She was pissed off.
“I know that. But none of them made me feel anything. I could not love a single man out there.” Her voice dropped, like that hurt her physically.
“What about the handsome one you danced with first?”
Me.
Elowyn laughed, but it was void of any real emotion.
“He isn’t an option. And even if he were…,” her voice trailed off. “We would never be good together. He would never look at me like that. He would never notice me.”
Well, that was wrong.
“Are you sure? He seemed interested.”
Elowyn shook her head.
“I’m nothing he would want. He’s told everyone that before, and he meant it.”
My chest ached as she looked disappointed about that. I did say that, but I was a big fucking liar.
“Alright, so none of those men are making it for another try?” the woman asked.
Elowyn seemed to be thinking as she stared at the floor again. Her eyes closed tightly. My heart felt like it was going to explode while waiting for her answer. I wanted her to say absolutely not.
“The two men I showed you earlier are the only ones,” she finally answered, and it was a dagger to the heart.
“Oh, good. The dark-haired one, Belion, is very interested in seeing you one-to-one.”
My eyes flashed red.
“I’m over the party. I don’t want to go back out there.”
“That’s fine. We’ll send everyone home and let the two men know they can stop by in a few days to set something up.”
“Thank you.”
The woman stood and left the room, closing the door most of the way. I watched Elowyn as she stood and stared at herself in the mirror. She let her hair down and brushed her hands through it. When she met her own gaze, she looked away. She started trying to undo the back of her dress but couldn’t reach it.
“Godsdamn it,” she huffed.
All of a sudden, she stopped moving and looked me directly in the eyes. I hadn’t realized I dropped my magic and was now visible.
“Abram, what are you doing?”
I stepped into the room and shut the door. My entire body buzzed with excitement at being alone with her.
“I just felt like I upset you earlier, and I wanted to make sure you weren’t mad.”
“How long have you been lurking?”
“Not long,” I lied.
“Well, I’m not mad. You can leave now.” She turned her back to me, waiting for me to walk out.
I paused, my hands clenching to stop myself. But I took a hesitant step forward, and her gaze flickered to mine in the mirror. My hands lifted. They shook slightly as I hesitated for amoment before grabbing the strings of her dress and undoing it for her. Her heavy breathing filled the room. I took my time, my fingers brushing against her bare skin without ever looking away from her gaze. She shivered, and I smirked at her.
“There,” I said.
