Page 48 of Their Property
The room and everyone in it fell away the moment our hands touched. Dyno drew me into him with a calm assuredness while still allowing plenty of slack for me to stay distant. Which was the absolute last thing I wanted.
My free hand rested on his shoulder while his hand found gentle placement on my waist. He didn’t go anywhere near the bare skin of my back, and I wanted to lean in and arch until he touched me there, until he completely erased the sensation of Nathan’s hand.
Dyno timed the music perfectly and started spinning us slowly at the right beat. Just as I suspected, he was graceful in his movement and easy to follow.
“Where did you learn to dance?” I loved that his handsome face was my only focus while everything else blurred.
“Places,” he answered coyly, lips pulling up in a half-smile. His smile deepened the lines around his eyes, and I wanted to kiss every one.
“Is that how it’s gonna be?” I teased. My hand slipped from his shoulder, running to his upper back in a movement that drew us closer together. “I ask you questions and you give me one-word answers?”
“It doesn’t have to be.” His forearm now braced securely against my lower back, and I knew we had to be the most intimate-looking couple on the dance floor. None of these old pearl-clutchers would dance so scandalously, not even the ones who’d been married for decades. “I’m a little surprised you agreed to dance with me.”
“Why?” My fingers brushed one of the braids through his silky hair.
“Because everyone can see us.” Dyno didn’t appear deterred by that. If anything, he seemed emboldened and drew me flush to his body. “After that intervention they gave you too.” He clicked his tongue in joking disapproval. “You really are a bad girl, Kyrie.”
“I’ve always been bad,” I sighed. “Never quiet enough. Never obedient enough. Always getting involved in affairs I should stay out of. People find it charming until they realize they can’t control me.”
“You weren’t born to be controlled.” Dyno pressed his cheek to mine, his face so warm and smooth andclosethat it made me gasp. “You were born to make noise, to bring changes. The valkyrie you see isn’t an accident. I believe she’s a guide to you. And she’s telling you to strike your axe on your shield until everyone pays attention. Don’t ever let anyone silence you.”
“Wow,” I breathed. Stunned was the only way I could describe the effect his words had on me. “Grudge told you about that, huh?”
Dyno pulled away, regret in his face. “I’m sorry if that was meant to be in confidence. The three of us tend to share everything.” He made another expression that I couldn’t interpret.
What else do you share?I wanted to know. They shared each other, obviously, in a committed albeit unconventional relationship. One that I fantasized about and was endlessly curious about. I never did like conventional things in general.
“No, it’s fine,” I reassured him with a smile. “I’m just glad you don’t think the valkyrie is ridiculous. My father or anyone else would have written it off as nothing. Or worse, a sign of a mental breakdown.”
“You seem mentally sound to me. And messengers from the gods are never nothing.” His fingers teased the edge of my dress on my back. “Your feelings are never nothing.”
I was feeling emboldened right then and brought my hand closer to his neck, brushing his shirt collar with the edge of my finger. “Thank you, Dyno.”
“Dylan,” he said softly. “My given name is Dylan.”
Sparks and flutters burst in my chest. It felt like I’d been given a precious gift. “Is that what you’d prefer me to call you?”
“In private, maybe.” His eyes were bright with affection, his smile warm. “If you would like to.”
I remembered him saying how they used each other’s given names as a form of intimacy. They weren’t secrets exactly, but the significance was different enough that I was moved to be included. As we flew across the dance floor in our small world of just the two of us, I couldn’t imagine anything more private and intimate.
“I think I will,” I said. “Dylan.”
FIFTEEN
T-BONE
Dyno was right, as usual. I did need a walk outside to cool down. By the time I headed back to the ballroom, I felt adequately calm and like I didn’t need to snap Nathan’s neck with my bare hands. Once I stepped inside that overly-glitzed room though, my temper soared back up for completely different reasons.
Kyrie was dancing.
With Dyno.
“What…the fuck?”
The curse tumbled from my lips as I watched them move and spin across the open floor. He held her close. Very close. People still sitting at tables or watching from the edge of the dance floor watched them as well and whispered to each other.
Shit, shit, shit. This is not fucking good.
