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“Are you okay?”
Yves’ sky-blue eyes were so concerned that I had to giggle. It was sweet of him to worry about me, but I felt fine. Better than fine, actually. I felt great. Not a care in the world. Like I was flying and my feet weren't even touching the dance floor. And he wasn’t even as good at dancing as Nokto was.
“Yes, I’m okay,” I reassured him.
“Your face is really flushed,” he said dubiously. “Maybe you should sit down.”
“What’s wrong?” Clavis asked, leaping quickly to the side with his dazed dance partner so they didn’t collide with us when we stopped dancing. I giggled again. If anybody looked like they needed a break, it was her.
“Nothing,” I sang out as Yves took my hand and pulled me away. “Yves is just being a worrywart.”
“Wait, are you drunk?” Clavis released the bewildered woman in his arms to follow Yves and I, a wide grin spreading across his face. Yves’ blue eyes widened.
“Drunk?” he spluttered.
“Drunk?” I repeated, tilting my head to the side as I thought. “Is that what this is?”
Sky-blue narrowed to a sharp glare directed at mirthful gold. The blue bounced off the gold with no effect whatsoever, like a bird hitting a window. Or a cranky little bluebird charging into a solid gold shield.
I couldn’t stop giggling.
“What did you put in her drink?” Yves accused Clavis angrily.
“Nothing,” Clavis defended himself, waving his hands in front of him. Yves shot him another glare before taking my arm and leading me through the dancing couples toward Chevalier, who I knew wouldn’t be happy about this. But it had been a couple of hours since he left me to dance with his brothers, and he was about due for a kiss. Not in front of everybody, though. He’d hate that.
But it would be funny.
I covered my mouth as the peels of giggles turned into full-blown laughter.
“Care to let us in on the joke?” Clavis asked, his golden eyes glittering with amusement. I just shook my head, unable to speak from laughing so hard, which he apparently found hilarious. His shoulders shook, and laughter bubbled from his lips, stopping him in his tracks and making me laugh harder. I would have lost my balance laughing if it weren’t for Yves’ steadying hand.
“Little help here,” Yves called, pulling me away from Clavis, who attempted to stumble after us. Leon swept in and grabbed Clavis by the back of his collar, dragging him after us.
“You wanna explain it to me now, or to Chevalier in a minute?” Leon growled.
“It wasn’t me!” Clavis protested, spurts of laughter punctuating every word. “I’d have to be - he, he - crazy to - ha, ha - spike her drink after-”
We were garnering a lot of attention. I caught Chevalier’s cool blue eyes across the room and rolled my lips inward to bite them, trying to restrain myself as he strode to meet us, but then I remembered my makeup and unrolled my lips. Where was a mirror when I needed one? Lipstick on my teeth would be really embarrassing.
Was I wearing lipstick today?
Chevalier looked upset. He really needed a kiss.
“Sorry, Chevalier,” Leon said. “I was watching him, but-”
“I really didn’t - ha ha-”
While Clavis attempted to mount an unconvincing and pathetic defense, I pulled free from Yves and stepped toward Chevalier. “Don’t worry,” I said, wrapping my arms around one of his and leaning against him. His crystal blue eyes searched my face, and his jaw tensed slightly. “I’m fine. This is probably just because I haven’t eaten today.”
“Why not?” Yves asked, horrified.
I shrugged and rested my cheek against Chevalier’s arm. “I was too worried about the ceremony.”
“Well, the ceremony’s done, so you should probably take this somewhere else and…uh…eat,” Leon suggested, his amber eyes dancing as they flicked from me to Chevalier and back again.
I glanced up at Chevalier and giggled. His eyes had softened a little. “You’re trying not to smile.”
Leon chuckled. “How can you tell?”
“Easy.” I reached up and touched the outer corner of Chevalier’s eye. “He relaxes a little right here. But he’s not doing it anymore because I surprised him.”
Clavis doubled over laughing. Yves covered his mouth as his shoulders shook.
“Yeah, I see it,” Leon said, smiling broadly. “How ‘bout you two get out of here before you give away any more of his secrets?”
“Secrets?” I looked to Chevalier for an explanation. “I wasn’t supposed to tell anybody that?”
“We’ll discuss it later. Come.”
“Oh, good.” I pulled away from his arm enough to walk comfortably at his side. “Because I’d really like to kiss you.”
A thud followed by a roar of laughter made me glance back at his brothers. Clavis had collapsed to the floor, clutching his stomach, and Leon wasn’t holding back anymore. I smiled and looked up at Chevalier.
“Guess I don’t normally say stuff like that.”
