Her eyes flicked up, and the spark of amusement there made my heart flip over. “That’s what you said before the maze tried to eat us.”
“And yet here we are.”
“Charred but still charming.”
I smiled. “I’ll take charming.”
She huffed a laugh, though her breath caught as I settled my hand at her waist. The silk of her gown slid like water under my palm, and I almost forgot where we were. I only felt her. The heat of her body, the pulse fluttering beneath my fingers, and the faint shimmer of joy magic that always seemed to reach out to me when she was near.
I guided her around the room, keeping her close.
“You fit perfectly,” I said before my mind caught up with my mouth.
Her lips curved. “Into your political performance?”
“In my arms.”
She stumbled enough to make me grin. “Flatterer.”
“Only when it’s true.”
One dance with Cyrene frayed my control. I traced a small circle on her back, and her breath caught. The tiny reaction was more intoxicating than any bloodwine.
“Your heart is racing,” I said.
“Vampires notice such things,” she whispered back.
“I notice everything about you.”
I’d led countless balls over the years, but none like this. None that made me ache to stop time, to hold her as long as I could.
If eternity had a heartbeat, it would sound like this.
Her magic brushed mine, a faint hum under her skin that made my throat tighten.
“You shouldn’t antagonize your court,” she said.
“They antagonize me first.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to?—”
“Yes, it does.”
Her laugh slipped out. “You’re impossible.”
“So you’ve said.”
Her smile came real, and it hit like sunrise through a dark cloud.
Around us, other couples joined us on the floor, but I barely saw them. Her hair smelled of citrus and something sweeter I couldn’t name. Her skirts fanned out in a golden halo when we spun, and the air filled with the sparkle of her magic.
Whispers rippled through the hall. Some admiring, some scandalized.
“You’re staring at me,” she said.
“I’m allowed.”
“Are you?”
