AFTER THE BAND broke to refresh themselves, the violinist started up a fresh, far more upbeat tune and people filtered back to the dancefloor as the other musicians joined in, excited by the new tempo. The music sent my mood soaring and Ric grabbed my hand and pulled me to dance. Even though his actions were eager I couldn’t help but feel that there was something beneath Ric’s cool exterior that he was either hiding or afraid of. I felt it in the slight stiffness of his movements, his constant, watchful eyes on the room around us, and the way he hesitated before he spoke to me.
“You needn’t worry, you know,” I said before he twirled me away.
“About what?” he asked. I stared at him carefully, reading anything and everything I could: the way he shifted his gaze and refused to meet my eyes; his limited touch and carefully constructed smile.
“About what anyone else thinks of you.” He dipped me low and pulled me up again.
“What are you-?”
“I’ve seen it all before: in me; in other people, but you’ve got nothing to fear.” I pulled myself back and drifted along in a rough circle. “I don’t know what it is you’re afraid of but you don’t have to worry with me.”
“What makes you think I care about how people see me?”
“You’re afraid to talk to other people in case they see something they don’t like. People in Wetherdon can’t comprehend those different from them, regardless of whether they look different or come from a different place.” I stared at the blur of faces around us. “Sometimes people are cruel.”
“Do you think I’m different?” We stopped just off centre and I stared at him.
“Yes,” I didn’t hesitate, “but different is better than ordinary in my opinion.”
Ric laughed, throaty and heart-filled, like it’d been years since he’d last felt the urge to. People turned to stare but neither of us cared as Ric picked me up and hugged me.
“I’ll curse the very ground these people walk if they’ve ever treated a gentle soul like you in the way I’ve been treated the past couple of days,” he said, releasing me. “How is it that you’ve managed to avoid this wretched town’s corruption?”
“Well, technically I don’t live in town.” I stepped out of his arms and continued to dance, desperate to shake off the eyes that continued to watch us after Ric’s outburst. “My father owns a farm at the top of the hill. I shouldn’t even be here tonight.”
“Your father’s a wise man,” he said.
“Yes, he is.” I smiled and moved along with the crowd, dancing, spinning and laughing. “Unfortunately I think I’ll have rather upset my brother.”
“Oh? Is he older or younger?”
“Older by a few years – though, we’re not actually related by blood. His father was a vile man so we took him in years ago.” The words spilled out of me. “The remainder of his family died only a few months ago, actually.” Ric swept me along in silence and when I snuck a look at him, the expression he wore was…odd. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to go into such detail.”
“Not at all.” He shook his head clear. “I just remember hearing something similar, is all.”
I didn’t push, instead steering the conversation back to something more present. “You’re a wonderful dancer.” I could have slapped myself. You’re a wonderful dancer – that was the best I could come up with?
“Just years of practice from another life.” He smiled before picking me up off the floor and spinning me again. The song ended and the room erupted into applause. Kaela looked at me from the other side of the room and gave me a thumbs-up, the heat of the last dance still burning in her face. Ric excused himself and I started toward her.
The music started up again as I skirted the edge of the dance floor when my path was blocked by another man. “Pardon me, Miss. I was hoping you would grant me the pleasure of this dance.”
The man bowed in front of me with his hand outstretched; his face was hidden by a night-black mask, yet there was nothing unseemly about him that would’ve caused me to say no. I looked at Kaela behind him who ushered me to accept and I took his hand. Immediately I felt a strong, unpleasant intensity as it shot through his fingertips. He lifted his head from the bow and I was frightened to look at him as his piercing gaze cut into me. After a few moments I succumbed to his stare and regretted it instantly. His eyes were darker than the mask he wore and they danced with flecks of red like dying embers. It must have been the light, surely.
His unkempt hair sat wildly atop his head as he grasped my hand tighter. The feel of him was making me dizzy, and the hairs on my arms stood on end as goose-bumps rose. He pulled me close, too close for my liking, and coiled his hand around my waist. I prayed for time to fly past so that the song would end and I could escape the man’s clutches. The minutes went by like hours. He traced a finger down my spine and left a freezing trail of skin in its wake.
He studied me with those damned eyes. “Have we met elsewhere?”
I shook my head, refusing to meet his gaze again. “I’ve never left the city.” He pressed his hand harder into my back as I tried pulling away. “Please, don’t hold me so close,” I insisted as his hands pressed me closer still.
He drew in a long, steady breath as he held me, savouring my smell. His strong fingers dug into the soft flesh around my waist, causing me to wince and struggle harder. The music ended to my relief, welcoming an array of applause around us, but he still refused to let me go.
“I’ll ask again,” I stated, patience wearing thin, “please release me.”
“Your scent is so unusual,” he growled beside my ear. “It reminds me of something I can’t place.”
His closeness, his suffocating presence, all of it became too much and I snapped. “I said, let go.” I wrestled in his arms and kicked him in the shin. He cried out, loosening his hold on me briefly, and I twisted out of his grip. A moment passed for him to register what had happened before he moved for me, lunging forward to grab my arm. I jerked back and Ric found him instead, clamping a strong hand over the man’s extended arm.
“Stephan, that’s enough.” He pulled him away and escorted him out of the room.
My heart fluttered as Kaela wrapped her fingers over my shoulder and I steadied my breathing, bathing in the comfort her presence brought me.
“What a beastly man.” She was barely audible over the general chatter of the room and I stared at the empty archway. When Ric returned a few minutes later he apologised for the man – Stephan’s, behaviour.
“Here.” Ric passed me a glass of water. “Again, I’m sorry he rattled you. Stephan doesn’t have much contact with the outside world so sometimes he can be a bit too excitable.”