Chapter 19

Rowena

A pair of strong hands encircled my waist and whipped me around beneath the flashing lights. A moment later, as I came back to my senses, I found myself looking up at none other than Eric’s face.

My eyes widened slightly. “Where’s Heather?” I blurted out.

Eric simply shrugged and nodded over my shoulder. I followed my gaze to see Adrian and Heather dancing together, although a little stiffly. It wasn’t uncommon for warriors to switch partners during songs like this, but I hadn’t planned on it. I came here with Adrian, not with Eric.

“Are you having fun dancing with Adrian?” Eric asked.

I remained silent. I was still too angry to speak with Eric, and so I tried to turn to go back to Adrian—but Eric’s grip tightened on my waist, and he pulled me closer so that our hips were now touching as we moved on the dance floor.

“I was having a great time, before you pulled me away,” I said in a slightly snarky tone. Although, I wasn’t so sure if I was telling the truth.

If I was being honest, I had been bored before now.

Eric smirked and met my gaze, but his grip didn’t loosen on my waist. If anything, his fingers just dug into my ribs even tighter. Through the silky fabric, I could feel the warmth of his hands against my skin.

“Where have you been lately?” he asked. “You disappeared.”

I scoffed. “So did you,” I bit back. “Besides, I’m still mad at you.”

“Are you?” Eric spun me around with ease. Our footsteps fell back into an effortless sync when I returned to his side. I realized at that moment that I had my opening to pull away and return to Adrian while I was spinning, but I didn’t take it.

“I am.” I sipped what was left of my punch and narrowed my eyes at him. “You know how much I like Adrian. And yet you lied to me like you’re my dad or something.”

“I’m only trying to protect you.” Eric’s hands smoothed over my periwinkle dress. “You look pretty tonight, by the way. I’d hate for some jerk to break your heart.”

“Adrian isn’t a jerk. And besides, you barely even know me anymore. You were gone for three years, remember? A whole lot can change between the ages of fifteen and eighteen.”

“I know you better than you think, Rowena,” Eric growled softly. “Maybe I was gone for three years, but I never lost track of you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Either way, it was messed up for you to lie to me like that. And I won’t be so quick to forgive you, believe it or not.”

Eric’s face seemed to harden beneath the flashing lights, but he said nothing. Instead, he took my drink from my hand and finished it for me, setting it aside on a nearby table. I shook my head in disapproval, but at that moment, the music intensified. There was no going back now.

“Remember how to follow my lead?” he asked.

I nodded stiffly.

Eric began to guide me across the dance floor. Our feet moved in sync with one another as we swayed and dipped to the music. Eric’s hands never left my waist, and mine never left his shoulders.

With him pressed up this close to me, our hearts seemed to beat in tandem. He dipped me low, then pulled me back up and whirled me around, lifting me off my feet again like he did when we were practicing; only now, it was as his equal partner, not as a doll to make fun of.

When he set me back down, we twirled again before pressing up against one another. I didn’t realize it before, but a circle around us had cleared while we were dancing. Other warriors were looking on in awe—all except for Heather and Adrian.

Heather looked furious. Meanwhile, Adrian just looked taken aback.

“They’re staring at us,” I said coldly, still angry with Eric. “We’re making a scene.”

“So?” Eric smirked and dipped me again in an almost dizzying manner. If it weren’t for his skilled hands holding me like a feather in his arms, maybe I would have fallen. “Let them stare.”

“Eric—”

“Just dance,” he said. “You pulled out of our date at the last minute. The least you could do is spare me one dance after all that practicing we did.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle in disbelief. Just as always, my brother was the same arrogant jerk he had been as long as I could remember.

But, at the end of the day, he was my brother. We cared for each other; even when I was furious with him.

“How’s your date with Heather going?” I teased as we continued to move across the dance floor in our intense dance.

Eric shrugged. “It’s fine.”

“What made you want to go out with her?”

He didn’t answer that part. It almost seemed as though he was pretending he didn’t hear me. Our dance continued in a blur of twirls and dips, but there was something almost aggressive, or maybe confrontational about it. When Eric moved, I twirled away; when he pulled me close, I pressed my hands against his chest.

But we never really parted.

Finally, the music came to its end. The sound of applause filled my ears, mingled with the sound of my own heartbeat in my skull. Breathless, I heaved for air against Eric’s chest, my fingers pressed into his shirt.

And then the lights dimmed. This was the moment during the dance when the room went dark; when dance partners were meant to kiss. When mates were supposed to find each other.

When the lights came up, there were bound to be new couples made. I heard the sound of giggling and shuffling feet around me as people sought out the scent of their mates.

But not me; I couldn’t have sensed him even if he had been stuck right under my nose.

Eric didn’t move, either.

I gently pressed my hands into him. “Go,” I whispered. “Find your mate.”

But Eric made no motion to walk away, as if he had no intention of doing any such thing. I pressed a little harder against his chest, but his hands just tightened around my waist.

“Eric…”

No one saw him kiss me in the darkness. But I felt it.

My eyes shot wide open as I felt his lips press unrelentingly against mine. I stumbled against him, pushing harder to get away. Fear gripped my heart—what the hell was he doing? This wasn’t funny! It was mean, and wrong, and…

Suddenly, he released his grip on me—both his hands and his lips.

The lights came back on, and I could only stare up at him, wide-eyed and so shocked I thought I might throw up.

And all the while, Eric just gazed down at me, those brilliant blue eyes of his glinting in the strobing lights overhead. There was a soft smile on his lips as he leaned down close to me to whisper one last thing in my ear; words that were unheard by anyone else over the sound of the blasting music.

“You taste sweet, Rowena.”