“I need a piss.”
He got up and stalked off without even a sidelong look.
“I was brought up to follow the rules my mother and father set out for me,” I said. “To learn all the pointless things a lady must to be deemed accomplished. I am very good with watercolours, can embroider passably well, as long as the design isn’t intricate, and learned all the skills I’d need to run my own household.” I looked at each man in turn. “But I’m assuming that’s not what you want me for.”
“I can cook, clean, and darn my own socks,” Lance replied. “You’d never have to lift a finger if you chose me.”
“Elsie made sure we’d never be a burden on any woman that took us on,” Lorien explained. “Just don’t let Kael in the kitchen.”
“I burned an omelette once,” the man in question spluttered.
“And the stew and the vegetables and even water, if you can believe it.” Lorien grinned when I let out an involuntary snort. “But I can cook. Growing up with seven sisters, they made sure I knew what I was doing in the kitchen.”
“But as for what we want?” Kael’s voice had grown low and throaty. His arm slipped down, wrapping it around my waist and pulling me closer so our thighs were pressed against each others. “I think you know. Your parents might’ve filled your head with silly things, but a woman knows.”
Did I? Was that why my heart was rattling in my chest, beating faster and faster? Was it the source of a nervous tension that had me fairly quivering? Not knowing was driving me mad. Just like when I’d fallen from Auren’s saddle, I felt I was spiralling out of control.
“Care to dance?”
Another brave soul appeared by the table, staring down at me, but before Kael or Lorien could respond, Lance was on his feet.
“Fern’s dancing with me.” He held out a hand, gazing into my eyes as he tried to gauge my response. “Fern…?”
Baby birds learn to fly by throwing themselves out of the nest, some instinct forcing them to ignore the massive drop beneath. Perhaps it was the same thing that had me sliding my hand in his.
“Dance?” It felt like I’d spent my life waiting for this moment and now it’d come? It was a million times better than the books I read. “I’d love to.”
Chapter 44
Lance
Gods, I said it. I told Fern how I felt. I could barely feel my face let alone the rest of me as we wove our way through the tables and towards the part of the floor left clear for dancing. Fern’s hand, it was the only thing that kept me grounded. Well, I thought, she hasn’t run away screaming yet.
Fern thinks you are a worthy male, Viridian said.There have been so few willing to treat her kindly, she didn’t understand that you were trying to win her heart.
Well, she knows now.
With a flick of her wrist, I sent Fern spinning towards me, not able to let a breath out until her free hand came to rest on my chest. I wanted to freeze time, have her stare up and into my eyes for an eternity. It felt like I counted every single shade of blue in her gaze, right before the next song started.
“So, dancing?” she prompted.
“I’m sorry,” I replied and then moved us into the throng. Her hand left my chest, clutching mine as we swung around the floor in time with the music. “I’m not normally like this.”
“Well, I’m not sure what I’m like,” she said. Her shy smile, itfilled me with hope. “This is the first, no, second time I’ve danced with a man.”
“How is that possible, Fern?”
I wanted to stop, find a quiet corner and demand she tell me all about it, but the music kept us moving.
“I never told you how Auren and came to be bonded.” Her smile faltered and it felt like my heart did too. “Running away from my suitors, that was how it happened. Went crashing through the undergrowth and right into a dragon.”
“I’m glad.” My grip on her hand tightened and it took conscious will not to crush her fingers. It felt like I’d spent a lifetime waiting for this moment. Last time we danced together, it’d been in response to Kael’s arrogance. He was still the catalyst today, but of a different sort. “If you were affianced, or married, I’d be forced to challenge the man to a duel and try to win you from him.”
Her eyes dropped down and unless she was very interested in the insignias on my chest, that wasn’t her focus.
“I didn’t flee a throng of men, each one demanding that I accept his suit. They…”
My grip did tighten now. Whatever happened, it was not a good thing.
