Page 18 of In Bed with a Highland Liar

With the lack of music, Lilith kept count as the two of them danced, Lilith leading her sister around the room. They were both graceful, even if Freya didn’t quite know the steps yet, but there was something about Lilith that made it impossible for him to look away. She moved effortlessly, as though she was gliding in the air, her limbs in perfect symmetry, her feet following the perfect tempo.

Aaden was quite a competent dancer himself, as his father had made sure he had every skill befitting his station, but Lilith didn’t only have the knowledge; she also had the talent.

“Aaden?”

Freya’s insistent tone and the hand waving in front of his face pulled Aaden back to reality and he suddenly realized his mouth was parched and he had been staring at Lilith in silence for a long while.

“What?” he asked, almost entirely breathless.

“I said ye should dance with Lilith,” Freya said, giving him an amused smirk. “She should practice with someone who can lead, too.”

“I’m sure she doesnae need tae practice,” Aaden pointed out. “She’s already very good.”

“I cannae believe I will say this, but Aaden is right,” Lilith said. “I dinnae need the practice.”

“But if I can watch ye dance, then perhaps I can become better!” Freya said as she came to perch herself on the couch next to Aaden, her hands landing on his shoulders to push him off his seat. “Please? I truly think it will help.”

Aaden, like many others, he was sure, had underestimated Freya. It now seemed to him that she was far more cunning than she wanted to appear, with schemes of her own. Though he had the impression that Lilith was still more sly than her sister, Freya was not far behind.

“Well?” Aaden asked Lilith with a heavy sigh, a hand coming up to comb through his hair. “Shall we dance, then? Fer yer sister?”

Lilith’s eyes narrowed as she glared at the two of them, her gaze moving back and forth. Aaden hardly thought he deserved it now, though, considering Freya had been the one to push for this. He hadn’t even said a thing.

“Fine,” Lilith said through gritted teeth as she approached him, assuming the starting position once more. “Try tae keep up.”

“Ach, I assure ye, I can keep up fine,” Aaden said, tone thick with innuendo. He had no doubt Lilith knew precisely what he meant, but she didn’t comment on it. Instead, she began to count without warning, and for the first few steps, Aaden actually stumbled, caught off-guard. He quickly recovered, though, and caught up to Lilith, the two of them moving around the room with the same grace and ease as the two sisters when they danced together—at least until Lilith decided to start stepping on Aaden’s toes with every other move, always bumping into him and trying to make him lose his balance.

There was no doubt in his mind that she was doing it on purpose. For someone who only moments prior had danced with such mastery, stepping on his toes so often couldn’t possibly be accidental. If that wasn’t enough proof, though, there was also that devious smirk on her face, one that infuriated Aaden to even look at.

Still, he didn’t give up. He continued to dance with Lilith, doing his best to keep her in line, to guide her where he wanted her, despite her best efforts to throw him off his rhythm. Every time the dance brought them close, Aaden’s body thrummed with excitement, and he couldn’t resist the urge to pull her closer and closer every time, with no regard to what was necessary or even proper. Lilith, in turn, allowed it, her lips parted and her eyes dark, filled with something Aaden could only identify as want.

Does she want me like I want her? Does she feel the same pull?

At the next twirl, Aaden boldly grabbed her waist as he spun her around and once they were facing each other again, he tugged their bodies flush together. For just a moment, he could feel the rise and fall of her chest, the soft contours of her body, and even that gaze of hers betraying the lust that coursed through her, mirroring his own. It didn’t take long for her, though, to shut herself to him once more, pushing him back and stepping outside of his reach, much to his disappointment.

By then, they were both breathing heavily, chests heaving as they stared at each other, Aaden glaring and Lilith smiling smugly at him.

Behind him, Freya started to clap enthusiastically, as though she hadn’t even noticed how terribly they had danced.

“Are ye tired o’ me yet?” Lilith whispered to him.

Aaden didn’t want to give her the satisfaction. Of course he was tired of her, but it didn’t mean he was going to give up. The fight she put up would only make her eventual surrender all that much sweeter, once she realized how good Aaden could be for her.

“Nay,” he said, this time giving her a smirk of his own. “I’m nae tired at all. I will chase ye until ye relent, an’ ye will relent, there is nae question about it.”

“How can ye be so certain?” Lilith asked. It occurred to Aaden then that they were standing very close to each other, closer than the dance necessitated. Somehow, their bodies had been drawn to each other until they were sharing the same breath as they hurtled their challenges at each other, their gazes locked in a fight for dominance.

“I told ye,” Aaden said, his voice barely a whisper. “Every lass falls fer me in the end. How can ye be so certain that ye’re the exception?”

For a few moments, neither of them spoke. They only stared at each other in silence, until Lilith pulled back abruptly, as if just realizing how close they were standing to each other. It was only then that Aaden could draw in a deep breath once more, his lungs filling with the oxygen of which he had deprived them.

Though there had been unbearable tension between them, Aaden couldn’t help but miss the proximity. Though they weren’t touching at all for that entire time, his skin still felt colder when Lilith pulled back from him, his chest aching with an unnamed emotion.

Before he could say anything else, Lilith walked over to the couch, offering Freya her hand. The younger sister took it, though she didn’t make an effort to stand.

“Come,” Lilith told her. “It is late. We should sleep.”

Freya stood, though not without sparing Aaden one last glance first. She gave him a knowing look, one that had him feeling more vulnerable than ever, as though she could see right through him.