“Save that for later then?” I cocked an eyebrow. “Got it.”
“No, you?—”
Fern had a lot of things to say, I just knew it, but the song had begun and it was time to start moving.
It made sense that she would fight me. Her grip on my hand was tight, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip as if she was biting back her commentary. I felt it though, with some instinct I didn’t understand. That if Fern just let out a breath, her body would soften into mine and I’d have her swirling around the floor in effortless circles.
Instead, my boots stamped down on the hem of her pants, forcing her to stumble.
“Gods, if this is your idea of wooing a woman,” she hissed, “I’d hate to see what you do to one you dislike.”
“So you admit that this is all part of our courtship?” I said, finding my feet and correcting our course.
“I admit nothing except that I suspect I’ll be forced to ice bruised toes by the end of this dance.”
“Not if you stop fighting me.” Her eyes snapped up to stare into mine, her mouth a mutinous line. “And stop getting so angry. Your eyes shine like sapphires… No, something harder, brighter. Makes me want to piss you off more just to see the colour in your cheeks.”
I watched her brows crease, some of the heat going from her expression. Replaced by wonder, I realised.
“I can’t be the first to tell you that.” She just stared, all the fight going out of her body. Finally, I could move us smoothly, swiftly around the dance floor. The swirl of the waltz had my head spinning, or was it just Fern? “Has no one ever told you how beautiful you are?” Her lips thinned, then relaxed again, her tongue flicking over the bottom lip, and I followed its path obsessively. “Men are stupid creatures, that I know, but so dumb they let your beauty go unremarked? Don’t worry, little bird, I’ll make up for their lack.”
“If this is some kind of cruel joke,” she growled and it was then I saw why a queen dragon chose Fern to become her rider. Her spine snapped straight and finally, she held herself like a queen. “You need to find another form of sport.”
“You think I’m joking?” I didn’t stumble when I stomped on her pants, but I nearly did then. “People say a lot about me, but being of good humour isn’t one of them.” The hand at her waist slid to her spine, rubbing small circles at its base. What would it be like to do so, skin to skin? I needed to know. “There is no subterfuge in me.”
With a press on her hips, her body shifted closer to mine and even though those voluminous pants, she had to feel me.
“Destiny has laid its hand on me only twice. The first when I found my dragon, the second.” I tilted my head, leaning down. “When I saw you. Every fibre of my being knew you were the one woman in the world for me and I thanked the gods themselves for that gift. Men lie all the time, that I know, but our bodies…”
Fern gasped then as my hips rolled against hers, providing evidence to support my assertion. Pretty words meant nothing, but my cock? It strained like a hound on a leash, baying with need for her.
“Mind if I cut in?”
That masculine voice had a snarl rising in my throat and,sure enough, the lieutenant had appeared at Fern’s shoulder. Step away, that was the habitual response, but I fought it.
“You don’t have to go with him,” I said, knowing that we three were standing still on the dance floor as everyone else moved around us. “A man that leaves you wondering about your appeal isn’t worth your time.”
“Lady Fern.”
Lance ignored me entirely, holding out a hand for my girl and if I heard the need in his voice, so did she. My fingers spasmed as I forced myself to relinquish my grip. Grab her, my instincts demanded. Hold her tight and never let go, and maybe she’d come to accept that. A woman isn’t a bag of gold, I reasoned, and my days of scrabbling on the streets of Blackreach were long gone. I stepped back smartly and then bowed.
“Thank you for the dance, Lady Fern. The pleasure was entirely mine.”
I didn’t watch them waltz off. Turning on my heel, marching off the dance floor was the only thing I could focus on right now as my blood began to surge. Lorien and Dain appeared in my path, stopping me in my tracks.
“How the hell did you manage to get our girl to dance with you?” Lorien asked. “And why did you let the lieutenant interrupt?”
I sucked in a breath to answer, but Dain got there before me.
“Because that’s the way that dance floors work, idiot.” He spared Lorien one scathing look before focussing back on me. “Men cut in to get close to a woman. She’s the one who decides whether he’s successful or not.”
“If that’s the way it works.” Lorien flexed his fingers, then rolled his shoulders. “I’ll go and interrupt the bastard…”
But as he spoke the song came to an end and we all turned to face the dance floor in time to see Fern bow to the lieutenant. They talked for a moment, then he offered her his arm, escorting her from the courtyard.
“He’s walking Fern home?” Lorien slapped my shoulder. “Seems like we should chaperone that. Wouldn’t want an officer taking liberties.”
“No.” We all turned when Dain spoke and he just shook his head as he watched them leave. “You know Lance isn’t going to hurt her. Horning in on that will just piss her off more than we already have. I’m for bed and you should be too.”
