Page 54 of A Wolf's Treasure
Thirty minutes later, he walked into the dance hall. It was a wee bit early, but the place was already filling up. Diane, a blond human lass in her early forties with an arse that filled her jeans nicely and a smile that warmed his heart caught his eye.
Duncan gave her a saucy wink and grinned.
She smiled back.
As he approached to claim her for a dance, she took a sip of her wine and fluffed her hair. Duncan had danced with her many times before, and they’d grown to have an easy partnership on the dance floor.
Even better, they’d developed a comfortable relationship off of it. Diane was a fine woman. Duncan had always wished he could offer her more than a few hours of pretending. Perhaps tonight, he would get that chance.
“Hi there,” she greeted him when he arrived at her table.
“Hi yerself,” he responded. When he took her hand, he kissed the back of it, ignoring the fact that every cell in his body was trying to bring this to a screeching halt before it even began.
Leading her to the dance floor, Duncan took her in his arms. The song was a slow, lazy two-step, and as they began to move around the floor, he was glad for it. His feet couldn’t seem to get it together and he kept mis stepping, starting off on the wrong foot, running into people behind him. To cover his unusual awkwardness, he told her, “Forgive me, lass. I’ve had a hell of a day.”
“Oh, no,” she said. “It’s probably me. I haven’t been dancing in a while and it always takes me a minute to get back into it.” Diane smiled at him.
He smiled back, appreciating the way she tried to cover for him. She had a fine smile, all white teeth and crinkly eyes, and now that he thought about it, he didn’t remember seeing her in quite some time. “I hope everything is okay with ye?”
“Oh, yes. Everything’s fine. Just been working a lot.”
He inquired as to what she did for a living, and they spent the rest of the song in easy conversation.
Yet, everywhere he looked, he saw dark curls, covert looks, and a smile that teased him with the radiance he knew was lying beneath the surface.
As they eventually fell into a more comfortable rhythm—a bit unsteady, but better then when they’d started—Duncan breathed in the woman in his arms, trying to eradicate Ryanne’s scent from his being. But the perfume Diane wore, never bothersome to him before, was cloying and too strong and made him want to sneeze. A far cry from the sweet, subtle scent he’d grown used to having in his nose. One that only made him want to get closer to the soft body that wore it.
At the end of the song, Duncan stepped back and kissed her hand again. He and Diane had, at times, done a little making out before. And though, of course, it had never led to anything more, the kissing had been quite pleasant. After a brief hesitation, Duncan decided he was ready to try it again, eager to see if the response would be different now that…
Taking a deep breath to steady his sudden nerves, he said, “How aboot we get a drink?”
“Sure, that sounds great.”
Keeping a hold of her hand, he led her to the bar where he ordered her another glass of wine and a beer for himself. A seat opened up on the end, closest to the back door, and Duncan took a seat, tugging Diane forward until she was standing between his legs.
They talked casually about nothing, both trying to pretend they weren’t obviously aware where this was going.
When the conversation began to fizzle out, he kissed her.
Diane’s soft lips tasted like the sweet wine she was drinking. They were very soft. Very pleasant.
And very wrong.
But, he persisted, pulling her in closer until she was straddling his leg in the dark corner of the bar. He heard her heart pounding over the music. Smelled the musk of her arousal. And, after a few more kisses…
It started to affect him.
Duncan fell still. Diane’s hand was high on his thigh, brushing the ridge of his cock. And his cock was liking it.
But it wasn’t because of the woman in his arms. It was Ryanne who filled his head. Ryanne, whose scent he craved and whose curves he imagined he was feeling against him. Whose lips he wanted beneath his. Whose moans he wanted in his ears.
With a sigh, he gently pushed Diane away. “How aboot another dance?”
Confusion flickered across her features, but she pulled herself together and smiled. “Oh, uh. Sure. Yeah.”
Duncan chugged down his beer and led her out to the floor. They danced for three more songs, all more awkward then the first, before she told him she needed to go to the ladies’ room and hooked up with someone else when she came out.
He wasn’t hurt about it. Diane was a fine lass and she deserved to find a man who could give her his full attention.
