Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
“Where are ye takin’ me?” Marissa protested, trying to yank her hand from his grip.
She didn’t want him to stop, not really. While she had been dancing with Cody and Abigail, she had been hoping that he would come and whisk her away. But she still didn’t want him to think she was the type of girl who would give in too easily.
“Wherever I want to take ye,” Arthur grunted, his words barely carrying over the din of the crowd.
She opened her mouth to protest again, wanting nothing more than to dance with her betrothed. But as soon as she knew what she wanted to say, he stopped.
People still moved and twirled all around them. Women and men locked in one another’s embrace, or some dancing on their own as they bounced on their toes and kicked to the music.
Arthur held out his arms, one high in the air and one bent, but the movement was stilted. So far, Marissa had found him to be a rather forceful presence. Each of his movements, no matter how small, seemed to be filled with confidence.
This, however, was not. He held his head up high, ignoring the fact that the frame he was offering her was so horrendous.
There was no doubt in her mind that a man like Arthur would take great offense if she pointed it out, though. And she wanted to dance with him regardless. So, she stepped into the circle of his arms.
Immediately, the warmth of his touch washed over her.
Marissa blinked up at him. “I suppose we should dance now,” she said, her voice coming out much huskier than she had intended.
All night as she had been dancing, she had wondered what it would feel like to have his body moving alongside hers. And now that she was so close to finally finding out, chills raced along her skin.
There was a moment where they both looked at each other, both knowing what was about to come next. Arthur grabbed Marissa’s hand, raising it in the air. It was the traditional marker of the start of the dance.
Her heart was stuck in her throat, her breath coming in quick gasps as she readied herself.
The moment she went up onto the tip of her toes, readying herself for the quick step movements, he was off. They moved in their small circle on the dance floor, only just avoiding the other revelers.
He spun her, but the act was clumsy, and Marissa’s feet got tangled together.
She barked out a laugh, not at all bothered by the misstep. But as she swung back in his direction, she found a sour expression on his handsome face.
“Do ye nae like to dance?” Marissa asked.
Arthur’s grey eyes darkened, and he glowered at her. “I dinnae.”
Her mouth fell open in surprise as she jumped in time to the music. Her foot made contact with the back of her calf, exactly as it was intended to do. Arthur, however, fumbled through the movement, stepping clumsily through it.
“If ye dinnae like to dance, why did ye insist on sweepin’ me away?” Despite her badgering, she kept her tone light, careful to let him know that she meant it all in jest.
Still, his expression darkened further. He bent closer, the heat of him washing over her anew.
He was close enough that she could scent him now. The smell of the soap he’d used to wash his hair and beard, a honey mixture that Freya often found pleasure in making herself. It mingled sweetly with his intoxicating musk.
Despite all the people surrounding them, despite all the eyes that she knew were on them at that very moment, Marissa found herself leaning even closer to him.
“I appreciate Cody stickin’ up for ye earlier,” he explained.
His voice was deep, and as close as she was, she could nearly feel it reverberating through his chest.
“I like that he wanted to protect ye,” he continued. “But that doesnae mean I want to see another man dancin’ with me betrothed. Even if he’s her nephew.”
Marissa leaned back, blinking up at him in surprise. “Ye’re jealous.”
The words washed over her with a stark realization, and with them came a small thrill that danced along her skin.
“What do ye have to be jealous of?” she asked.
The music rose and fell, and on cue, he spun her again. It went a little more smoothly than it had a few moments before, and Marissa was back in his arms before he got the chance to answer.
She prepared herself for the next part of the dance—a complicated series of leaps where both feet moved quickly together. She wasn’t confident that Arthur would be able to complete them.
He didn’t answer her question at first, and she got the impression that he was concentrating hard on where he was placing his feet. Unsurprisingly, he messed up more than a few steps, all the while cursing under his breath.
“Ye dinnae need to be jealous,” she added, when she saw he wasn’t going to answer her question at all.
His response was to spin her one more time. Then, as she twirled back into his arms, her skirts flaring dramatically around her feet, he dipped her.
His large, strong arm supported her back, his other slipping beneath her thighs to sweep them up as he dipped her toward the ground. A surprised yelp escaped her lips.
The entire time, Arthur had been bumbling his way through the dance. But this dip? It had been smooth. Almost practiced.
“Mayhap ye arenae so bad at dancin’, after all,” she mused, smiling up at him.
