Page 122 of Tales of a Monstrous Heart
‘You should have asked that earlier,’ they taunted, but that softness remained in their expression. ‘It isn’t anything you can’t handle. You who commands deadly creatures with ease.’
‘That’s not true.’ I shook my head as we turned again.
‘One look at Emrys should prove my point, dear,’ they added darkly, turning us to emphasise their point. There, over their shoulder, at the far corner of the room, was Emrys, watching us over the rim of his wine glass with deadly focus before Thean spun me again, further across the dance floor.
‘You’re causing trouble,’ I warned, remembering Emrys’s earlier irritation at the voyav’s presence.
‘Trouble is my second name,’ they taunted, their smile sly. ‘Depravity is my third.’
They brought us into the final turn, to stop at the edge of the dance floor as the room applauded weakly with the break in music. I couldn’t clap, too focused on the dark form of Emrys coming towards us. Ignoring two lords who tried to step into his path to get his attention.
‘This should be fun,’ Thean purred quietly in satisfaction over my shoulder. ‘Darling Emrys, something important you wish to share?’
‘I’ve promised Miss Woodrow a dance,’ Emrys replied frostily with his annoyance. I was stuck between the pair of them, quite certain every single guest was staring right at us.
Bastards. The pair of them were bastards but there was no room for my irritation as Emrys held out his gloved hand, Thean’s soft chuckle mocking over my shoulder.
Despite the audience and the foolishness of it, I took Emrys’ hand. I’d done so before, but this felt different, too public and evocative of a statement. Lord Percy’s vile words seared through my thoughts but I pushed them all away, needing every ounce of concentration to deal with the lord before me.
Clearly fate was laughing at me as wickedly as Thean was from the edge of the dance floor as the next song began.
The Midnight Rendezvous. A song written for one of the mortal kings, a dance performed at his balls. One for when he attempted to find one of his many queens. A flirtatious and scandalous melody with many tales to accompany it.
Emrys stepped effortlessly into the dance, drawing me in. His hold tighter and closer than Thean’s had been. I fell into step easily, remembering the movements as if it was just yesterday that I had done them, waltzing around a small cottage in a different time, with my mother’s laughter in my ear.
The well of emotion distracted me from the danger of being in Emrys’s arms or how securely he held me. The luxuriousfeel of the wool of his jacket beneath my hand, how his strong limbs filled it out, the shifting of his muscles beneath. The luring scent of him, how close his jaw was, the shadow of stubble there. Remembering how rough it had felt against my skin, awakening things I didn’t think it was possible to feel.
‘You’re making a spectacle,’ I whispered sinisterly, hoping he took it seriously, because I was a moment away from crushing his toes.
‘I thought you were used to that, Croinn?’ His words brushed my cheek as I kept my face politely turned away, watching the other dancers. The swell of the music surrounding us.
‘What did Lord Percy want?’ he pressed, a warning creeping into his quiet tone.
‘It isn’t worth repeating.’ I turned my head at the right moment, seeing him waiting to meet my eye as the dance’s pace picked up. Those eyes storm grey and filled with a mix of fury and worry.
‘Kat—’
‘It’s the same nonsense I’ve dealt with many times before. I don’t need you brooding about it,’ I added tartly, allowing him to turn us sharply as I tried to keep my breathing steady.
‘“Midnight Rendezvous”was only taught in the King’s courts. Did you anticipate me embarrassing myself?’ I tried to distract him, only for the sight of him to stop my heart for a mere moment. How that dark hair fell onto his brow, the teasing nature to his eyes and the curve of his lip. The allure of his closeness, the strength of his hold on my waist and the imposing nature of him. The firmness of his shoulder beneath my hand as our palms met. Even wearing gloves, my skin prickled with the cool nature of his magic, always present. Always seeking out my attention.
‘I would have led you through it,’ he turned me again, bringing me back closer than before, his words brushed my ear as we pressed tightly together. ‘Do I even want to know what Thean was up to?’
‘Helping. Which might be more unsettling than anything else.’ I sighed, feeling the press of his fingers as they dragged down the fastening at the back of my dress. ‘Lord Fairfax said Mr Catron came here. He said Robert spoke to him.’
My hold on his forearms tightened as his dark gaze looked over every inch of my face, sensing that unease in me. ‘You let those creatures rest.’
The folk in the case. He’d seen that foolishness too, then.
‘Maybe I have lost my mind.’ I kept my voice low, annoyed at myself for the weakness of it. ‘First the ruins, the voices, and then the walls …’
‘What walls?’ He frowned, somehow bringing me even closer, noses almost brushing.
‘It doesn’t matter.’ I shook my head, ‘I don’t need you being annoyed with me. If this is about Thean—’
‘I’m not annoyed,’ he interrupted as he spun me, only to draw me back to his front, our hands laced together at my waist. Breath uneven as my breasts straining against my bodice, and from that darkness in his eyes, I knew he missed none of it.
His hands dragging seductively across my middle as he turned me again.
