He jumped aside with a laugh as she aimed a punch for his arm. “I was just trying to help, Odessa. You said yourself that it’s hard to meet any men that might be marriage material under your present circumstances. If Dmitri is already requesting your presence at his gathering, why not take advantage of the opportunity?”
She exhaled a slow breath, annoyed with herself for being bothered thathewasn’t the least bit bothered about the idea of her finding love in the midst of a crowd of strangers. She barely knew the man, why would it concern him? For that matter, why should it concern her?
He’s from a completely different world. It doesn’t matter if he makes me feel seen, if he can make me laugh even when I don’t feel like it. He’s already said he’s not here to stay, and I won’t give my heart to another man just to have him stomp it under his boot when I become inconvenient.
“I don’t know the first thing about how to act around a bunch of nobility,” she admitted, choosing a less pressing concern than the one she was currently struggling with. “I work with animals, who don’t care if I talk too much or say the wrong thing. They certainly won’t expect me to dance.”
He looked surprised. “You don’t like dancing?”
“I love dancing. I just…I’ve never done it with a partner.”
Jax shook his head and clicked his tongue. “That certainly won’t do. Fortunately for you, my studies in Bird Catching and Dragon Charming also included training in Fancy Feet.” He offered his hand with a flourish. “May I have this dance?”
Odessa smiled in spite of herself and set her hand in his. “I didn’t realize you were a man of so many talents.”
He snorted. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I said the training was included, not that I excelled at it. I’m actually rather terrible at dancing. But at the very least I can either show you all the thingsnotto do or prove that you’re not as terrible as you fear.” He pulled her toward him.
She was captured by his smile, swept into the air of carefree whimsy that he seemed to perpetually exist in. “What music are we going to dance to? Shall we ask Bean to sing for us?”
“Horrible idea.” He wrinkled his nose. “Dragons have very little sense of rhythm. I suppose you’ll have to make do with my subpar singing.”
He grabbed her free hand, setting it against his shoulder before placing his hand on her back, sending a shiver down her spine. “Ready?”
She nodded, suddenly breathless.
He started humming, pulling her into a simple waltz as the music wrapped around her. His voice was rich and pleasant, and she immediately wanted to know what he might considergoodsinging if his own voice was subpar. It wasn’t long before she stepped on his foot, but he laughed it off with such glee that her embarrassment was erased before it could even take root. Then he stepped on hers, and she returned the favor, and before long they were both laughing until her mouth hurt from smiling. She was as light as air, and for a moment believed that, even without her swan wings, she could fly.
Jax held her hand above her head, twirling her around, and their eyes met as he slowly pulled her back in. The tune he hummed changed from the lively jig he had transitioned to before to something more subdued, and Odessa was powerless to look away.
The ever-present curiosity in his gaze had been replaced by wonder and unadulterated admiration. His forehead dropped to hers, putting their smiles only a breath apart. He looked at heras if she were the most beautiful, precious thing he had ever seen, and from somewhere deep inside the voice in her mind whispered that he might be the same, that if she were to allow herself, she could fall headfirst into love and not even notice the impact.
And so, as any woman in her position would do, she ran.
Chapter Fourteen
ODESSA
“Bean, get down from there! I don’t have time for this tonight.” Odessa set her hands on her hips as she glared up into the branches of the tall tree where Bean had decided to stage his protest. “Dmitri is coming soon to discuss the logistics of having a scavenger hunt on the grounds and I still have about a dozen other tasks to finish before dawn.”
Bean’s tail lashed back and forth as he looked down at her, spread his wings, and gave her the most disturbing interpretation of an angry, hissing swan she had ever seen.
“You can put that attitude back where it came from, young man. Just because you’re upset with me becauseyouate the mushrooms even after I told you not to and then didn’t like them doesn’t mean you need to be rude.”
He huffed, causing two streams of smoke to curl up from his nostrils. At a little over two weeks old, the young dragon was not only the size of a large hunting dog, but he had also discovered the ability to control his fire breathing.
“I mean it, Beanjamin.” Odessa looked over her shoulder to the shelter where Katrin and Sonya were getting settled for the night. “We need to get going.”
“I want Jax.”
She blinked in surprise at the low, petulant voice that reverberated through her mind. “Since when can you talk to me when I’m human?”
“Since now, I guess. Where’s Jax?”
Odessa closed her eyes as she blew out an exasperated breath. “I don’t know. He’s probably with Dmitri or else…chasing a bird or something.”
The innocent question cut deeper than it had any right now. In the weeks since Jax’s arrival, he had yet to miss a day of “assisting,” as he called it, and his absence felt pointed. By some unspoken agreement, neither of them had brought up their brief, shared moment at the lake. Jax was infuriatingly casual about the whole thing, as if he were completely unaffected and once the dance was over never gave it a second thought. Meanwhile, the memory of his eyes and his laugh and the way it had felt to be held by him continued to plague her like a whole new curse.
“I really hope that’s me you’re talking about, and not some competition that Dmitri’s brought in.”
