“Fate, you cruel bastard!” he snarled under his breath as he dismounted.
His belly roiling with heated anger, he tossed his reins to a waiting groom.
Pulling off his gloves and helm, he started toward the hall.
“Valteri!”
He closed his eyes in an effort to banish the joy her voice brought. He didn’t want to hear his name on her sweet lips. It served no other purpose than to weaken his resolve.
She ran and grabbed him by the arm, her eyes shining with happiness.
Valteri stared at her, his heart pounding, his body leaping to life.
She was his.
And he knew he could never really have her.
Damn him for it!
Because at this moment, nothing would please him more than to pin her against the nearest wall of the closest darkened alcove and have his way with her.
To let her sweet, delicate hands chase away every hated part of his past until there was nothing left but the two of them.
“Come, milord, you must join us!”
He frowned. “Join you?”
“Aye!” she said with a laugh, pulling him by the arm toward the children.
Valteri shook his head, horror filling him. “Nay, milady. I cannot. I’ll frighten them.”
She hesitated for only a moment before taking his gloves and placing them inside his helm, which she set on the ground. “Pash! Frighten them indeed.”
Leading him by the hand, she laughed and stopped before the children. “We have another dancer.”
Was she insane?
The horror of his past assailed him. No one ever allowed him to play with children. Not even when he’d been one.
Mothers had snatched them up or aside and spat at him the moment they saw his eyes.
Valteri glanced around at the faces and noted their immediate fear and reservation. “Ariel, please.”
A sharp frown drew her brows together as she noted their reactions as well. She released him and put her hands on her hips. She cast each of them a chiding grimace. “Don’t tell meallof you are afraid?”
No one spoke, but he could tell by the terror in their eyes that each and every one of them would rather face Lucifer, himself, than touch him. Valteri started to move away, but a small girl stepped forward.
“I’m not afraid.” She smiled up at him. “If milady says not to be afraid, then I have no fear.”
Before he could move, the little girl reached out and grasped his thumb with her tiny hand. Her touch was as light as a breath of air, yet it sent a wave of pain crashing through him that nearly toppled him.
Valteri stared at her elfin face and the shining dark locks that surrounded her rose-hued cheeks.
“Come, Lord Doubt.” Ariel took his other hand. “We have a dance!”
Still unsure of himself, Valteri allowed them to lead him in their game. He felt like the greatest of all fools as he stumbled through the steps. Never in his life had he danced, and the intricate moves escaped his clumsy feet.
Ariel laughed, then broke from the circle. Taking him by the hands, she leaned back and twirled about with him.
