“Both, if I’m doing it right,” he replies, eyes sparkling. “But only with your permission, of course.”
I glance back at Nolan, who gives a half-shrug, half-smile. “Go,” he says. “Just don’t let him drop you.”
“Don’t let me drop her?” Raiden puts a hand to his chest in mock offense. “I’m a kitsune. Graceful is in my DNA.”
Tamsin snorts. “Right.”
Raiden ignores her entirely, gaze locked on me. “What do you say, flame girl? One dance?”
I hesitate, but not because I don’t want to. Because I do, maybe a little too much.
I hand Nolan back his drink and place my hand into Raiden’s. “Just one.”
And as the music shifts to something faster and brighter, his hands catch my waist, and we’re moving before I can change my mind.
His hand fits against the small of my back and the other finds mine, fingers lacing easily through mine as he pulls me into the rhythm.
He grins down at me. “You’re a good liar, you know.”
I blink. “Excuse me?”
“This whole ‘just one dance’ thing.” He spins me fast, and I laugh despite myself. “You don’t wantjustone.”
My cheeks heat. “Oh, is that so?”
“It is.” He dips me low, just enough to feel the rush of air and his breath against my neck. “Because I don’t want just one either.”
The flush in my cheeks travels lower, blooming down my chest and across my skin in a way that has nothing to do with the chill in the evening air.
“You’re awfully confident for someone who tripped over a practice dummy two days ago.”
He groans dramatically and pulls me upright again. “You’re never letting that go, are you?”
“Not a chance.”
“I told you I was avoiding your magic.”
I snort. “Likely story.”
“Well,” he says, twirling me again, this time slower—more intimate, like the Revel around us has faded into background noise. “I suppose if I’m going down in flames, I’d prefer it be your fire.”
“Flirt,” I accuse, but it comes out breathless.
He leans in, not close enough to kiss, but close enough that I feel the words more than hear them. “You love it.”
Unfortunately, I kind of do.
I try to find my footing, to snark back, but then he does this thing with his hands, guiding me through the next beat of the dance like we’ve done this a hundred times before, like my body already knows how to follow his.
Like Itrusthim.
I don’t know when that happened. But it did. Somewhere between sparring matches and early morning jokes, between near-kisses and our bond we never talk about…it happened.
“I’m not going to make this easy on you, you know,” I murmur, just loud enough for him to hear.
Raiden’s eyes gleam. “Good. I like a challenge.”
And with one final flourish, he spins me out and pulls me back in—so close that for a heartbeat, I forget how to breathe.
