Chapter 5 #3
Aiden licked his lips, trying to find his voice again, as he stared into deep midnight eyes that were somehow so familiar to him and yet so foreign.
He could feel some of the tension slowly leave Ronan’s sword, allowing Aiden to relax.
The fight was over, and this was becoming something else as he stood there.
A cautious voice was demanding that he step away, put many feet of open air between them, but Aiden couldn’t get his body to move.
Didn’t want to step out of Ronan’s touch.
“It can be,” he said roughly.
“Would you dance with me?”
Aiden blinked. Not what he’d expected from Ronan. He couldn’t remember ever seeing his friend dance with a woman. But to dance with him? “We never would have when we were human—”
“I mean right now. Would you dance with me right now?”
Aiden couldn’t speak. Luckily, he didn’t need to. Ronan carefully slid his wooden sword along Aiden’s until they were disengaged. He dropped his weapon with a muffled clatter on the carpet and just as cautiously caught Aiden’s free hand in his.
“Ronan,” Aiden breathed, hating how shaky his voice sounded to his own ears.
“Shh…I’ve got you. It’s just a dance.” There was a quiet confidence to Ronan’s voice Aiden had never heard before.
The man he’d known was all cocky and bombastic enthusiasm.
This new, self-assured man was even more dangerous than he’d expected.
Maybe that was why he couldn’t get himself to release his death grip on the wooden handle of the sword even after Ronan wrapped his hand around Aiden’s and started them slowly swaying.
Ronan didn’t seem bothered by the weapon.
The hand on Aiden’s hip slid around to rest on his lower back, pressing them closer together while he continued to guide Aiden in a gently rocking dance to music only Ronan could hear.
Or maybe he was dancing to the beat of their hearts knocking against each other.
“I don’t know what you expect,” Aiden said after a moment as he frantically tried to organize his thoughts while at the same time ignore the wonderful feel of Ronan’s arm around him.
“Expect? Nothing.” Aiden frowned at Ronan and his friend laughed.
“It’s true. I thought you were dead. A thousand years, Aiden.
There was no hope of ever seeing you again, hearing your voice.
” He paused and smirked. “Seeing your scowl.” He stopped again and Aiden was shocked to see tears well up in Ronan’s eyes.
“But last night, I saw you. You were smiling and surrounded by your family. You were alive and happy. Last night, we talked. I heard your voice, your chuckle. You said my name. Tonight, we’ve talked, laughed, and fought like the old days.
I’m holding you.” Aiden swallowed hard and when Ronan continued, his voice was rough.
“I treasure each of these things because I never thought I would have them again. And I, like you, I know too well it can be all ripped away in the blink of an eye. So I cherish every second with you.”
Aiden finally dropped the sword he was clinging to and placed his hand on Ronan’s broad shoulder, closing the circle between them. “So do I.”
The roguish smile returned. “That doesn’t mean I don’t hope for more. Even a rich man can find himself wanting something more, and right now, I am a very rich man in your presence.”
“I don’t remember you being half this charming as a human,” Aiden teased.
“I’ve never had a reason to try to be charming.”
Aiden’s head was swimming. He’d never danced with a man before, and he’d never even dreamed that it would one day be Ronan in his arms as they slowly moved about the floor. He was so tempted to give in to Ronan’s charm and sweet words.
Maybe this was all a wonderful dream. Ronan held him and he was smiling, making teasing remarks. The real world seemed so very far away. They could steal this moment. They could escape into this dream and be happy, the kind of happiness they’d never had as humans.
“I’m not expecting you to start trusting me simply because I made you blush and beat you with my sword,” Ronan joked, earning a narrowed gaze from Aiden.
“Couldn’t help yourself.”
Ronan rolled his eyes. “Well, I haven’t changed completely.”
“Clearly.”
“But in all seriousness, I would like to spend time together. I want to talk. Just talk. I want to know what happened to you over all these years. I want to know about your sons. I want to know about this woman who stole your heart away.”
Aiden jerked out of Ronan’s arms, his blood suddenly running cold at Ronan’s words. His friend looked hurt and confused, but Aiden forced himself to ignore it. The mention of Julianna was a splash of ice water waking him from this dream Ronan had been weaving.
What was he doing? Had he not suffered enough heartache and pain over his lovely angel, Julianna?
He regretted not a moment of his time with her, but could he truly risk his heart all over again for Ronan?
Fear squeezed his lungs, making it hard to breathe as he stared at his friend’s confused expression.
Losing Ronan the first time nearly killed him.
Losing Julianna to madness after he’d tried to save her had crushed what was left of his heart.
It was only through the love and devotion of his sons that he’d survived this long.
What would happen if he lost Ronan again?
It wasn’t just his life and heart on the line. What about his sons? What about their safety and well-being? No. This was madness.
“Julianna stole nothing. I gave her my heart freely,” Aiden snapped when he could unclench his jaw. “If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” He spun quickly on his heel and marched to the open doorway.
“I’ll wait for you, Aiden. I’ll wait an eternity. I just got you back,” Ronan replied as Aiden made his escape.
No, before Aiden could run. He was running. Running from Ronan. Running from these old and new feelings the man was stirring up that he just couldn’t afford to feel.
“You shouldn’t,” Aiden whispered and then hurried across the hall and down the stairs.
What the hell was he thinking?
He’d been thinking that he needed to lean in only an inch to brush his lips over Ronan’s. That only an inch had kept him from tasting the man’s mouth, feeling those full lips on his.
At the bottom of the stairs, he halted sharply, his gaze catching on the last place he’d seen Julianna’s ghost. What would she say about Aiden dancing in Ronan’s arms? Would she feel betrayed? Hurt? Disappointed? He’d thought he’d follow her into the next life when their existence here was over.
But he was still here.
“I’m not leaving,” Ronan stubbornly called from the second floor. “If you want me to leave your domain, you have to say the words, Aiden. You have to say them to my face.”
Aiden clenched his jaw and continued to march to his office. A wise man would have gone back up the stairs and said them. He would have removed any hope that Ronan was still tightly gripping. It would have been the kind thing to do. But he didn’t. Couldn’t.
As he reached the door, he could have sworn he heard Ronan’s relieved “Thank you” drift through the silence.
Aiden couldn’t let him go. Not yet.