“I’m glad you like it here,” Boaz said. “As horrible as your parents may have been, I was worried you might miss home.”
I laughed out loud. “There is nothing I miss about home. And thank you for the break from magic. It’s been nice to live as if I’m normal.”
“Of course,” he said. “All in due time.”
***
That night, before his friends arrived, Boaz surprised me with a candlelight dinner on the back patio. The whole area was lit by dozens of candles grouped together on the sides, and some hung in little baskets from the lattice roof. At the center of the dining table, a gas fire pit provided just enough warmth to keep autumn’s cool sting at bay. Mozart played from speakers in the corner.
“I hope you like it,” Boaz said and handed me a full bouquet of blood-red roses.
Eyes wide and eyebrows lifted, I said, “No one’s ever done anything like this for me before.”
“I should hope not.” He walked to the table and slid out my chair.
“It really is beautiful.” I sat in front of a decorated plate brandishing a thick filet mignon, fettuccini Alfredo, and asparagus covered in sweet butter and garlic. As delicious as it looked, I remained still, even after Boaz sat opposite me.
“Is something wrong?” he asked, and I swore anger tinged his voice.
Over his shoulder, my gaze locked with the yellow eyes of Boaz’s wolf, Hunwald, who was sitting at the edge of the forest, watching us closely. I glanced away quickly. “No, not at all. It’s just—I feel funny eating in front of you.”
He tsked me. “Eat. All this was done for your enjoyment.”
“But it’s hardly necessary.”
“But it is. And you should expect it. Don’t settle for anything less.”
I nodded, but I didn’t really understand. I cut the steak and took a quick bite while he watched me intensely.
“Must you do that?” I asked.
“Do what?”
“Watch me while I eat?
He licked his lips. “It’s amazing the way your mouth moves.”
“And some think it’s amazing the way dogs mate, but it doesn’t mean you should stare.”
Boaz leaned back in his chair. “You surprise me sometimes.”
“Not as much as you surprise me.” I took another bite.
Boaz’s gaze lifted past my shoulder and to the darkness behind me. “We may need to leave soon.”
I lowered my fork. “Why?”
“I don’t like staying in one place too long. When you’ve lived as long as I have, you tend to gain enemies.”
“Where would you go?” I asked. I nervously tapped my fork against the porcelain plate. This might be the time I split ways with Boaz. This thought created a pain in my gut, and I wasn’t sure if it was because I was dreading living on my own or leaving Boaz.
“We could go to London, perhaps.”
I swallowed hard at his emphasize of the word ‘we’. “I didn’t know you had another home.”
“I have several. It’s a necessity.” He placed his hand over mine to stop the clanking of the fork.
“Why?”
“You never know when you might need to escape.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Do you escape often?”
“Not anymore.”
“What changed?”
“You.”
My gaze lowered to my lap, and my cheeks burned hot.
And then he said, as if he’d rehearsed it a thousand times, “Why should one escape when they’ve found true love?”
“That’s not it,” I blurted. I wasn’t sure how I knew this, but I knew he didn’t love me, at least not in the way most men love a woman.
“Of course it is.”
“No. It’s not.”
Anger flashed in his eyes but only briefly. “I guess I’ll have to make you believe me.” He stood up. “May I have this dance?”
My heart raced. Why was it always a rollercoaster of emotions with him? I hated him, I loved him. A sigh escaped my lips. I wouldn’t reject him.
I removed the napkin from my lap and accepted his cold hand. He pulled me to his chest and wrapped his arm tightly around my waist.
As if on command, the music changed—a dark and exotic tune. Violins hummed to the beat of a bass drum, and the low notes pumped my body as if it were a heartbeat. I felt the vibrations in every part of me, and it ignited my skin with an intense heat. Boaz spun me around, dancing to the throbbing rhythm, round and round, faster and faster.
The candles flickered and burned low, taking light with them. A heavy mist seemed to rise from the ground, almost as if a thousand ghosts. They crowded and swirled around our legs, parting for us only when we danced through.