Page 121 of Enchanted Queen

She took a nervous inhale. “Why not.”

I smirked. She always rose to a challenge. It wasn’t the queen in her, or the dragon in her, it was justher. Esta. And I was grateful I knew the queen so well, to know the different facets of her personality.

We picked up speed, spinning around the room, and then again, even faster, until even I couldn’t keep up with the steps and we were fighting off laughter as we fought to stay upright.

I spun her away from me, only to bring her in close. Closer than necessary. “The piano distracted me when I came in, but I have a gift.”

“You do?”

I took a step back and opened up my jacket, pulling out a black sparkling necklace which reminded me of her crown. It had been waiting in my jacket since the meeting with the advisors. I dangled it off my fingers.

She gasped. “You were holding out on me? I thought you were out of trinkets.”

I smiled at her, noted how her green eyes lit up as she looked at it. If she was in her dragon form, I suspected she already would have snatched it out of my hands with a talon. “I was saving this for a special occasion.” I paused. “To be clear, I do not expect you to wear it to the ball. I only meant the fact that you are back in this form. A cause for celebration.”

She smiled and reached out for it.

“Allow me?”

She gave me a nod.

I moved behind her. Gently moving her hair aside, I put the necklace around her neck, having to move in even closer to clasp the outrageously small pieces together. It took me two tries. I was quite possibly also distracted by her skin and the smell of her. “Well, this is harder than I thought.”

She laughed.

I walked around her and was pleased to see it matched her crown like I thought it would. I reached for her hand. “Another round? Or is it too much?”

She swallowed. “No. It is not too much.”

Halfway through our next dance, I noted her body language tensing though. Granted I had selfishly been holding her tightly. When she inhaled a shaky breath, I took a step back and stopped immediately.

“Esta,” I said gently. “I am sorry. Too much, too fast.”

She shook her head. “No.”

“No?”

“No.”

I heard a click of her door shutting. Amory was gone, so she must have left for a meeting or something.

Esta took a step closer to me. “No.”

I was absolutely baffled about what was going on here. “No, we should not continue dancing?”

“Yes, we should continue dancing.Please.”

“Esta, you were shaking,” I said gently though I took her hand and brought her in close.

Her eyes were watery as she said, “Because I can feel, Keir. Not because it is too much, but rather because it is not enough.”

I was stunned to silence.

She swallowed nervously. “I have not felt this ...tensionin nine years, Keir. And it is terrifying, but a welcomed terrifying because I am in this body. So please, donotstop.”

I didn’t. We kept dancing, and I kept her close. Far closer than we even had been before. At one point she rested her head on my chest and we slowly just swayed to the beat of our hearts. Unable to help myself, I ran my fingers through her hair beneath the crown. Her back tensed under my touch.

She leaned back to look at me and took her crown off. “I am not a queen right now, Keir. You are not a prince. We are not from different countries. I am just a woman who has been unable tofeelfor nine years.” She paused.

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