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Liam puffed out his chest. “I’ll be racing meself when me mam says I’m old enough. I’ll be winning too!”

“I don’t doubt it.”

“All right, folks, pair on up now!” Colin said into the microphone. Niall held out his hand to Cordelia.

“I’m going to majorly screw this up,” she warned him as she took it.

“It’s been years since I’ve danced a céilí myself so we’re basically even.” Her hand was so small and soft. Niall wanted to kiss it.

The music started up and Niall and Cordelia turned to face Alison and Liam.

“Okay, now we go forward,” Niall said.

“I don’t get the skippy hoppy thing,” Cordelia said as they danced toward the opposite couple.

“That’s okay, just make it up,” Niall said. “Now back. Now we go forward again.”

“Now we switch sides!” Alison said and she and Cordelia were spinning around each other so that Alison was next to Niall.

“I’m so confused,” Cordelia said, laughing. Niall switched sides with Liam so that he was next to Cordelia again.

“Now take Liam’s hand,” Niall said as he took Alison’s. They danced out away from Cordelia and Liam and then back toward them. “And now we spin,” he said, grinning. He held both her hands in his and maneuvered her around in a circle.

“Ahhh!” Cordelia cried as she stepped on his foot.

“You’re fine,” he said. “Now we stand.”

He slid a hand around to position her beside him as Alison and Liam started the dance again with another couple. He let his palm linger on the curve of her waist. She looked up at him, her lips slightly parted, her eyes twinkling in the little white lights, and he felt something catch in his chest. Then the song ended and everybody clapped as Colin cried out, “Okay, next up, ‘Haymaker’s Jig’!”

“D’you want to dance another?” Niall asked.

Her answering smile was luminous. “Yes, please!”

They got into two lines. Cordelia was able to watch his mam and Darragh going through the steps before the line shifted and she and Niall had to do them. They spun and twirled, and even when she was stepping on his foot, Niall could not remember ever having more fun at a dance. They danced another and another, and by the time they’d finished the “Fairy Reel”, Niall was out of breath from all the laughing and spinning.

“Okay, we’re going to slow it down now,” Colin said, leaning close to the microphone. “Give a break to all you dancers and a chance for all the lovers out here to get a little closer. Let’s take it back to America, 1964.”

He started up a rendition of Otis Redding’s “These Arms of Mine” and Niall turned to Cordelia. Her eyebrow was curved like a question and he smiled softly in answer. She lifted her arms and he pulled her to him, his hand finding the small of her back and pressing her close. Their fingers entwined and she looked down, her forehead grazing his shoulder.

Niall ducked his head and murmured, “What are you doing?”

“Trying not to step on you,” she said.

“Cordelia.” Could she hear the tremble in his voice?

“Yes?”

“I don’t care if you step on me.”

All he wanted was to see her face. They turned in a slow circle. Niall was only vaguely aware of the other dancers, their blurred shapes and colors – there was nothing for him but Cordelia, the curve of her cheek, the slope of her nose, the warmth of her palm. Her hips swayed against his body as she moved and the ache grew within him. He turned her around so that they were moving in a bigger circle, away from the crowds and the lanterns. They reached the opposite side of the road and danced into the darkness until Niall suddenly found his back pressed up against a tree. The lights of O’Connor’s glowed and twinkled behind Cordelia, turning her into a fairy right out of one of Róisín’s stories. They’d stopped moving but he still had one hand in hers and his fingers were splayed wide across her lower back. He could feel her breath soft on his neck, and the thrum of her heart against his own.

“Niall,” Cordelia whispered. And he gave in at last.

Her mouth was soft and warm, her lips gentle as they molded around his. Then she opened for him with a tiny moan. She tasted sweet and tart, like honey and red wine. Niall spun her around to press her against the tree, their kiss deepening, their tongues slick and hungry. She released his hand so she could curl her fingers in his hair, clutching him closer, and he wanted it too, he wanted to unzip his skin and let Cordelia touch every part of him, his mind and body and soul.

He brought his hand to her neck, tilting her head so that their kiss could become even more profound. He tugged her lower lip between his teeth, sucking it gently before sliding his tongue back to taste her again. Her hair was like silk across his knuckles. Her bergamot-pine scent was everywhere.

She pulled away, gasping for air, and he moved his mouth to her throat, unable to stop, unable to not touch her. His heart pounded out a heavy rhythm and every part of him burned for her. He kissed the dip in her collarbone and then left a trace of kisses up to her chin and she blissfully pulled his mouth back to hers. Niall let his fingers trace the strap of her dress, teasing the soft line where it hugged her breasts. Cordelia gave another tiny moan and Niall thought he might go mad with the wanting.