Page 84 of The Iron Dagger
“No, he doesn’t,” said Gideon firmly. “Until he’s heard it from my lips or seen it with his own eyes, he knows nothing.”
“What would he do?” Hara whispered, and Gideon pulled back to look at her.
“He will not do anything because he does not know. Do not think on it.” He said, pulling her close again. “Now, let me treat you like my guest of honor,”
The song ended and a more spirited one started up. They stepped with the other dancers, Hara’s skirt swirling across the floor. Gideon smelled divine, his cologne mixing with his clean skin, warm with exertion. She held onto his shoulders as he swept her boldly through the dance, his hand tight around her waist and his cheek brushing against hers.
“Tell me, is Lord Robert expecting a dance with you this evening?” murmured Gideon. Hara was surprised by the question, but Gideon took her hesitation as something else. He hurried on before she could answer. “I would say it’s all right, but it’s not. It makes me seethe. I don’t intend to give you up for the rest of the night, or any night for that matter.”
She knew he was a practiced courtier who probably said such things to countless women, and so she shouldn’t delight in his words the way that she did. But the idea of Gideon being jealous tickled her.
“He’s very handsome,” she murmured back. “And he’s your friend. Maybe I’m beginning to understand your attraction to the forbidden.”
“Gods, Hara. Don’t say that,” he said, and Hara felt something firm pressing against the boning of her bodice. Anticipation curled in her belly as wet heat gathered between her thighs. She pressed back against him, arching into his hardness.
“Damn,”he breathed, the curse warm against her neck. Then he brought his lips to her ear and whispered, “I want to bend you over and lick you senseless.”
Hara’s heart thudded, and she wondered if he could feel it through all the layers of her gown. This was not flirtatious courtier talk. The growing heat was beginning to ache with emptiness, and Hara couldn’t stop herself imagining him kneeling behind her and giving her his tongue.
She became overwhelmingly aware of the warm silk covering his arm, and the way his legs continuously slipped between hers as they turned in the dance. She closed her eyes and moved closer so that her breasts were pressed against his chest. His sapphire rested against her flushed skin, cool and smooth.
She became lost in the rhythm of their steps and the slight rasp of his cheek. His arousal was trapped between their melded hips, and it was so easy to imagine his breaths above her, the rhythm inside of her, as they took what they had been denying themselves for months.
When the dance ended, his chest rose and fell in rapid pants, his eyes half-lidded. Hara knew that her own lips wereparted as she fought to control her breathing. A loud voice broke their haze.
“Marvelous, simply marvelous!” said Lady Falk, coming up alongside them and clapping her hands daintily. “What a beautiful pair you make.”
Hara stepped away from Gideon, the heat lingering under her skin.
“You’ll forgive me for stealing you away, Hara dear. Everyone wants to meet the star of the evening. Gideon, go make yourself useful and translate for those Mycan lords—their accents are rather thick after a few glasses of mead.”
Eleanora linked arms with Hara and led her to a group of people. Hara spent the next hour in smalltalk with relations of the Falk family, telling the same story of how she had saved Gideon over and over. She did not realize it was possible to know this many people, but Eleanora seemed to know everyone.
“I’ve never seen Gideon look so at ease since he’s come back. Wasn’t I saying so just yesterday, Silveta? He looks positively glowing with health,” said an old aunt of Gideon’s. She had iron-gray curls and wore a fussy lace dress. Her twin sister by her side nodded sharply, observing Hara through small spectacles, much like those Corvus wore. Silveta reached out and grasped Hara’s arm.
“So good to see you setting an example for your kind,” said the older woman sternly. “You have found a use for yourself at court, and you seem sweet as a flower. One would hardly know you were one of them.”
“Indeed so! A fine example. And I hope you will note that Eleanora made you guest of honor without hesitation—a decision supported by all of our circle. They can say what they like about us in the south, but we are as open-minded as they come,” said the old aunt in fussy lace.
Hara pasted a bland smile onto her face as she listened to their chatter. To hear them talk, one would think they had expected her to enter the ballroom draped in rags and muttering curses.
The evening wore on, and Hara fought back a yawn. She glimpsed Gideon every now and again, but he was busy playing the role of host. He and Robert moved through the crowd like royalty, and she could not fail to notice that women followed them wherever they went, with many coy smiles and carrying laughter echoing over the din of the party.
“Looking for someone?” drawled a voice next to her, and Hara turned to see a young man Eleanora had introduced her to earlier. She thought he might be a cousin. His hair stuck to his sweaty brow, and he held an empty glass in his hand.
“Oh, I was looking for the Empirator,” she said. “I danced with him earlier and I haven’t seen him since.”
“He’s probably gone to bed early, the old sot,” said the young man. He was clearly drunk. “Always leaves before the fun begins.”
Hara took a step back, but the man—Farrington, she suddenly remembered—reached for her hand.
“Have a go with me. Let’s dance,” he said, dropping his glass. It shattered at their feet. “Doesn’t bother me that you’re a witch—never had one of your kind before.”
“Leave me alone,” said Hara in a raised voice, but he held her hand tightly.
“What, only Gideon’s allowed to touch you?” he slurred, grinning lasciviously. “I’ll be gentle.”
Hara’s hand was torn from his grasp and the next moment Farrington was on the ground. He howled in pain as he landed on the broken glass, and Hara looked up to see Gideon there, his fist raised. A look of icy fury shone from his face as he stared in disgust at the man curled on the floor.
