I said honestly. "Whatever he did, it was perfect."
Our moment ended then as fey pushed into us, all of them wanting to greet me. I put on my "princess face" as I sometimes thought of it, making sure to hide the stress that was festering inside. Until now, I'd been living in a beautiful bubble here, being the perfect daughter and doing everything that was expected of me like I didn’t have another family waiting for me on Earth. That bubble was on its last legs. My mom was about to get a rude awakening about who her daughter actually was.
I wanted to embrace my destiny, but part of that destiny was Jacob.
A huge part of it.
"Great speech!" Katerina and Simi screeched as they rushed me, throwing their arms around my neck.
"I actually swooned when you spoke about Jacob," Kat said in a rushed whisper near my ear.
Jacob's lips twitched a little—I could see him over her head. He’d heard her and I all but rolled my eyes at the arrogant fey.
"It's time for dancing now," Simi added as she pulled back. "You ready to show them how the Earth people do it?"
I shook my head at Jacob as I was pulled out into the middle of what appeared to be a makeshift dance floor. Mostly the younger generations were out there. With supes, even though the adults stopped physically aging in their thirties, it was easy to tell who was older. Their eyes always gave them away.
Dancing was definitely not my strong suit, but this was a mess of fun and chatting and laughter. What felt like hours later, I dragged my sorry ass off to find some water. I'd loved every second of being in the moment with friends and family, but I was more than ready for some time with Jacob.
He'd stood alone at first, but eventually the fey around him found some courage and approached one of the “famous” Compass quads.
Their reputation proceeded them.
"I think it's time I got a dance."
I jumped and spun from the water fountain—I’d been watching the pure, fresh, crystal clear water run over the edge of a large ornate basin into the waiting cups.
"Having fun?" I countered, smiling at him as I sipped the liquid. It was so good, and I gulped down that cup and went for seconds.
"I'm enjoying watching you in your element," he said, his eyes burning into mine as I drank my second cup. There was a powerful feeling to this moment. I wasn't sure I'd ever felt so feminine or sexy in my entire life, and I was kind of loving it.
"I'll take that dance now," I said, and then without thinking, offered up my cup. "Would you like some water first?"
His long fingers wrapped around mine as he pulled both me and the cup closer to his chest. My breathing got a tiny bit heavier as my heart pounded hard. I wondered if there would ever be a point that he didn't make my body react like this.
It felt like it was getting worse.
"You didn't leave me any," he observed, smiling as he glanced into the empty cup.
I wrinkled my nose at him. "I was offering the cup. You want me to fetch your water as well?"
Jacob's smile was pure sexy sin, and I was not at all sad about the view.
"I'm here to take care of you, Ruby," he murmured, removing the cup from my hold. "You don't have to cater to me."
I clicked my tongue. "That's not how this works." I stepped into him, our bodies rubbing against each other, and I could have moaned as a tingle ran across my skin, settling low. "We take care of each other," I managed to choke out.
His eyes burned. My body burned. Everything was on fucking fire and I relished in the heat.
I gasped lightly as he moved, but it was just to reach around and fill the cup from behind me. He lifted it to his lips, drinking down the water, never looking away from me.
I couldn't have looked away even if I’d wanted to. Maybe it was the energy in the room, or the melodic fey music that was somehow both light with a heavy beat.
Or more likely it was all Jacob.
"Fuck," he groaned. "I won't survive a dance."
Before I could reply, the cup was gone, and Jacob had moved us so quickly that we were out of the main hall and in one of the side rooms in an instant. His mouth