“Don’t worry. I’ll lead.”
We launch into a set of moves, and I relax into his hold and stop worrying about what I look like to everyone else. I am having fun, so screw them.
Nash leans down, and his lips touch my ear, eliciting a shiver down my spine. “Are you ready for when the clock strikes midnight?”
“I am.” We’d purposefully arrived late, so that midnight would approach faster and I would have less time to get into trouble.
“So this corset,” he says.
A wicked smile pulls my lips up. My dark, mysterious knight has a thing for sexy lingerie apparently, or perhaps it’s the red silk.
“Yes?”
“And the panties?”
“What of them?”
“Also red silk?”
“Yes, crimson like my dress.” He growls low, the rumble caressing my skin before settling deep in my core. “You have a thing for red?”
“I have a thing for you in red.”
“Are you ever going to tell me what you are hiding behind the mysterious teacher facade that you have the rest of the realm fooled into believing is you?”
He jerks back. “You noticed that?”
“I notice everything about you.”
He clenches his jaw. “Soon, you will know all of me. I just have to hope you don’t run, Daphne, because I don’t have the willpower not to chase you.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper, and then seal that promise with a heated kiss that makes me think of dangerous things. How I long for a reprieve from all these fate and Idol demands.
Nash spins me out, breaking our lips apart, and releases my hand. Theo catches me and leads me through another set of dance moves. I am helpless to do anything but follow.
“You know, the last time we were dancing at a ball, you were rescuing your sister and disappearing on a flying unicorn.”
“I remember, and that was because you kept underestimating me.”
“Our mistake. I hope we have proved otherwise now.”
Another whirl through the room, and I find myself in the arms of a grinning Malachi. “She’s watching you like a cat watches a mouse,” Malachi notes as his eyes narrow on the queen.
“Then maybe it’s time I stop being the mouse,” I murmur.
The music slows, and the clock hand strikes midnight. Chess’s violet eyes appear above the queen’s head. We come to a stop and turn toward the queen and the watching court.
A mischievous smile spreads across my lips. “Your Majesty,” I call out, my voice carrying through the ballroom. The Red Queen lifts a curious brow. I push my shoulders back. “Let’s play a game.”
The room stills, and the self-playing instruments go quiet. The queen leans forward, interest and delight in her gaze. “What kind of game?”
“Hide and seek.”
The queen’s lips curl, her eyes gleaming. “My dear, are you sure you wish to be the one hiding?”
The knowledge gifted to me by the strange cat whispers through my mind, making me lift my chin and square my shoulders. Using her real name is the only way to bind her into a promise. “No, Seraphina of Hearts. I challenge you to be hunted this night.”
Chapter
