“I told you I enjoy dancing.”
“You did. I didn’t quite believe you.” She looks up at me through her lashes. “You seemed so determined to stand on the sidelines and glower.”
“I was glowering with purpose.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m dancing with purpose.” I pull her slightly closer. “Much better.”
The music swells, deep drums layered with a haunting melody that vibrates through the crystal-studded walls of the cavern. Above us, through the massive opening in the ceiling, I can see the moon beginning its final approach toward total eclipse. The light is changing, shifting from silver to something deeper, more primal.
“The eclipse is beautiful,” Naomi breathes, looking up.
“Yes,” I agree, but I’m not looking at the moon. I’m looking at her.
She catches me staring and laughs. “That was smooth.”
“I meant it.”
I gaze down at her beautiful features, still half disguised by her lone mask. Dancing with her in my arms is as wonderful as I assumed. She’s striking, with her black hair up at the nape of her neck. Her gown exposes the perfect slope of her shoulders and my arm is around her waist.
Our eyes lock and I admit, “I’ve been drawn to you since the first moment I saw you across the room. That’s never happened to me before. I don’t react this way to other females. Only you.”
Her eyes are on my lips. “I feel the same. And you smell wonderful. It’s addictive. Like sunshine and soil.”
“Sunshine and soil?” I repeat. “I work in a mine. I’m not sure those scents should apply.”
“And yet.” She inhales near my chest. “That’s exactly how you smell and I love it.”
“You feel it too,” I murmur. “The pull.”
“I feel... something.” She shakes her head slightly, as if trying to clear it. “I don’t understand it. I’m not usually like this. I don’t meet a man and immediately want to—” She cuts herself off and lets out a nervous cough.
I crook an eye ridge. “Want to what?”
“Nothing.”
“Tell me.” My voice has dropped lower. “Please.”
She won’t meet my eyes. “I don’t usually want to strip a man naked within hours of meeting him, okay? This is very confusing for me.”
A rumble of satisfaction rolls through my chest. “It’s the bond. Our pheromones recognize each other.”
“Is that what this is? Because it feels like temporary insanity.”
“Perhaps both can be true.”
We dance as if it’s just the two of us on the dance floor. The fabric of her dress brushes around my legs. This dance normally allows space between partners, but I pull her close, so her body is against mine and she allows it. All the others fall away as if we are the only two beings left in the room. The light and the noise of other voices and their movements drown away and it’s just us circling and circling. And I’m now following the steps through muscle memory.
My arms tighten around her as we swing in close circles, ignoring everyone else.
“The other Xylan are watching us,” she whispers.
“Let them watch.”
“They’re going to talk.”
“They’re already talking. Lycrus over there has been running a betting pool on when I’d finally approach you. I believe thecurrent wager is on whether I’ll clasp hands with you before dawn.”
