“Lucky for you, it was. I took lessons from an Edger who taught me Weird dances. I can tango, too.”
“Lucky for me?”
“You put me into this mess. I would’ve been perfectly happy just sneaking into the castle.”
“And being shot. Try to keep up.”
“I told you, I took lessons. As long as you don’t start doing the cajun stomp, we’ll be fine.”
“Cajun stomp?”
“You heard me, swamper. And keep your hands to yourself.”
He would have to have a talk with Cerise about how much she was telling Audrey about the Mire and him.
The music shot from the speakers, a solo by a melodious male voice followed by an aggressive rhythm and a fast melody, spiced with splashes of exotic sound. Morell, you bastard. It was a hell of a dance.
Kaldar shifted his position, pulling her to him, her back to his chest, his hands on her arms. Other dancers had started, and he was giving her a moment to watch them. “This is the aliya. We go fast, then we go slow, circling each other. Watch the other couples and follow my lead, and we’ll be fine. Ready?”
“Bring it.”
He launched them across the floor. She followed him, obeying the cues of his body, light on her feet and graceful. They parted, they came together, aggressive, passionate, and he realized that she knew the dance and was brilliant at it.
They flew across the floor again, fast, then stopped for another pass.
He paused as she circled him, one hand up, the other bent.
“Marry me,” he said.
“No.”
He spun her, pulling her to him, and they circled each other again. “I’ll buy you a house.”
“Not interested.”
The music sped up, and they glided across the floor. “I love you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do. Dip coming in three, two . . .”
She leaned back, parallel to the floor. He barely had to hold her. Kaldar ran his hand two inches above her body and lifted her into position. The temptation to touch her almost made him lose all sense. “I’ll be a good husband.”
“Lies.”
“I’ll be monogamous.”
“Ha! Maybe I won’t.”
“Being with anyone else would be slumming.”
“For you or me?”
“Both.”
She gripped his shoulder, mimicking the other couples. He pulled her closer by her waist. In his head, they were naked.
“I made fun of you. You decided that you should marry to keep up with your family.”
He spun her about, and they were off again.
“If you have to marry, I’m cute and I have nice boobs, so I would do.”
“Audrey,” he growled.
“No thanks.”
The final notes tore out. Kaldar dropped to his knees before her. “You, me, and cute kids down the road.”
She smiled and said, her lips still stretched in a smile, “Forget it.”
He had to get her alone. He was so aroused, he could barely stand it. If he could only talk to her, he would convince her to say yes.
“Meet me in the north hallway in ten.”
“Maybe I will, and maybe I won’t.”
He got up and bowed. She curtsied.
Around them, people applauded.
“Thank you, Master Brossard.” Audrey gave him a charming smile.
“The pleasure is mine.”
She turned and went toward Cerise, fanning herself.
Morell, George, and Jack were staring at him.
“You lied,” Morell announced when he returned to his spot. “You are an excellent dancer, indeed.”
“The lady is divine. Sadly, she’s still feeling under the weather.”
Across the room, Audrey was gently pressing a handkerchief to her face and pretending to be winded.
“I think she likes you. Don’t let her get away.” Morell moved on. Audrey passed by. Now they were both in the clear.
Nine minutes later, he slipped away, passing the guards, into the north hallway. Nobody paid him any mind. He’d watched people come and go all day. As long as he didn’t leave the northern wing of the castle, he wouldn’t get shot.
Kaldar sank into one of the shadowy alcoves. Where is she?
A minute passed. Another. Time slowed, barely moving like chilled honey.
Is she not coming? Will I have to go after her?
A familiar, curvy figure slipped into the hallway. He peeled himself from the wall, grasped her hand, and pulled her to him, pinning her between the wall and himself. They stared at each other for a pressurized electric second, the air between them saturated with desire. He’d wanted her for so long, it seemed like eternity.
She was smiling at him, that delicious, hot, irresistible Audrey smile. She wanted him, too.
