She laughed and twirled, knocking into revelers who cared even less about the interruption than she did.
Everyone was happy and lively, and the music filled her body. Orelia let go of Ivan’s hand and pirouetted on her own, the room blurring in a kaleidoscope of colors. With arms raised, skin flushed and sweaty, and heart full, she was lost in the pleasure of dance.
Something harsh in her peripheral made her stop.
Vade stood just outside the dance floor, glaring.
Ivan stepped into her vision and took her hand, leading her back to the table. Orelia didn’t bother looking back for Vade; she could feel he was close.
“I’m cutting in,” a curt voice said.
They both turned, and Ivan looked the fae up and down. “I don’t think so.”
Vade stepped into him. “That wasn’t a suggestion.” He shoved Ivan, and the human slammed into the ren behind him, spilling her ale.
“What in the hells, Vade!” Orelia smacked him on the shoulder.
After the ren had finished cussing Ivan out, he came for Vade. The fae stepped in front of her, and the ale had her swaying as she tried to move around him.
The two men stood almost nose to nose, exchanging words Orelia couldn’t hear over the fiddles. She squeezed herself in between them, trying to keep a fight from breaking out.
Ivan stepped back, attention going to her. “Do you know him?” He shot a glare at Vade.
“Unfortunately, yes. Can you give us a moment?” She flashed him a cute smile, hoping it would tide him over.
Ivan’s eyes flicked back and forth between her and the man practically breathing down her neck, but eventually, he headed back to their table.
Orelia whirled. “That was so rude!” Her weak punch completely missed his shoulder.
Vade caught her and slid an arm around her waist. “He’ll get over it.”
She tried to free herself, but there was no outmuscling him. “You’re such an ass.”
He chipped away at her irritation the more he messed up the steps, fumbling around the room like it was his first time dancing. Perhaps it was.
“I thought you said you don’t dance,” she said, gripping his shoulder tight to keep herself upright.
Vade spun them again and almost crunched her toes with his boots. “I don’t. But I’m making an exception.”
With his rigidity and her loose limbs, she thought they must have looked like a comical pairing. It would have made her smile, but he’d been incredibly rude in the alley, and he was going to have to earn her forgiveness. “Why make an exception? And how did you even find me?”
Vade knocked them into a drunken ren couple, and Orelia apologized on his behalf. They continued dancing awkwardly, but even drunk, she was acutely aware of everywhere he touched her. His callouses brushed against her palms with each spin. His large hand found the small of her back instantly, and her traitorous body relished in his proximity. He was always warm and smelled so inviting. She wanted to hate him for it, but she was weak.
He had this beyond irritating hold on her. Even with his blatant rejection after the card game there was still a part of her wishing for his approval, for his affection, for something other than the formality with which he regarded their situation.
She wanted to matter to someone. No. She wanted to matter tohim.
“You seemed pretty pissed off earlier, so I took a guess you might be in a place like this,”Vade said.
She let the hand on his shoulder drift to his neck and slid her fingers into his hair.
Goosebumps blossomed on his skin, and she grinned. He could lie all he wanted and say he didn’t care for her, but she did have an effect on him. His body gave him away.
“I was. I still am,” Orelia said.
He cocked his head and smirked. “Are you?”
Her heart fluttered under the intensity of his stare. He was a complete asshole, but he was here, dancing with her. “Yes,” she said, somehow managing to slur a one syllable word.