The parlor next to the ballroom had an assortment of sofas and lounge chairs for people who needed a break from dancing, and servants roamed the room with refreshments on large silver serving trays. It was mostly empty when Chevalier led me inside and pulled me down to the soft, plush cushions of a rose-red couch. I hadn’t realized how tired I was until that moment.
“You don’t want to go somewhere more private?” I asked.
“Water and hors d’oeuvres for her,” he told a servant.
“Aw, you’re worried about me,” I said, resting my cheek on his shoulder. “That’s sweet.”
“Looks like you’ll be the one needing Jin’s hangover recipe this time,” a familiar haughty voice taunted. Silvio. I smiled brightly up at him.
“Oh, hi, Silvio. Sit down. There’s plenty of room.” I snuggled closer to Chevalier’s side and patted the empty cushion beside me for emphasis. His sea-blue eyes flicked to Chevalier before he sat down, further away than I’d indicated.
“So, this is you drunk,” he said, smirking.
“Yeah, I guess,” I said, shrugging. “At least I’m a happy drunk. Mean drunks are the worst. I’ve never liked to get hit. But I guess nobody does.”
His smile fell into a frown. The servant returned with a glass of water and a plate of food, and Chevalier took both, giving me the water and a firm order to drink it.
“I really don’t think Clavis did anything to my drink,” I said, tilting the glass back and forth and studying the way the clear liquid sloshed about. “He’d have to be stupid to do that right after someone tried to poison me. Are you sure this is safe?”
Chevalier took the glass from me, took a sip, and handed it back. “Drink,” he repeated.
I giggled and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “I wasn’t actually worried, but thanks. After I drink this and eat that, can we go somewhere else? Alone?”
“Yes. Drink.”
“Wow. This is disgusting,” Silvio commented. I could hear the smirk in his voice, but I didn’t stop drinking to look. The sooner I downed this glass of water and ate that plate of hors d'oeuvres, the sooner Chevalier and I could leave. “So, another month, and then the wedding?” he asked.
I choked and coughed. Chevalier took the glass from me and rubbed my back soothingly.
“Or… Not?” Silvio asked, suddenly hesitant.
“We haven’t set a date,” Chevalier replied.
“Is she okay?”
I recognized the new voice as belonging to Keith, but I couldn’t acknowledge him while I was coughing so much. Somebody must have nodded, because nobody asked any further questions or said anything else until I spoke again.
“Sorry,” I croaked. I cleared my throat one last time and dropped my hand to my lap. Chevalier’s hand left my back to rest on my shoulder as he draped his arm around me. “I’m fine. Just swallowed wrong. Hello, Keith.”
“I hadn’t had a chance to congratulate you two yet,” he said, smiling his soft, gentle smile from his seat on a lounge chair across from us.
“Thank you. I’m sorry your parents could make it this time.”
Chevalier set the plate of hors d’oeuvres on my lap. I frowned at it, but sighed and picked it up. We weren’t going anywhere until I ate.
“They’re sorry, too,” Keith said. “But I brought their gifts, and they’ll definitely be here for the wedding.”
I stopped with the hors d’oeuvres halfway to my mouth. “They didn’t have to-”
Silvio laughed. “Last I heard, there ain’t no space to walk in Sariel’s office from all the stuff he’s got crammed in there for you.”
“But I don’t need-”
“Don’t even start that crap,” Silvio snapped. “You’re a princess now, and you’re about to be a queen. Get used to it.”
I frowned at him. “You realize I was a nobody five months ago, right?”
“Ivetta.”
I turned to Chevalier and pursed my lips. “How am I supposed to eat when I’m talking? I’m not Luke.”
“No, he’s right,” Keith interjected kindly. “Just eat.”
I sighed, but nodded and took a bite. If they expected Chevalier to carry the conversation, they would be disappointed. He wasn’t exactly known for his small talk.
“What’s the deal with Obsidian?” Silvio asked. As if in answer, a glacial chill swept into the room, and I didn’t have to look at the door to see who’d entered. There was nothing funny about Gilbert. I took another bite, deciding it was probably better to keep my mouth full so he couldn’t trick me into saying something I shouldn’t.
“Oh? Talking about me behind my back? That’s not very nice.”
His tone was as pleasant and friendly as ever, and I realized I’d never seen him actually being friendly. I wondered what that would be like. Gilbert being nice. What a thought. I looked over at him as he took a seat in a lounge chair next to Keith, and I tried to picture it. He did a magic trick for Rachel once and left her with the impression that he was nice…
The image of the five-year-old girl putting a floral crown on Licht’s head flashed through my mind, except this time, the circlet of wildflowers rested on Gilbert’s black hair. I giggled.
“What is it, little dove?” he asked, obviously amused.
