Page 20 of Ember and Eclipse
He took it begrudgingly.
“To rain and riches!”
“And gods and glory!’
By the third round, though, Rel didn’t want to drink anymore, the spirits already having affected some of her senses.
“Drink mine for me,” she pleaded with Leeda.
The waitress scowled and judgment dripped from her words. “Done already?”
Rel shrugged good-naturedly. “I’m a simple woman,” she replied, a sway overtaking her more than she thought. It sent her into the hunter, who was forced to catch her with a hand on her hip.
“You drink for her then!” Leeda demanded of Devdan.
“I think it’s time to take her—”
“No, I want to keep dancing,” Rel said, pushing off him and rejoining the crowd.
The hunter grumbled something before he knocked both drinks back and sat them down on a nearby table.
She spun, clapped, and moved her body in the language of the song. Devdan watched her all the while from his new sentry spot leaning against a nearby table. It wasn’t until she stumbled that he was immediately in front of her, faster than she thought possible.
“Time for bed,wife.” His hands were on her waist to steady her.
“Just two more songs,” she pouted as good as any spoiled merchant’s wife would.
His grip tightened around her, but she only moved her body beneath his palms. “Dance with me, hunter.” Her voice was breathy and low.
“I don’t dance.”
“Everyone from Romul knows how to dance to this song. Even those who can’t affordfoodknow how to move their bodies to this.”
“I know the tune, but I. Don’t. Dance. Time for bed.”
“Time to dance,” she retorted and turned, moving against him as she did while holding on to his hands, keeping them pressed against her.
After the past few days of riding with him, his muscled body was unexpectedly familiar as she arched against him. She hoped it brought him discomfort, having to pretend he was in love with her.
“If I didn’t know any better,” he whispered in her ear, his hands moving from her waist to her curves to grab her possessively, “I’d almost call this seduction.”
She wasn’t one to blush easily, but her face heated all the same. If she thought seduction would save her, she wouldn’t be above it. But she was certain that the Wolf of Romul could not be swayed with pretty looks or touches promising more.
Devdan’s hands followed the contour of her body. “But Idoknow better. Whatever you’re plotting, just know you won’t succeed.”
“I’m not plotting anything. I just want to live—while I still can.”
“A lie.”
“Atruth.” So true, in fact, that her chest ached with it.
He pulled his hands away from her, and she stepped out of his reach, ending the game before it even began. She turned to face him, but his expression was unreadable.
Couples paraded between them, and the crowd swallowed her up again. Letting the music drag her back in, she picked up the rhythm. Not a moment later, though, she twirled only to be caught by someone else. She looked up at her new partner, ready to apologize for the mistake, but she stopped, the words dying on her tongue.
“I didn’t expect to ever seeyouhere.”
“Silas?”