All thoughts of talking fled from Kaldar’s head. He kissed her smile, tasting her lips, so sweet and pliant. He kissed her because he had to. He couldn’t help it. She tasted of wine and apples and that enchanting indescribable feminine spice that drove all reason from his head.
Her mouth parted, inviting him, and the tip of her tongue licked his. The taste of Audrey exploded in his mouth. Finally.
Kaldar pulled her toward him, his hands sliding over the firm, supple curve of her ass, and drank her in. Audrey gasped into his mouth. He pressed against her and let his tongue explore, teasing, taking, daring her to do something about it. Her left arm slid around his neck, accepting his challenge. Her right hand slipped down, along his chest, lower, to the bulge in his pants, caressing him, her skin soft and warm. Her fingers brushed against him. His body tightened in response, straining, begging for her touch. He couldn’t get any harder. She ran her hand over his shaft and stroked him, propelling him right to the edge, to the desperate place where nothing but Audrey mattered. He wanted her more than anything in his life.
They needed privacy. The dark rectangle of a door loomed on the right. She kissed him again, and he blindly found the door handle. Locked. Magic stung his hand, and suddenly the handle turned. He opened the door, and they slipped inside, intertwined. He locked the door one-handed, afraid to let go of her, and hoisted her onto the desk.
FEW people recognized the moment they fell in love. Audrey had no idea when it happened. She knew only that touching Kaldar, being with him, feeling his lips on hers, was the most important thing. Somehow, between their fight and this second, she had fallen in love with him, and when he kissed her, it felt like pure heaven.
She kissed his face, his jaw, his lips, caressing him. All of the good solid reasons she should push him away and stop seemed so stupid and small compared to what she saw in his eyes. There wasn’t even a word for it. Admiration? Affection? Desire? Bliss? Love. That had to be it.
Kaldar brushed the seam on her side, found the clasps, then her breasts were free. He bent his head down and kissed her neck, his hands caressing her body, his roughened thumbs sliding over her nipples, sending tiny shocks of bliss through her. Audrey arched her back. Every stroke of his hands, every touch, every heated press of his lips against her skin, felt overpowering, as if her senses had suddenly sharpened. The air grew hot. Pressure built inside her, squeezing her everywhere.
She reached for his vest and worked the clasp open. He shrugged it off and yanked off his shirt. As he pulled the fabric over his head, she unbuckled his belt and slipped her hand inside, pulling his shaft free. He groaned, his body tight, the muscles on his chest and stomach hard, strained bulges.
He was beautiful.
Audrey stroked him again, running her hand up and down his hard shaft, and he slipped his hand under her skirt, up her thigh. He pulled off her panties. His fingers dipped into her, right into the center of the aching pressure.
Oh God. She almost cried out, and he kissed her. “Shh, love. Shh.”
He slid his fingers higher and touched the sensitive mound just above her ache. A thrilling jolt shot through her, so intense she
jerked back, then immediately leaned into him, eager for more. He kissed her neck, sending small shivers down her spine. His fingers made small, slippery circles, sliding, hot, clever, touching just right. Pleasure spiked inside her, the pressure rolling, concentrating down, toward that spot and his hands, each touch bringing the rush of euphoria closer, as if it spiraled down. Her breath was coming in short, rapid gasps. The tension built and built. She felt as if she were flying, her brain flooded by bliss and Kaldar.
The pressure came together into a single tight knot. She couldn’t stand it any longer. It peaked, and a wave of exquisite, intense pleasure swept through her, quick and followed by spasms.
He thrust into her, his shaft a hot hardness inside her. She locked her legs behind him. They moved in a steady rhythm. She kissed him, winding herself around his body, echoing every thrust, feeling every movement he made inside her. A steady ache began to build in her again, that same insistent, exhilarating pressure.
Someone tried the door handle. She clamped her hand on Kaldar’s mouth. They froze. If they got busted, she would say . . . To hell with it. She didn’t care.
