FOURTEEN #2
Thane’s voice pulls me from my thoughts.
“Would you like to dance?”
“Yes,” I say softly, smiling as I place my hand in his.
When I look into his smoke-gray eyes, I catch the gold flecks shifting within them. They almost seem to dance beneath the ballroom light.
He laces his fingers with mine and leads me to the dance floor. Turning me gently to face him, he places a hand against the small of my back. His palm is warm against my bare skin, and a shiver races up my spine.
“So the Warlord does dance,” I tease, recalling how he claimed it wasn’t appropriate to dance with me during the Summer Solstice.
He chuckles, glancing away for a moment. But when his eyes find mine again, they smolder, like the firelight I saw reflected there beside the bonfire that night.
Then he draws me closer until our bodies press together, and we begin to sway to the music. Around us, the orchestra softens into a distant hum, leaving only the everlasting pull between us.
“Promise me something?” Thane asks, his breath warm against my ear.
Anything.
“That depends,” I tease instead.
“Rian spoke to me about what happened at the shop.”
I tense instantly.
“Please no talk of the Shadeheart tonight,” he murmurs softly. “No war. No strategy.”
Then, he presses a gentle kiss to my neck, just beneath my ear.
A smile tugs at my mouth. “I promise.”
“Thank you.”
Relief slips quietly into his voice.
“We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Tonight . . . ” His hand tightens slightly at my back. “I just want this.”
He pulls me tighter against him, if that’s even possible.
A thought occurs to me. I never had a chance to ask Thane about what I felt when looking at the portrait of his family.
I hesitate before murmuring, “Was that you? Yesterday?” I pull back, searching his face. “I think I felt you through the bond.”
His thumb brushes a gentle circle against my back.
“Yes,” Thane answers with a quiet certainty. “I felt sadness in the middle of my meeting. And it wasn’t mine.” Silence settles briefly between us. “Then I knew it was you.”
“I felt loss in that sadness,” he murmurs, his voice meant only for me.
His hand tightens slightly at my waist, keeping me close.
“And I wanted you to know that I felt you.” His thumb traces another relaxed circle against my skin. “That you’re not alone.”
I stare up at him, stunned by the tenderness in his gesture.
“I felt that,” I whisper. “It was like I was in your arms.”
Thane smiles softly, but concern still lingers beneath it. His fingers curl more securely around mine.
“Why were you sad?” he asks carefully, like he’s handling something fragile.
“I saw a painting of your family—from when you were young. All that you lost.”
My gaze drifts briefly across the ballroom.
“And it made me think of my parents. My home.”
A lump rises in my throat, the familiar ache of loss pressing in. I blink, looking past him, beyond the dance floor, as if I might somehow see my parents waiting for me. But of course, there’s only the glow of chandeliers, the low murmur of voices, the music swelling around us.
Thane doesn’t rush to fill the silence. He simply holds me, one hand secure against my back, the other still tangled with mine.
“You miss them.”
It’s not a question.
“It doesn’t fade,” Thane murmurs softly. “But neither does love.”
I nod, swallowing hard. “If they could see me now . . . ” My voice falters slightly. “I wish they could have known you.”
“I wish that too,” he says, brushing his knuckles gently against my cheek.
I smile despite the sting in my eyes. I blink quickly, willing the tears away.
I won’t let them fall. Not now. Not when Elira spent ages perfecting the kohl around my eyes, tracing each stroke with the precision of an artist. Something I know, without question, I could never recreate myself.
The ballroom glows around us, golden and endless. I should be paying attention to the dance, to the guests watching us, to the careful placement of each step.
Instead, all I can think about is him.
Cedar. Leather. And something that is unmistakably Thane.
The dark fabric of his tunic molds against the broad strength of his body. The cloak draped over his shoulders only makes him look more like the Warlord he is—untouchable, unmovable.
Except right now, he isn’t untouchable.
Right now, his hand rests against the small of my back, his fingers flexing ever so slightly as we move together.
Right now, he is holding me.
And I am so, so gone.
“This place is breathtaking,” I murmur, hyper-aware of every point where our bodies touch. “I feel like I’m in a dream.”
His voice roughens slightly, enough to send heat racing through me.
“You look like you belong in one.” His gaze drifts over me. “That dress . . . it’s stunning on you.”
Heat blooms across my cheeks.
Gods, he ruins me with just a look. Get it together, Amara.
I force a small smile, trying—and failing—to ignore the way his eyes linger.
Linger like he wants to devour me.
A shiver rolls through me, my skin still remembering the way his hands felt on me two days ago—how his breath turned ragged, how his lips traced fire across my skin, how he pressed me against the bed with nothing but hunger in his eyes.
And then, of course, the interruption.
The moment shattered. Desire left hanging, unresolved, simmering beneath the surface even now.
I swallow hard, dragging my focus back to the present. But when my eyes meet his—smoke-gray and smoldering—I know he’s thinking about it too.
Thane raises his arms, as if on display for me. “And how do I look?”
There’s a playful glint in his eye. I laugh, shaking my head.
Dangerous. Devastating. Unfairly gorgeous.
Instead, I say, “Like royalty.”
I force myself to look away from his ridiculously handsome face, my heartbeat refusing to settle. Desperate to collect myself, I let my gaze sweep over the opulent ballroom. The sheer grandeur of it all—it’s almost too much.
He’s almost too much.
“It’s just . . . overwhelming,” I murmur, my voice barely above a breath. “I never thought I’d find myself in a place like this.”
Thane pulls me closer, as if there’s any space left between us. I can feel the hard lines of muscle beneath his tunic, his warmth seeping into me. My hands tighten slightly against his broad shoulders, grounding myself in something real.
“You belong here, Amara,” he says, the conviction in his voice anchoring me. “More than anyone. Meanwhile, everyone else is trying to figure out how someone like you is even real.”
He lowers one of my hands from his shoulders and presses it against his chest. Heat twists low in my stomach. His eyes search mine with something fierce and almost reverent.
“You’re the only one who can wield all four elements. The only one in all of time. You’re not just remarkable—you’re miraculous.”
His eyes search mine with quiet certainty.
“And somehow, you still walk into rooms like this believing you don’t belong in them.”
His thumb brushes against my hand.
“Amara, darling, the world is lucky to have you in it.”
Emotion swells so suddenly in my chest it almost hurts.
“Sometimes, I still feel like that girl from the village,” I admit softly. “All this grandeur, all these people . . . it feels like a world away from where I come from.”
Thane’s fingers trace a deliberate path along the sigils on my spine, top to bottom: Fire. Air. Water. Earth.
My dress leaves my back nearly bare, and every graze of his fingertips sends my thoughts spiraling.
He untangles our hands and presses mine more firmly against his chest.
Gods.
I can feel his heart pounding beneath my palm.
His gaze finds mine—soft, full of wonder. As if, at this moment, I am everything.
“Your roots are part of what makes you extraordinary. Don’t ever doubt that. It’s one of the many reasons I fell for you. You’re not just some village girl.”
His eyes burn into mine.
“You’re everything.”
His fingers continue their slow path along my spine, each deliberate stroke sending my breath stuttering. The ballroom fades—the music, the guests, the glittering chandeliers—none of it exists anymore.
Only him.
Only this.
I can barely seem to breathe.
Then, suddenly, Thane stills.
His fingers freeze against my back. The softness vanishes from his face in an instant.
“Come with me.”
I nod immediately.
I would go anywhere with him.