mjed, dark eyes going to Stella.
“Absolutely not,” Astar nearly growled, glaring at both Rhy and Jak as he fastidiously buttoned up his jacket. He leveled the glare on Stella, who blinked in surprise. “You’re keeping your clothes on.”
She made a face at him. “Sheesh, Willy—I grew out of that phase by the time I was five.”
“Six,” he corrected.
“Don’t be such a prude, Willy,” Rhyian agreed with a sly smile, prowling over to swipe two of the elegant glasses from the table by the fire, taking them to Jak to fill with mjed. “I miss the days when Nilly ran naked through the halls, sending the fancy mossback ladies into palpitations.”
“I’m sorry I missed it,” Jak said warmly, winking at Stella.
She rolled her eyes. “I was a child.”
“One who hated having to return to human form dressed,” Rhyian said. “It’s natural—nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“I’m not embarrassed,” Stella replied, lifting her chin.
“Good for you,” Rhyian murmured with a smile.
Astar, once again more or less perfectly attired, cleared his throat. “Let’s try this again. If everyone would fill their glasses and gather around the table, please.”
Lena moved to get a glass, but Rhyian intercepted her with smooth grace and shapeshifter speed. She managed not to gasp at the sight of him suddenly in front of her, so lethally gorgeous, his hair no longer sleeked back, but tumbling wildly around his face. He held out one of the glasses. “This one is for you, Salena.” When she hesitated—more out of sheer surprise than anything—his lips quirked in a half smile. “Unless you refuse to accept even this much from me.”
Stung, she plucked the glass from his fingers, being careful not to touch him. “That’s unfair. I never refused you. Anything,” she added with a hiss, which she immediately regretted.
He didn’t take the easy opening, however, instead regarding her seriously. Surely that wasn’t regret in his deep blue eyes. “You refused to talk to me.”
Her stomach dropped and her head swam. Oh no. This was exactly the confrontation she hadn’t wanted. She’d begun to relax, believing that he didn’t want to revisit the bad old days either. “I did not. You weren’t exactly available for conversation,” she replied coolly, congratulating herself for her poise. “Besides, there was nothing to discuss. You made yourself very clear through your actions.”
“I know,” he admitted. “But you left before we could sort it out.”
“You didn’t exactly chase after me,” she bit out, then kicked herself. Gah. Why was she still talking?
Rhyian was searching her face. “Was I supposed to chase after you? I didn’t know I’d made that mistake.”
“You made a lot of mistakes, Rhyian.” The bitter heartbreak of that time felt excruciatingly fresh and raw. “We both did.”
“Salena, I…” He trailed off, pressing his lips together. Those lips that had caressed her skin with such intimate delight. She’d once thought she’d give anything to have those lips on her—and then she’d given too much.
“We were young,” she said, gentling the old bitterness. She didn’t—couldn’t—forgive him, but it had been a long time ago. “We didn’t know what we were doing.”
He dipped his chin ruefully, his gaze catching on her bosom, then rising to meet hers, the blue fulgent with desire she remembered all too well, lips curved in a sensual smile. “We did some things right.”
She couldn’t help an answering smile. That summer had been the best of her life, regardless of how painfully it had ended. “We did,” she conceded.
Rhyian gave her a more serious look. “Could we—”
“Are you two joining us or what?” Astar called out, then grunted as if in pain.
“Shut up,” Zeph chastised the hunched Astar, who’d apparently taken a sharp elbow to the gut. “Are you completely oblivious, you oaf?”
Gendra and Stella gave Lena rueful smiles, while Jak tossed off a little salute from where he leaned against the fireplace. Lena’s face heated with embarrassment. She’d been so intent on Rhyian that she’d forgotten about their audience. “Don’t be silly,” she said brightly. “We were being rude.” She moved to join their waiting friends, but Rhyian caught her hand.
His fingers lightly tangled with hers, his touch scalding, bringing back so many memories. Rhyian holding her hand as they walked on the beach at Annfwn. The first time he kissed her sensitive fingertips, his eyes heated as he savored her shivering response. When he laced their fingers together on either side of her head as he lay against her… She couldn’t breathe. “Rhyian…” she said helplessly.
“Dance with me later,” he said with dark