On the other side of the door, a woman made an irritated “Hmm” noise. Kaldar pulled out of her—she’d almost gasped in frustration—and moved across the carpet to the door.
Another “Hmm.”
The sound of retreating steps seeped through the door. Yes!
Audrey slid off the desk. Her gown had to go. She wanted to feel him, all of him, without too many annoying layers of fabric between the two of them. Audrey pulled the dress off and dropped it to the floor.
Kaldar crossed the distance between them. She turned her back to him. His hands closed about her, cupping her breasts.
“I want you,” she whispered.
“Marry me,” he told her.
“No.” He just kept asking and asking. What if he kept asking for the rest of her life? What then? “Why does it have to be marriage?”
“Because I want to be with you forever, and that’s the only way I can prove it. I want to stand there in front of everyone and promise to love you. It’s a promise you can’t break.”
His hand slipped down on her thigh, pushing her legs wider. He thrust into her, sliding in, harder and harder, in a possessive rapid rhythm. She braced her hands against the desk. He wrapped one arm around her waist, clamping her to him, his fingers hot on her skin. His right hand slipped down, over her hip, over her stomach . . . She tensed in anticipation. His fingers found that same sensitive spot, stroking her back to the edge, where the bliss waited. She pushed against the desk.
The pressure inside her crested.
Kaldar released her waist and leaned back, thrusting fast, deep, hard.
Joy drowned her, radiating through her in waves. They came and came, flooding her, overloading her senses. She felt weightless, exhausted, and happy.
He shuddered behind her. A second later, he pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her. She sagged against him, so thoroughly tired and completely content. She didn’t want to move. She didn’t want to speak. She just wanted to stand there, wrapped in him.
He kissed her cheek.
She was so happy.
Footsteps sounded down the hallway. Probably one of the Texas sharpshooters—the boot had a heel by the sound of it.
They couldn’t stay like that forever. Sooner rather than later, someone in the ballroom would notice they were gone. No matter how much she loved being held like that, they had to clean up, get dressed, and go on with their plan before their absence drew enough attention to put them all in danger. Audrey gently pushed at Kaldar’s arms, and he let go.
A bottle of water stood on the desk. Audrey swiped it, wet a handkerchief, and wiped her breasts, her waist, and then her thighs. She smelled like Kaldar. She wished she could curl up just like that, with his scent on her, and fall asleep while he held her.
She tossed the handkerchief to Kaldar.
“I told you you would like it.”
“You are so humble.” She brushed a quick kiss on his lips and pulled on her gown.
“Wedding at the end of the month, then?”
She pulled the clasp out of her hair and shifted it back into a decent hairstyle. She wanted the wedding. She wanted him whichever way she could get him. “Maybe.”
“Is that a yes?”
“I’ll think about it.” She was in love with Kaldar. She knew it. Their sex wasn’t just sex—it was making love. The way he looked at her made her shiver. But something inside her kept her from saying yes. It wasn’t pride. Fear, she realized. She was afraid that if she told him yes, he would lose interest.
He wanted to marry her. “For men like you, ‘marriage’ sounds a lot like ‘sentenced to forced labor in the mines.’”
“I never wanted to marry anyone before,” he said. “When two people marry, they surrender a small part of themselves. They become more like each other. I never met a woman who was better than me at things I take pride in, and I never wanted to be like them. I always knew that whoever I was with was temporary. There was always a new woman around the corner. I’ve seen marriages shatter. Twice. My mother left, then Richard’s wife. It almost broke my brother.”
“So how do I know that you won’t move on and leave me broken?”
“Because you are the one. You are better than me in some things, and I am better than you in others.” He drew her into his arms. “I don’t mind being a bit like you. I hope you don’t mind being a bit like me.”
He said exactly what she would have said if he had asked her why she wanted him.
Another set of footsteps echoed through the hallway. Kaldar glanced at the door.
If someone burst through that door and killed him, her life would be over. The realization rocked her, and she looked away.
“Audrey.” He turned her to him.
