Page 52 of The Demon's Delight
She nodded. “Yes. I’m worn out all of a sudden.”
“It’s been a busy day.”
Before we could get very far out of the city square, the music had picked up, and we found ourselves pressed together as everyone around us danced.
I gave her a querying look and she shrugged, offering her hand. I spun her in a very rough version of the dance everyone else was doing, soaking in her smile, her laugh, her light. This was a version of Hailon I wanted her to be able to hold on to. She carried responsibility like a warrior, but I very much enjoyed being able to see her when she was allowed to set it all down and justlive.
She was perfect in every way. I was surer of it the more time we spent together. Though I would admit, the version of her that I saw wielding my blade at that terrible house would always hold a special part of my heart.
The second song was far slower than the first, but the crush of people was no lighter. I marveled at my luck, smiling as I held her in my arms, her face turned up to the moonlight.
“Oh!” She stumbled backwards, tripping on an uneven stone in the street. I stepped into her fall, catching her in time to keep her head from hitting the bricks of the nearest building. My body pressed against hers, my palm on the bricks keeping us both upright.
“Careful.”
She nodded, both of us breathing heavy. Time stopped as she scanned my face, those fascinating eyes lingering on my mouth.
I gave her ample opportunity to pull away, to speak her dissent, to change anything and everything about our situation as I slowly lowered my face. It was like a vice clamped around my heart when my lips met hers. The softness there plus the sweet little gasp of breath as she leaned into me plucked at every bit of tension in my body.
My hand pulled away from her lower back and gripped along the slender column of her neck instead, my thumb tracing her jawline as I mapped her mouth with mine. She tasted like chocolate and cinnamon, her eagerness matching my own as I tangled my tongue with hers. Her fingers gripped the fabric of my shirt along my waist, twisting as she pulled me into her. I sank into her embrace. Our bodies lined up perfectly, like matched pieces of a puzzle. She made the tiniest moan, and I responded in kind, consuming every bit of her I could get as I pressed against her.
I released Hailon on a gasp, my lungs burning for more than air as my body roared, demanding more. She blinked up at me, eyes wide and round, but neither of us could speak a word.
Sound suddenly rushed back in, the whole world appearing from behind the veil that had kept us inside a little peaceful bubble for that moment. Couples spun and stepped just an arm’slength away, the music loud, their laughter and raucous energy no longer separate from us.
After several slow breaths between us and an unmentionable struggle inside my own head where I imagined pinning her to the wall and repeating our interlude and then some, I pulled her back to the street. There was a big conversation we had to have before that happened. I had been too much of a coward to discuss it the other night, but now it was necessary.
We waltzed through the crowd again, and I directed us away from the square, only stopping the slow measured spins when we were well enough away to not get caught up in the dance again.
“That was something,” she sighed, gazing up at the full moon and sprinkling of stars.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t have?—”
Her head snapped to the side so she could look at me. “Did you want to?” The flash of hurt in her eyes was too much to bear.
“Yes. I did. Very much.”
“Then you should have.” She looked away, palm rubbing at her breastbone.
“Didyouwant me to?” I asked, flipping the question around, getting a softened look for my efforts.
“Could you not tell?” she asked quietly after a torturous few seconds of silence. I smiled wide, glad for the enthusiastic confirmation. “Thank you for today,” she added hastily. “All of it.”
“You’re more than welcome, Hailon. It was truly my pleasure.”
My heart pounded hot and heavy in my chest. I wanted to ask her a dozen questions about what she was feeling, whether I’d guessed correctly or not. Whether she recognized me like I did her. If she even knew what a mate bond was, what that meant for us.
But I kept my mouth shut, content to have kissed her at all, to have her hand in mine and her taste still on my lips.
Chapter 24
Seir
It was difficult to keep an eye on everything in an unfamiliar city, particularly with such festivities going on. My neck prickled with awareness as we got further away from the main focus of the festival, and that was enough to make me wary.
The rush I’d experienced with Hailon in my embrace was quickly washed away as my senses went on alert.
Tables were well spaced and being packed up in many cases the further out we got from the revelry, and the road had hardly any foot traffic. Mostly, we saw people ambling down alleys toward their homes, or someone waiting outside in a doorway or on a balcony for a loved one.
