“I beg to differ.”
He touched his fingers to mine. Perfectly acceptable, and yet it felt like a caress somehow.
“I’ve made inquiries,” he said. “Nobody knows who you are or where you come from. You returned my friend’s brother to him, then you saved Eliarde, and both times you’ve asked for nothing in return.”
If only he knew.
“Eliarde attends court events every year. This is your first time, and yet you made her look like a fool with two sentences.”
“I did nothing of the sort. She dug that hole herself.”
His eyes told me he was stripping the dress off me in his head. “I don’t know how or where they’ve been hiding you, but there is something about you, Maggie. I have a feeling there is no one else like you. Look around you. This is the only battlefield worthy of you, and you are radiant.”
And we were on a first-name basis. Oh no, you don’t.
“Lord Arvel, I believe you are mistaken. There is nothing special about me. Your life is filled with powers and magic, and I’m but a dim spark. I’m happy being a spark. It suits me.”
He stepped to the side, and behind me, keeping my right hand in his, placed his other hand on my lower back, and guided me in a small circle. Erodel did not teach me this. I had to just go with it. Arvel’s touch was featherlight, but I knew with absolute certainty that I couldn’t get away. For a moment, my back was to his chest, our heads close.
His voice murmured in my ear. “What do you want, my lady? What do you really want? Tell me and I will make it yours.”
He returned me back to the right position, across from him, the backs of our hands touching.
I stared right into his eyes. “No.”
“No what?”
“No anything. And no more creative dance moves. In case you’ve forgotten, my lord, we are in public. We’re going to finish dancing and go our separate ways.”
I should’ve said that in a different way and a different tone. Too late now.
He looked thrilled. “Irresistible.”
Damn it.
The tempo changed, signaling a partner switch. Here we go. I spun to my left, praying I didn’t trip, and a man glided in place across from me. Face like an angel, eyes like a wolf—Silveren.
“And we meet again, my lady,” he purred.
Bite me. “Indeed, we do, my lord.”
“Truly, I encounter you in the strangest places. I told you I would see you again.”
That magic voice washed over me like warm honey. He wore the Redeemer sage, gray, and dark brown, and against those colors his dark blond hair and those golden eyes almost glowed. He was sinfully beautiful.
“Imagine seeing you on Arvel’s arm.”
We touched our hands and made a circle around each other.
“However did you manage that?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
We stepped away from each other and came together. His face was entirely too close. His voice was an intimate caress.
“Does he know you led me around on a leash?”
Aha. “That was coincidental, my lord. I’m not into bondage, and if I were, you’re not the partner I would choose.”
