Page 108

Music trickled out, soft and sensual with string instruments and deep, slow drums. Female laughter came from somewhere nearby. Valeen took a deep breath. She was dropping in on a party she wasn’t invited to. She shook her head and turned around. It was stupid coming here.

“You’re welcome to go inside, goddess,” the guard to the right said, gesturing with his hand. “Zaurahel said you might come and to tell you he’s in the grand ballroom.”

There was no way he could know she was coming. She hadn’t decided until an hour ago. But now she couldn’t turn back. They’d tell him she came and left, and that made her appear weak.

“Thank you.” She pushed her shoulders back and strutted inside past two thick, smoky black pillars, exotic potted ferns, and a pair of giggling girls, who appeared to be telling secrets. Their clothes were—minuscule. Scraps of fabric covered their breasts and round behinds.

She came to the top of a long set of stairs that led down into what she guessed was the grand ballroom. Couples danced in seductive ways, grinding on each other, kissing, groping. It smelled like sweat and alcohol.

Hel sat on a throne on a dais above the main floor but not nearly as high up as she now stood. With a beautiful maiden on each arm of his chair, both turned toward him. One curled her fingers around a lock of his thick dark hair. The other threw her head back laughing at something he said. His hands rested on both of their behinds.

Valeen’s face flushed and something dark and dangerous deep inside wanted to go down there and rip both of the girls off his throne. She clenched her teeth—she’d never felt murderous toward random strangers. What was wrong with her? Why had she come here? She’d never been to a party like this. She didn’t allow this sort of behavior in her home. It wasn’t proper to act this way in public. This mark on her arm couldn’t fate her to be with him in any way. It was a mistake. A dreadful mistake and so was coming here.

He finally looked up and they stared at each other from a distance. He had to be fifty yards away, but she swore she heard his heart stutter. He pushed through the two girls and got up, moving through the crowd, never taking his eyes off her. Valeen turned and hurried for the exit. She was a coward, but she felt more like a fool than anything. He didn’t want anything from her but what his uncle did.

The guards opened the doors for her again, letting in the cool night breeze. She took the stairs two at a time and just as she reached the final step next to her waiting chariot, he appeared in front of her.

“Hello.”

She halted before bumping into him.

“Do you often make a quick appearance at parties like that? Pop in for a flash and leave them wanting more?”

“I didn’t think you’d be having a party. It’s rude of me to intrude.”

“Come back inside.”

She held up her palm. “I’ll go. I don’t want to take you away from your… friends.”

“We can stay out here if you’d rather. You came to see me, not them.”

With her lips pressed together she nervously pawed at the ends of her hair. She came to put an end to whatever it was that they started but she was embarrassed now that he stood here before her. They hadn’t started anything. It was one meetup. They didn’t even kiss. So, what if they bore the same lily mark. He had a hundred ladies in there at his beck and call and she was certain he’d done much more than kiss at least some of them.

“I came to say—what I wanted to say is…” she chewed her bottom lip trying to find the right words. “I harbor no hard feelings and—”

“I can’t stop thinking about you.” He moved a step closer. “You’re all I think about. I can’t even sleep.”

Her eyes widened and swallowed to wet her suddenly dry throat. “Oh.”Gods above, could I be any more inane? “Oh!”she thought.

“All I’ve thought about is the kiss I never got. And the way you smile, and that purple swimsuit,” his hands slid on either side of her face, inching into her hair, “and maybe if I just got one kiss my need for it would be fulfilled.”

His touch was warm and intoxicating. “You’d want more.” His need was oddly satisfying. She’d been told Hel never kissed on the mouth. Rumor was he found it too personal, more than just a need to satiate lust.

He smiled. “I think I would. Maybe we shouldn’t.” He dropped his hands to his sides and sucked in a sharp breath then let it out slowly.

“We definitely shouldn’t.”

“Nope.” He tucked his hands in his pockets.

On a wild impulse, Valeen fell forward from the last step and wrapped her arms around his neck. When their lips collided, his hands came free and gripped her waist, lifting her onto the edge of her chariot. They kissed and kissed, hands tangled in hair, tongues dancing tentatively. She felt like she was falling into an endless abyss that was him and she’d never escape. To take a breath, she pulled away and put her fingers to his mouth. “There, my debt is paid. I promised you a kiss in the water. But only one.”

His bright blue-green eyes flicked back and forth between hers. “Only one.”

“I’m going to go now.” She sounded as if she was talking herself into it.

“Alright.” He carefully pulled his hands away as if it was a fight to do so.

She swung her legs around, dropped into her chariot and picked up the reins. After a moment she cleared her throat. “Well, goodbye then.”