a thought. Then he grunted, nodded once, and strode off.
“You got lucky,” a throaty voice purred in Rhy’s ear, and he spun, surprised anyone had managed to sneak up on him. Salena grinned at him, clearly pleased with herself. “Actually, Muku is a pussycat compared to Mom, but I was still ready to step in to defend your honor.”
He gazed back at her, rather astonished. He’d figured her for avoiding him the rest of the night, not coming to his aid. “I’m touched,” he said, then worried that it sounded too flip. “I know you have no reason to defend me, and plenty of reasons not to.”
She sobered, giving him a thoughtful look. “I never wished you ill, Rhyian. Well,” she amended, giving him a grin, “not beyond a few fantasies of your painful demise.”
He laughed. “I deserved that and more.” Taking the chance, he held out a hand. “Shall we have our dance?”
This time she placed her hand in his, and he deftly slipped them into a space between whirling dancers. She moved with sensual grace, and the way his hand settled into the narrow of her waist felt far too familiar, reminding him sharply of those long-gone days. But those watchful eyes held little of the wide-eyed wonder she’d had in that first blush of womanhood. Salena the girl had embraced everything life had to offer with uninhibited joy and delight. Now the deep blue, bordered by a fine line of deepest storm gray, regarded him with a mixture of cynicism and uncertainty. She was waiting for him to hurt her again, and honestly, he was expecting that eventually, too.
“I’m sorry I said that about Bethany. It was cruel and wrong.”
He shrugged a little. “You had reason to think it. We both know I’m far from faultless that way.”
She was quiet for a bit, and he savored the feel of her against him. They fit still—possibly even better—after all this time. She had a hand on his shoulder, her gaze focusing there for a moment as she brushed something away. “It was kind of you,” she finally said, and he suspected it wasn’t what she’d been thinking about saying. “Considerate, of Bethany’s feelings to dance with her, with all of her friends watching. I realize that now. I just… didn’t expect that from you.”
No, of course she wouldn’t. He’d been far from kind and considerate back then. “It has been seven years. I’ve grown up since then.” He had to smile at her dubious expression. “Some,” he qualified. “Not entirely.”
“Yes, I’ve heard the stories,” she quipped with a saucy smile that faded at the edges as she looked away, realizing what she’d revealed.
That slip, however, more than anything else, gave him some hope that she might not have so thoroughly cut him out of her life as she’d like it to seem. Slipping his hand more to the center of the small of her back, he eased her just a little closer, dropping his mouth to near her temple. She smelled of distant rain, of sweet skin and nostalgia. Of moonlit nights and the flowers of Annfwn. Of his own innocence, and a time he hadn’t loathed himself. “Tell me the truth, Salena—have you been seeking out stories about me?”
She made a small sound, of distress or desire, he wasn’t sure. “No,” she said, her voice firm and breathless at once. Her breasts, so temptingly displayed in that luscious gown, rose and fell, brushing against him in a way that threatened to make him lose his mind. “But,” she said on a light gasp, “one can’t help hearing things, can one? The more salacious, the more people love to chatter on.”
Daring more, he brushed her temple with his lips. Not quite a kiss, but terribly, agonizingly close to one. “Tell me what you’ve heard,” he purred against the delicate shell of her ear. “The most salacious tidbit.”
She laughed, throaty and sensual. “Oh no, I don’t think so. Your enormous ego needs no further stroking.”
“Maybe that’s not the enormous part of me that does need stroking.” Needing to taste her, he licked just that little curve of her ear, and she shivered in his arms.
“I’ve seen your ‘part,’ remember,” she replied, pulling back to establish more formal distance between them, narrowing her eyes, “and it is not enormous.”
“You wound me cruelly,” he said. “I was a barely more than a boy. I told you, I’ve grown.” He lowered his voice to tempt her closer. “And I’ve been practicing my