A sickening thought occurred to me. “Are you here for Prince Sawyer? I won’t let you take him. You’ll have to go through me first.”
Rowan studied me in silence for several heartbeats. “I’m not here for the prince. He no longer interests me.”
“Then why—”
He was suddenly much closer. Faster than my mind could process. His arms came around my waist, and he spun me around, pushing me against the wall. The shadows concealed us both as he peered at me, the dark-gold of his eyes bright.
Rowan leaned in, brushing his lips up the side of my neck. “Your pulse is quick. Are you scared of me?”
“No.” And strange enough, it was true. My pulse quickened for an entirely different reason as I caught the smoky notes of black cardamon wafting from him. “I still have your cloak. And your dagger. But I don’t have them with me right now.”
He pressed closer, sliding his hand to my lower back. “Keep them.”
“I thought your dagger was special. That’s what you said when you let me borrow it.”
“Well, now I’m giving it to you.” Rowan lifted his other hand to my nape and played with my hair. “That necklace protects you well enough, but I like knowing something of mine is protecting you too.”
“Why do you care?” I asked, voice shaking.“And why did you give me the necklace back? I thought you were going to sell it for a big bag of coin.”
“I found something far more valuable than coin,” he responded. His voice shook too. “A treasure unlike any other.” He lowered his face again and kissed the base of my throat. “You’re such a goddamn headache. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
My blood was an inferno, burning through my body. Truth was, I hadn’t stopped thinking about him either.
Laughter spilled out from the ballroom as the balcony door opened. Two women stepped outside, their hands entwined. We were in the corner beside the railing, still concealed in shadow, so they hadn’t spotted us yet.
“That’s my cue to leave,” Rowan whispered, his mouth close to my ear. “Don’t forget about me, little treasure.”
As if I could.
He released me and sank deeper into the darkness. Just like what happened with Lord Onyx, the shadows then swallowed him, and he disappeared.
I lifted a hand to my neck, right over the spot where he’d kissed me. Rowan was one of the men I was destined to be with. Why else would I feel so strongly? An intensity he felt too.
In a sort of daze, I returned to the ballroom. Everything came flooding back, the sights, sounds, and smells. As the orchestra played, people danced and chatted. Music surrounded me, as did waves of dancing bodies. I spotted Miles chatting with a girl in a yellow dress. A matching bow was in her hair. He offered her his hand, and the two of them made their way to join the other dancing couples.
Good for you, bud.
I then caught a familiar scent of warm spice and turned around, a smile not far behind.
“May I have this dance?” Maddox asked, offering me his hand. “I only have five minutes before I need to return to my post.”
“Then we shouldn’t waste a single second.” I slipped my hand into his.
He led me to the ballroom floor and placed one hand at my waist, linking our fingers with the other. My breath caught as I stared up into his blue eyes, like an ocean of mystery and a love so deep I could drown in it. We joined the other dancers, moving to the mid-tempo song. It didn’t matter that I had two left feet and couldn’t dance to save my life. Maddox took the lead, and we glided across the floor with ease.
“Where did you learn to dance like this?” I asked in shock. “Did they teach you in knight school? Lesson one, this is how you wield a sword. Lesson two, this is how you get your groove on to woo all the pretty boys and girls.”
Maddox smiled. It was so damn warm. “The only pretty boy I wish to woo is you, sweetheart.”
“No wooing necessary,” I said, my heart turning to mush at the nickname. “That ship has sailed. I’ve fallen hopelessly under your spell, Captain Smolder.”
“Gods, you amuse me.” He slowly spun us around the dancefloor as the orchestra transitioned to a slower melody. “I noticed our physician being swarmed by admirers.”
Our physician.I grinned like a fool.
“I think Professor Madeline wants to be his sugar momma,” I said. “Too bad he’s already taken.”
“Sugar momma?” Maddox asked, bewildered. I snorted a laugh, which brought that softness back to his eyes. “To answer your earlier question, I learned to dance from a cook in the orphanage prior to me joining the academy. She taught all of the children in between our meals. She also gave us etiquette lessons. So that we’d grow up to be proper young ladies and gentlemen, she’d tell us.”