I shook my head. “Something I probably shouldn’t say. And you guys probably shouldn’t talk business in front of me, since Chevalier doesn’t want me hearing everything, and I probably don’t want to hear it, anyway. Can we go now?”
“Hey, you don’t have to leave because of him,” Silvio protested.
Chevalier took my empty plate and said, “We’re not.”
I giggled and added, “We’re leaving because we want to be alone.”
Gilbert chuckled. “So honest.”
“Well, you hate lying. Oh, and whatever business you want to talk about will have to wait until Chevalier feels like dealing with you,” I said, letting Chevalier pull me to my feet. “Which won’t be until the day after tomorrow. Bye!”
The moment of stunned silence gave way to ripples of laughter as Chevalier and I exited into the hallway. He chuckled and squeezed my hand. “How many glasses of champagne have you had?”
“Um… Two or three, maybe?” I guessed. “I wasn’t really counting. Your brothers just brought them to me, and I drank them. Why?”
He smirked. “Future reference.”
“No fair! I don’t know what your limit is.”
“Yes, you do.”
I made a few guesses as we traversed the halls, all wrong, and I was running out of ideas by the time we reached the library. It didn’t help that I was also beginning to feel light-headed.
“Well, you must have a limit,” I mused as he held the door open for me. “Everybody does. Even Leon, although I’ve never seen him reach it.”
He closed the door after us and slipped an arm around my waist, leaning in to speak directly into my ear in a low, husky voice. “I’ll give you a hint.”
The tone of his voice and the heat of his breath in my ear made my heart race and warmth flood to my cheeks, and that was before his teeth nibbled at my earlobe. That took my knees out from under me - literally. I would have fallen if he hadn’t caught me, and when he scooped me up, there was a definite glint of mischief in his eyes.
“I have a feeling I’ll be embarrassed about this tomorrow,” I said, smiling as a thrill of anticipation ran through me.
“Or sooner.”
He set me on a sofa, and I grabbed his jacket lapels and kissed his smirking lips before he could kiss me. His surprised grunt and initial stiffening made me think I’d made a mistake, but then he relaxed and leaned in, his lips molding against mine and his knee digging into the cushion next to me as he pushed me against the backrest. I released his lapels to cup either side of his face, splaying my fingers across his jaws and changing the angle of the kiss. He responded immediately, his tongue sliding across my lips and his hands running from my shoulders down my arms - and then he grabbed my wrists and pushed back from me.
“Chevalier?” I asked, confused.
His eyes burned hot, hovering inches away from mine, but they didn’t come closer.
“You disobeyed my direct order.”
I stared at him for a moment. “Maybe I’d understand if I were sober, but I’m not, so I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Five months ago.”
That didn’t help.
“Five…what?”
“You were not a nobody before we met,” Chevalier said patiently.
I bit my lip. “Oops. So… That means I’m in trouble.”
He nodded. His smirk was back and more dangerous than ever. I licked my lips.
“I’m your limit, aren’t I?” I guessed.
He nodded again and leaned in, and I closed my eyes, but he stopped just shy of my lips, his breath ghosting across them. I opened my eyes again in confusion. He chuckled and guided my wrists around his neck, releasing them there and freeing his hands to pull me onto his lap when he shifted to sit on the sofa beside me. I interlaced my fingers behind his neck, and he brushed his knuckles across my cheek, opening and turning his hand as it moved across my skin to rest his thumb on my cheek and seat his fingers against my hairline, reaching around to the back of my neck. His eyes roamed across my face, as though he was looking for something, or memorizing every detail, and I bit my lip nervously, wondering why he was taking so long to just kiss me.
“Chevalier?” I asked in a small voice.
“Your worth did not begin when I recognized it, little dove,” he murmured.
A flurry of butterflies took flight in my stomach, and I would have looked away from embarrassment if his hand and his eyes hadn’t held me captive. He really believed it. Every time he said something like that, I knew he believed it, and it still came as a shock to me. Nobody had ever spoken to me the way he did, and nobody had ever looked at me the way he looked at me, either. It made me feel happy and shy and confused and grateful and-
And then he kissed me, and I couldn’t think about anything anymore. Just the thrill of this intimacy, the warmth of his lips on mine, the gentleness of his touch as he cradled my head in his hand, the smell of roses and the sound of our mingled breaths, the silent question he asked when his tongue brushed across my lips. I hadn’t expected a slow buildup, but I didn’t mind it. His gradually intensifying kisses made me feel even more lightheaded, and his hand slid across the silken fabric of my dress, keeping within the boundary lines of my comfort, and, for a while, I couldn’t remember what it was even like to not be asked, to not have a say.
I didn’t want to think about it anyway.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ196LhtIKaE