A cocky grin tugged up his mouth, the first one since he’d stepped onto the dance floor with her.
“I’m shite at dancin’,” Arthur purred. “But dinnae worry, lass—me talents lie elsewhere.”
He winked at her, giving her no time to process his words as he pulled her back up. It crashed over her like a wave, the realization of what he likely meant.
Heat flooded her body at his words, an unfamiliar feeling washing over her. Her stomach twisted itself into knots, and she was hit with the sudden urge to clench her thighs.
It all brought her up short. The dance, which she knew almost by heart, left her brain entirely.
As Arthur attempted to sweep her back into his arms, her feet stopped moving entirely. The opposite forces, him moving and her stopping, combined, sent her stumbling across the little bit of space between them.
“Careful now,” Arthur said calmly, his strong arms shooting out to catch her as her feet tangled in one another.
She panted as she steadied herself, her arms draped over each of his. Her face was pressed into his chest, as Arthur had used his massive body to stop her fall.
Her heart was racing so hard that she was certain he could hear it, even over the din of the people and the music. Slowly, it slowed down. And as the fear of falling ebbed, the embarrassment rose up to replace it.
“I am so sorry,” she mumbled.
Tears stung her eyes, and she gulped, trying to banish them. But for some reason, they would not go away.
Maybe it was the stress of the day. Maybe it was the promise that she would be leaving her home and all that she had ever known first thing in the morning. Or maybe it was just the fact that she was dancing with her betrothed and had done nothing but embarrass herself.
Whatever the reason, the tears refused to subside. Instead, they started rolling down her cheeks, one after the other, making quick work of streaking her face.
He cannae see me like this.
She ducked her head, doing a quick scan to find anywhere she could go to compose herself. Of course, seeing as they were in the center of a throng of dancers, there was nowhere to go.
The only place she could see where she could bury herself until her embarrassment faded was Arthur’s massive, strong chest.
And so she did just that.
She pressed her face into her betrothed’s center. She felt it when he chuckled darkly, wrapping his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her.
“There’s nay need to be embarrassed,” Arthur assured her, although he was doing little to hide the icy amusement in his tone. “Ye saw how shite of a dancer I am. I’m the reason ye stumbled.”
That was true. It was his fault. His words and him dippin’ me. I wouldnae have stumbled if it wasnae for that.
The thought eased some of her worries, and slowly, the tears began to ebb. She nodded, sniffling slightly.
Moving her head so it was no longer pressed directly against him, she still didn’t step out of the circle of his arms. She took a quick moment to swipe the backs of her hands over her cheeks, hopefully banishing the last of the evidence that she’d been crying.
Peering up at him through still-damp eyelashes, she found him looking down at her.
He was smirking, which did not surprise her in the slightest. But there was no meanness to it.
“Ye are quite terrible at dancin’,” she admitted, eliciting a dark chuckle from him.
Somewhere within the dining hall, the sound of a clock chiming filled the air.
Ten chimes.
It was getting late. She found it hard to believe how quickly the time had passed as they’d all eaten and danced.
Since they were riding out at first light, she knew that she needed to retire soon. She did not want to be groggy for their journey to her new life. Arthur, apparently, had the same thought.
“We should both retire for the evenin’,” he murmured.
Marissa glanced at him, finding him watching her with his stoic, grey eyes. She nodded.
“Can ye find yer rooms?” she asked. “Or would ye like me to tell a maid to escort ye?”
“Ye can tell me how to get there once I escort ye to yer chambers,” he answered.
She wanted to protest. Marissa didn’t entirely know how she felt about being alone with him, but she was intrigued by the thought.
It wasn’t like they could get up to anything untoward on the short journey to her bedchambers. And he was only staying two corridors away. So it made sense.
And, if she was being honest with herself—which she often was—she wanted to get to know him a little bit more. He was going to be her husband, after all.
“Alright,” she said with a quick nod. “Let me tell me sisters and Michael, and then we’ll go.”
Arthur nodded, pointing toward the two large oak doors that led to the dining hall. “I’ll meet ye just outside.”
She gave him a small smile of acknowledgment and then turned to walk toward the head table. Michael and Freya were exactly where she’d left them.
Freya, hand on her belly as always, was staring at her husband with nothing short of adoration. She was smiling at something he had said, laughter dancing in her light brown eyes.
Mayhap Arthur and I will be like that someday.