This time the music was slow. Smoky. ’Velvet pulled across skin’ kind of rhythm.Sexy.Intimate.
They started to move.
His hand slid to her lower back.
Her stomach flipped ( for one wild moment Autumn was about to place her hands over stomach... check if her babies were fine... because she could literally feel movements inside. She stopped short of doing that... giving everything away).
She swallowed, hard, feeling his breath on her cheek, his body warm and solid against hers.
She tried to look away.
But his voice...no,the rumble in his chest...stopped her.
"Don’t," as if he murmured.
Her eyes snapped back up to his.
The air between them thickened, molten with things neither could say.
He spun her gently, hand never leaving her waist.
When he caught her again, it was with more force.
"You are shaking," he said, almost smug.
"You are imagining it."
Autumn sucked in a breath.He smirked...but it wasn’t teasing." It’s not your fault. It’s alright. I think someone is haunting me already!!! "
It was dangerous.He dipped his head, letting his lips hover near her ear.
Her pulse drummed in her throat, loud and traitorous.She tried to focus on the steps, on the music, on anything that wasn’t him...but the moment his fingers brushed the exposed skin at the shoulder , all thought fled.
"You shouldn’t be touching me like that," she whispered, not daring to look up.
" I...It wasn’t planned. Sorry if that bothers you...but then... you shouldn’t put your hand on my heart as well."
Her gaze flicked up instinctively and she found that her palm was flat against his chest, right over the spot where his heartbeat thundered wildly.
Unruly. Loud. Unashamed.
"I don’t know what you want from me," she breathed, looking away...looking for an escape route.
Kieran spun her. Pulled her back in. Slid one leg between hers in the process...unintentional...or maybe not.
" Are you questioning my integrity? "
Her eyes widened as her body landed squarely against his. Her fingers fisted in his jacket. "And what if I was?"
He stepped in even closer, their bodies flush now...chests pressed, hips aligned, mouths only inches apart.
Every movement between them was too fluid. Too synced. Like their bodies remembered something their minds were pretending to forget.
"I am dancing with you because of this stupid...tradition," she said, shaking. "It means nothing.Please don’t let me give you any false signals, Alpha. I know you are married."
"Signals, you say?" Damn his voice dropped. Too dangerous. " You mean the ones I am getting from your body? "
Every inch of her was aware of him.
The way his palm curved perfectly along the curve of her waist.
The brush of his thumb where his hand dipped too low.
The tension in his thighs, in his jaw.
The subtle hitch in his breath when her fingers accidentally skimmed his chest.
It was foreplay at this point. And she could feel its effect between her legs.
Could he feel it as well?
Every restrained breath was a scream under her skin.
"Alpha," she warned, as his hand traveled upward slightly, his fingertips grazing the bare skin where her dress dipped low.
"I know...I shouldn’t be doing this," he murmured, breath stirring the hair at her temple.
Her lips parted.But nothing came out.
"I am serious," he said. "Tell me."
She swallowed hard. " Let go.Please..."
Something inside him broke open at that.
His hold tightened...Autumn’s eyes shimmered.
Because she wanted to fall into this.Into him.
But reality clawed at the back of her mind. Lyla. The crowd. The world.
Still... the music played on.
And then suddenly Kieran stopped.
Kieran’s hands... dropped.
One moment, they were on her waist, burning through the silk and her skin...trying to dig into what felt like memory.
But the next...he was gone.
He let her go so fast, Autumn stumbled, catching herself in the middle of the dance floor.
She blinked.Once, twice, thrice...
Disoriented. Confused( also hurt...of course).
He didn’t say a word.
Didn’t spare her even a look.
Just shoved gently and simply stormed off.Autumn’s breath caught in her chest.
The ballroom did not notice...not at first. Not the way she did.
Because her whole body was still humming, still aching, still reaching for him.
Her hand dropped to her lower abdomen. Trembling.The babies were on the verge of jumping. It seemed like they were feeling their father too.
A whisper of voices echoed nearby.
"Did he just...walk off?"
"Maybe it was part of the performance...?"
Autumn laughed once.Too bitter.
"Of course," she muttered, eyes narrowing. "Of course he left. Again."
She wrapped her arms around herself.
Velor was back before she could step away, brows lifted. "Well, that was dramatic," he said lightly, but his eyes searched hers. "What did he say to you?"
She shook her head and looked away, cheeks flushed with equal parts humiliation and heat. "Forget it."
Velor did not move. "Do you want me to punch him or hold you?"
Because she didn’t know.Because both sounded good.
But what Autumn didn’t see...what no one in that glittering hall noticed...was the why.
Kieran hadn’t fled the dance floor because of weakness.Or guilt...Or the overbearing desire building inside him.
His eyes had seen something.
A flicker in the crowd.
A figure slipping in and then out of the western exit.
Kieran’s instincts had snapped into place.Too fast.And so he moved. Too fast as well.
Moving through the crowds... away from the music... away from the madding commotion.
The scent of her hit him next.His eyes darkened.He had a hunch, now he was certain.
"Stop," he growled, already yanking off the outer layer of his coat. His claws burst through his fingers, teeth sharpening even as he bounded down the terrace steps outside the hall.
"Alpha...?" She didn’t wait for his response. She took off...like deer runs from a bengal tiger.
The night air cut through his shirt as he bolted through the gardens behind her.