Every noise she makes is music to my ears, and the huff of annoyance that leaves her at my insinuation is no exception. "OfcourseI know how to dance, Kai. Even if I hadn't worked in the industry for as long as I have, I took dance as an elective in college." Her hand rises, and she prepares to dance with me, her body close, but not flush, against mine. "The real question is, can you keep up?"
My brow nearly disappears into my hairline, it hikes so high on my face. "I'm an idol, sweetheart. You can't out-dance someone who's been doing it since they were thirteen."
I reach down, lifting the edge of her skirt in my hand as I pull her against me—really against me—and we move to the beat. At first, we're just doing what all the others around us are, swaying to the music, but soon enough, Denali grows antsy, and I notice her eyeing a couple across the room doing a box waltz.
"You ballroom dance?" She looks up at me hopefully, like she wants badly for the answer to be yes.
"You're in luck," I smile, winking at her. "I might've taken a class once or twice."
In seconds, we're outpacing the rest of the people on the floor, swirling and twisting and occasionally, I even dip her, though it's hard, and her dress and scarf accessory drag the ground when I do it. She's stunning in motion, a veritable gem in my arms, and for the first time since she started working for me, she's shed the outer shell of business-forward tyrant, and is just . . . herself.
It's refreshing. I never want it to go away.
The music picks up, and our hosts join the couples on the dance floor, twin smiles of amusement on their faces as they parade about in some weird jig I've never seen before.
Denali, though, taps her toes on the floor as we watch them work, like she wants to join in. Unfortunately for me, I don't know the steps to this one.
"I can't do this one." It frustrates me, makes me angry that I can't give her something she wants. I've become a whole new man around her, and it's odd, but not an unwelcome change. "Sorry,kara."
"S'okay," she mumbles, her eyes watching the crowd enviously, though she doesn't move to join them. "I don't need to do all the dances."
I need something to do with myself, before I open my mouth and stick my foot in it. Idle Kai is dangerous tonight. And I don't want to fuck anything up. "Why don't I go round us up some drinks? What'll you have?"
Those sharp eyes cut to the bar, then back to me, and she frowns. "You know what? I'm not sure, really. Surprise me. Something fruity."
"I can do fruity," I tell her, and though I wish there were something more I could do, I force myself to leave her standing there at the edge of the crowd as I go off in search of libations.
I just hope someone doesn't whisk her away while I'm not watching.
chapter twenty-three
Denali
The dance Jamesand Kevin do is one I'm familiar with, because we used to visit the same renfaire together every summer. So it's a shame that I can't teach Kai, not in this dress. Not that I wouldn't try, under normal circumstances. Instead, I settle for tapping my toes as I watch them, waiting for Kai to come back with the drinks.
The music shifts, and I feel the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. Someone's watching me. I know it as certainly as I know my own name. I could move now, let panic take over, get out of here before the someone can get any closer. But the way my body refuses to move, I have the sneaking suspicion I know who it is.
Him.
A hand falls on my shoulder, and though I wish with all my being it was Kai, I know by the shape that it's not. My hand rises to cover it, but when the realization of who it belongs to sets in, I stop midway, hand hovering like an idiot.
"Well, Denali Stone, it's been awhile."
Theo.
"Not long enough," I mutter under my breath, hating how I'm paralyzed as he stands behind me, his second hand comingup to join the first. "Didn't you just stalk me on an open street the other day?"
His voice reveals the grin he's wearing, and I justknowit's malicious. "Ah, yes, outside of the dance studio. Tell me, Denali—how did you manage to get around my blacklisting to find a job in the industry? I thought I made sure nobody would ever hire you."
Even after all this time, I feel compelled to answer truthfully. The fingers on each of his hands dig into my skin, and if I'm not careful, if I don't get them off of me soon, they'll leave bruises, if they haven't already. "Let me go, Theo, you're hurting me." I try to shake my shoulders, but he's not letting up. In fact, upon hearing that he's causing me pain, he doubles down, his grip tightening. "What do you want?"
I shiver at the hot breath that fans out against my skin as he leans over me and whispers against my ear. It's not arousing like Kai's is when he does the same. It makes me want to vomit.
"Well, you see, Denali, I made you a promise. And it's one I intend to keep." His left hand drags down the side of my exposed arm, slowly, carefully, teasing the skin and causing my body to break out in a cold sweat wherever he touches. "I wish I had time to linger and tell you all about what I have planned for you, but it looks like the man you're currently fucking to get to the top is on his way back." His lips graze the shell of my ear, and I wince so hard it pulls something in my back. "Mmmm. You still wear the same perfume that you used to wear back when you worked for me. Some things never change."
I vow then and there to swap perfumes and never touch another floral scent in my life. "I've changed," I say, but it's a lie. I'm still the same old Denali he used to push around, the same woman he can turn into a frightened rabbit in a room full of onlookers.
"You, dear, have not and will not change. It's not in you to become something you're not."
