want that. My birth was the consequence of a man ignoring a woman when she said no, but perhaps there was more of my father in me than I had hoped.
“I want to take you out onto that dance floor.” With a step closer, I released the tension in our arms. Fern didn’t pull away, which gave me hope. Just stared up at me with those big blue eyes, fear and anger strange bedfellows within them. “Don’t know how you don’t have a line of men fighting to ask you to dance…” That flinch, it told me a lot, but I wasn’t sure what. The urge to instruct Slate to dig deeper rode me hard, but I wanted to discover my girl’s secrets for myself. “But in my experience, men are the stronger sex, but not the smarter one.”
With a spin of my arm, she was curled back against me and as I looked down, I watched her breathing pick up. Interesting. It seemed she wasn’t as repelled by me as she made out. Of course, that was the moment that damn lieutenant had to interrupt again. A muffled shout had us both turning around to see him slamming his glass down on the bar and then march over, hand on his sword hilt.
“One dance?” Fern was bargaining with me, which was a step up from open hostility. I grinned as I put two and two together. If trying to keep the lieutenant from raging at me was what got her on the dance floor, I’d take it. “One dance and you’ll leave me be after that?”
“If you can bring yourself to walk away from me after a dance, know that I’ll let you go,” I replied.
Make Fern understand her place was with me, us, that was my new directive.
“Fine,” she ground out, making a move to pull away, but I was never going to surrender my hold on her, not until the dance was done, so we walked over to the dance floor, my arm around her waist. The way she felt, tucked up against my body, it had my senses going into a riot. Small, soft, yielding. I didn’t haveenough experience to say what sex would be like, but my mind was starting to fill in the blanks. As we passed the lieutenant, I shot him a rakish smile as we took our place amongst the other dancers.
Now I had to work out how the hell highborns danced and try not to embarrass myself in front of the one woman that mattered.
The first few notes of the violin had me grinning, because they were playing a waltz I knew well. One hand took hers, holding it up as the other slid down, wanting to cup that soft peach of an arse, but she spluttered in protest. My hand was dragged up to settle on her waist, and that was fine by me.
“Try not to grope me in front of the entire keep,” she hissed.
