Chapter 57
After slipping away from Brunar and Halix, Nizzara steps into the elevator that only kings have access to, and my code still works. It was passed down from my great grandfather and will continue to work until the technology fails.
The metal doors slide shut, enclosing me with her and her desires. The deepest ones, buried under all the spikes and knives are pure and heart-wrenching.
I’m beating myself up for avoiding them this long.
In my spirit form, I admire the beauty of her soul in that red dress. Its deep neckline and high-slit skirt show miles of honey skin, and it repeatedly steals my breath.
When the elevator opens to a glass floor beneath the night sky, she gasps. My spirit is still tangled around her. After she almost died in front of me, I can’t find any other way to be.
Her heels tap across crystal-clear glass as she passes the center of the rooftop, wind and fog churning around the ancient wards that keep the weather at bay.
Light and music pulse through the floor beneath us as she approaches the edge, surveying the city lights barely twinkling through the night fog below.
“What’d you say is up here for—”
Her words die when she turns to find me in my human form.
“You can’t win the first duel without dancing at least once afterward.” I offer my hand, a new song coming to life below us.
Her brows furrow. “You’re as bad as Liha,” she says, but those desires . . .
“. . . to be danced with . . .”
“. . . to be cared for . . .”
“. . . to be worthy of love . . .”
Her eyes roam my chest before meeting my gaze and her desires begin including me. I didn’t think I could be more of a fool for her, but there she goes doing things like that.
“We’re missing the song,” I whisper.
Her desires are so raw, full of everything that makes her her.
“Fine.” She takes my hand.
I fold her in my arms and dip her low to the ground, catching the fast, hot beat of the music just in time. Her leg hooks around me at the bottom, pinning her against me. I melt everywhere her smooth skin touches me and bring us upright. She turns away in sync with the fiery beat and presses her shoulders against my chest. My hands trail down her rolling hips. I tilt my head into her neck, breathing in her lively heat and soft floral scent. I spin her back around to face me.
Her hands find my chest, her gaze finding mine before she shoves away in time with the song. I catch her hand like a lifeline at sea as she circles me, her face as cold as steel. Her fingers trail up my arm and brush my shoulders all the way around until she’s facing me again.
Wrapping her arms around my neck, I lift her off the ground, hugging her tight against me as we spin. When her heels touch down again, her lips are slightly parted and right in front of me, her desires whispering,
“. . . see his smile again . . .”
“. . . get closer . . .”
I pull her tight, stealing any space between us, and lead her across the rooftop. Each of her backward steps is powerful, precise, and timed perfectly with mine.
She tilts her head back, her leg wrapping around my center again, anchoring her hips to mine as we twirl. I hold her as we spin three, four, five times. When she rises to face me, her hand finds my chest again, and I swear there’s a tremble to her fingers.
“. . . to be touched by Dae . . .”
She begins rolling her hips in time with the beat. My damn hands can’t help it. They find her hips and begin their way up her waist, then her arms as she raises them above her head. I turn her away, then back, then away. Her hips writhe against mine, sparking life into every inch of me.
As the song fades, I dip her one last time, and we’re left in silence at the bottom, our breathing excited.
“Nightlight is a lucky bastard,” I whisper in her ear.
Her big, black eyes find my lips.
“. . . to kiss Dae . . .”
My head tilts closer to hers until her sweet breath teases my lips, time fading away around us.
Until I realize what I’m doing. She deserves better than a deathwalker. I stop myself and return us upright.
“We better get back.”