Throughout the speech, the whole table had gone quiet, then the whole room. By the time Vex was done, everyone was staring at us.
Oddly enough, it was Rahu who spoke first, “Why the fuck didn't you tell me all that when we spoke of your mate?”
“Rahu!” Anuka said sharply.
“Forgive my coarse language, Chieftess.” Rahu bowed his head.
Anuka nodded, then looked at her son expectantly.
“It was hard enough to get you to listen to me about Ember,” Vexen said to Rahu. “Explaining the Elements was too much.”
The Chief was facing forward, his clan staring back at him. He took a deep breath and turned back to me. Me, not Vex. “You didn't cheat?”
“No, sir,” I said.
“But these conscious elements, they assisted you?”
I glanced around the room. In particular, at Bale. He was watching me sharply. “Yes, sir. I believe they, uh, magnified my attacks.”
I expected one or all of the Elements to speak up. They didn't.
Bale snorted a laugh. “That explains things.”
The Chief looked sharply at Bale, and he went still. Then he looked back at me.
“My love,” Anuka said as she laid a hand on the Chief's shoulder.
He didn't look at her. “You didn't cheat,” he said to me. “You adhered to the rules we established, but found a way around them.”
“That's how I see it. Yes,” I said.
Raram made a strange sound. Kind of a huff. Then a cough. Finally, it grew strong enough for me to recognize it as a laugh. He laughed harder and harder, turning forward to bend over with it. His braids swung into the table, bones clicking. His eyes watered. His hand slapped his thigh. And once he got going, his clan followed suit. The whole room laughed, cheered, and applauded.
It took me a second to realize that it was for me. They were applauding me.
“Well done, mate,” Vexen said to me. He lifted my hand and kissed it.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Dancing followed dinner, done outside in the village square. There were some very talented Tigers in Vexen's clan. Our clan, I guess. The males especially liked to show off, spinning and jumping to land in aggressive poses. Children ran around the dancing area mimicking the adults. The kids were surprisingly surefooted and did well with most of the less complicated moves. And they were damn adorable.
Vexen and I lounged on the stone steps of a shop to watch the entertainment. The clothing store was closed for the night, its proprietor doubtless among the throng. All the shops that bordered the square were closed except for one—a restaurant. They were selling drinks and snacks and doing a healthy business thanks to the celebration.
I'd been contemplating adding some coins to their profits when Vex stood up. I looked at him, wondering if he had the same thought. But he went toward the dancing instead. Thankfully, he didn't try to get me to join him. So, I settled back into a lean and watched as he stepped into the throng of dancers.
Vexen started with a leap. The other dancers backed away, giving him space. When he landed on the balls of his feet, he spun, then slammed a foot down to the primal beat. The musicians were playing in the center of the dancers—a group of them sitting on a pile of animal skins, slapping handheld drumsand plucking their stringed instruments. No one sang. It was just that hypnotic harmony, perfect for dancing.
Vexen's hair flung out in a glossy veil, his arms came down in motions that looked as if they belonged on a battlefield, and his eyes glinted in the low light of lampposts set around the square. He looked savage but moved with such grace that even the warrior motions became beautiful.
I was entranced. I sat forward, stare locked on my lover. And Vex knew it. His lips shifted into a feral grin, fangs bared, and his actions became more sensual. A hand slid up his stomach and fisted in his tunic. Vex pulled the shirt off as he spun.
I swallowed, then let my jaw hang open. Well, I didn't exactly let it. It just did.
A clap came with the beat, Vexen's strong arms coming together as he danced closer to me. Lean hips canted forward, taking Vex into an undulation that he emphasized and ended with a downward strike of his elbow. Sharp masculine movements softened by rolls of his belly or hips. Shakes of his shoulders that were both joyous and powerful. I'd never seen anything like it.
Men and women alike cheered Vexen's name and applauded, some of them urging him on. Slowly, I began to hear what they were saying. Naughty things. Things that shouldn't have been said around children. But the children didn't seem to notice. A few of them were even mimicking Vex. Which I wasn't sure if I approved of. His motions were getting, well, as naughty as those words.
He was also getting closer.
