“Let’s enjoy this, shall we?” he murmured.
The opening strains sounded. Gathering her close, he swung her into the waltz.
~~~
Dancing with Carlisle was nothing short of a revelation.
Before this, Wick had been Vi’s favorite partner because of his daring, the sheer outrageousness of his spins. She’d liked his wild approach because you never knew if you were going to crash, and the danger made it fun.
Now she was discovering a far greater thrill.
Carlisle spun her again, the strength and assuredness of his movement rustling a breathless laugh from her throat. He possessed the grace of a true athlete, and he partnered her as if they’d done this hundreds of times before. They whirled in unison, their speed building with the music, her heart pounding even faster as she gazed into his ore-flecked eyes.
“Enjoying yourself, lass?” he said.
“You’re a splendid dancer.”
“That surprises you?”
“A bit? Not because I think you have two left feet,” she hastened to say, “but I’ve never seen you dance before. I thought the activity might be too frivolous for you.”
“Even we stuffed shirts like a good dance. And by now I should think you know that I enjoy physical activity of all kinds. When it involves you, that is.”
His husky words turned her insides into sun-warmed honey, her nipples puckering beneath her bodice. Gadzooks, she’d found a gruff and scowling Carlisle attractive; now that he was flirting with her, he wasirresistible.
The world faded away, and there was only Carlisle and her, the rightness of the moment. She’d never been more at home in her own skin than now, moving as one with him. Wrapped up in the lush music, the smoky intensity of his eyes, she had a sudden recognition.
The joy she was feeling came not from recklessness but… trust.
The wild dances with Wick couldn’t hold a candle to the perfection of his brother’s partnering. Carlisle was so steady and in command: he would never let her crash or fall. Knowing that his strength was a match for hers made it easy to let go. When she relaxed fully into the beauty of the moment, it was as if an invisible source of resistance dissolved. She was frictionless, flying across the floor with him in the most exhilarating dance of her life.
She never wanted it to end.
Alas, the music slowed, and Carlisle took her into one last, dizzyingly perfect spin. When her senses recovered, she saw that he’d led her out onto one of the balconies.
“How did we end up here?” she said breathlessly.
“I wanted a moment alone. If that is all right with you?”
She nodded because she, too, wanted whatever privacy they could find before her sister came looking. She rested her arms on the balustrade, and he followed suit. They stood side by side in companionable silence. Diamonds glittered in the black velvet sky, lamps flickering in the shadowy buildings that circled the courtyard below. The beauty of the moonlit scene struck her… along with a stab of poignancy.
Monique would never see such a view again.
He slanted her a glance. “Are you recovered?”
“Yes, I slept all afternoon.” She cleared her throat. “What did you do?”
“I talked to Wick’s cronies. Since none of them had seen him since the performance yesterday, I went to look for him in the village.”
“Any luck?”
He shook his head, weary lines etched around his mouth. “I never thought he’d stay away this long. I don’t know where he could have gone.”
Worry trickled through her. Like Carlisle, she hadn’t expected Wick would be gone for this long. She hesitated before voicing the possibility that had to be addressed.
“Do you think he might somehow be involved? In Monique’s death?” she whispered.
Silence stretched between them, incongruously filled by the buoyant notes of the orchestra.