She couldn’t keep stringing him along. It wasn’t fair.
He was dead serious. His eyes searched her face. He was terrified that she would shoot him down. He hid it, but she knew his face so well by now. It was the face of a man she loved, and his eyes could no longer keep a secret from her.
“Different entrances,” he said. “We can’t go back into the ballroom together.”
“Of course I will marry you, you fool,” Audrey told him.
KALDAR slipped through the arched entrance into the ballroom. Morell seemed preoccupied with some older man. A few moments later, Audrey arrived. She didn’t look ruffled or disheveled. She certainly didn’t seem like she had just had scorching sex. As far as he could tell, their disappearance and return had gone unnoticed by anyone except for Cerise, who was observing him with a very concerned look.
Audrey had said yes. The elation filled him, and he had to maintain an iron grip on his face to keep from grinning.
The butler strode through the double doors and cleared his throat. “The Marquise of Amry and Tuanin, Peer of the Realm, Veteran of the Ten-Month War, Recipient of the Gaulish Shield, Bearer of the Triple Seal of the Golden Throne, Defender of the Gaulish Empire of Third Rank, Captain Helena d’Amry. And associates.”
Shit.
A servant deposited the invitation into Morell’s hand. The baron glanced at it. “I see Kaleb Green will not be joining our auction this time around.”
The butler stepped aside, and Helena strode into the ballroom. She wore the midnight blue uniform of the Gaulish Empire. Her green eyes searched the crowd unerringly and found Kaldar.
Helena d’Amry smiled.
GEORGE closed his eyes. Kaldar paced back and forth. He’d been trying to raise Audrey via the transmitter, but she didn’t respond. George and his birds were his only hope. He stopped and peered out of the open window. Their quarters were luxurious and tightly guarded. Their windows presented a beautiful panorama of the mountains, and below them was a thousand-foot drop straight to the distant woods below.
“I’m there.” George opened his eyes.
“Is Audrey there?”
&
nbsp; “Yes.”
“Tell her to activate the barrette.”
“She says she doesn’t have it. It must’ve fallen out. During the dancing.”
No, she’d had it during the dancing. It must’ve been during their other dancing. He recalled her raising her hair. He couldn’t remember the barrette being there. Kaldar almost slapped himself. Such a simple thing, and they had both missed it.
“Tell her we have to take the diffusers tonight.”
George whispered and turned to him. “She says you are crazy.”
“Tell her the auction is tomorrow. If we bid, Helena will outbid us, and we never intended to bid in the first place anyway. We have to retrieve them tonight.”
George whispered and paused.
“She says what do you think will happen when Morell discovers that they are gone? All the wyverns are grounded, and the giant men with very sharp swords will mince us into tiny pieces.”
“Tell her I had a replacement made. We substitute the replacement for the real thing.” He’d had the Mirror make the replicas before he had ever set out for California. They were real gold, just like the bracelets themselves.
“She says we did that once, and let her think, oh, it didn’t go very well, did it?”
“Tell her we have no choice. Tomorrow it will be all over.”
“You suck. Do you even know where the vault is?”
“Yes, I do. It’s in the northern turret on top of the keep. I looked at it from the balcony. It’s full of guards, it’s warded, and if the castle were to fall, its contents could be quickly moved by landing a wyvern on the roof next to it.”
George looked at him. “She is walking around the room mumbling to herself.”
“Tell her to mumble faster; we’re short on time.”
“Ummm, I’m not going to do that,” George said.
George frowned. “She says when?”
“Half an hour. And tell Cerise to give Audrey her claws. I know she packed some.”
KALDAR stood by the window. The Mirror’s night suit clung to his frame, turning him all but invisible in the darkness. He checked the pack on his back. Secure. The claws came next: thick solid bands of steel and leather, laced with veins of wires, they clasped his palms, extending up his arms to wrap around his shoulders. His shins sported the second pair. A small coin powered each claw. He pressed the coins one by one. They flashed silver, sending thin currents of magic through the wires.
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