Page 39 of Caged By Dance and Desire

I didn't have to be male or Fae to recognize the insult nestled in bland words.

“My touch is light because nothing more is required. When one begs for a heavier hand, I give it.” Andrei softened his tone. “This one is not for you, Dartanyon. Choose another.”

“It's not so simple, High Lord. You don't recognize the water flowing through your fingers, disappearing into the cracks of parched ground.”

Dartanyon glanced at me, and smiled. “My offer is still on the table, little dancer. And now you know my name.”

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I didn’t. A response from me wasn't necessary because the next moment Andrei's free hand darted out and grabbed Dartanyon around the throat.

He stepped closer to the Rose Lord. They were the same height, though Dartanyon was leaner. Unmoved by the show of violence.

“You offer for her in front of my face?” Andrei said, voice deepening into a cold scrape of a reaper’s scythe on ice. “Are you challenging me?”

The room was silent now except for the occasional cough or shift of feet—probably from a human.

Dartanyon lifted his hands again. “This isn't the venue for a challenge and that would be premature, in any case. Has she danced for you, High Lord? She has danced for me.”

I inhaled sharply, because the once subtle insinuation was now overt, Dartanyon's eyes mocking. Only this time the insinuation implied cooperation. Cora didn’t need to tell me that cheating on a High Lord was a graveworthy idea.

Dartanyon smiled. “I see she hasn't. You haven't watched that supple body writhe, the pleasure suffuse her face, heard the cadence of her breaths as she brings herself to completion?—”

Andrei lifted Dartanyon and threw him.

The Rose Lord landed lightly on his feet, his lips pulled back in a snarl. Andrei took a single, stalking step forward as Mathen appeared at my side, his hands on my arms as he tugged me back.

“No!”

Andrei ignored me, but I shook Mathen off and grabbed the High Lord’s wrist. He stopped.

“No, Andrei. Not now, and not here. That's not what tonight is for.”

Someone else's sharp inhale caught my attention and I glanced in that direction, meeting Coralene's warning gaze. Understanding her tight-lipped expression.

I shut my mouth.

But tonight wasn't just about me, and I didn't want it ruined for the others. I didn't want to be spoken of as the woman who’d slept her way to the prima spot.

I slid around until I was facing Andrei chest to chest, my hands resting on his shoulders, and looked up into his face. The rage I saw there should have frightened me into silence, but his hands, sliding around my waist, were gentle.

“Please, my Lord.” I spoke softly, my awareness of our audience, and thewhoof the man in front of me, heightened. What would Cora say? Probably that making a public demand would almost necessitate he refuse. But he could be seen as indulgent of his mortal pet. “I beg this favor.”

Andrei lowered his head without looking at me and kissed my cheek. “Very well, consort. I will grant you this, for now.”

“Thank you. Can we—can you take me somewhere quiet for a moment? I’m a little. . .”

I trailed off, not having public appropriate words to describe rubbery knees caused by the almost brush with violence, and the upset of Dartanyon's words.

Andrei's arms slid around me, and he whisked me off the dance floor.

I didn't pay much attention to where he led us but in minutes we were in a darkened room. He pulled aside curtains to let in moonlight, then returned to me.

I laid my head against his chest. “I'm sorry.”

“What for?”

He sounded reasonable enough.

I looked up, though my eyes hadn't adjusted yet. “You know I would never—you know I never.” I stopped. “What he said sounded bad, but?—”

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