AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Rainbows,” we said at the same time and laughed.
“One day, I’ll take you there,” Alex said.
“No, you couldn’t.” I ducked my head. “I bet that’s like a dating or honeymoon spot. Your girlfriend wouldn’t like it if you took me.”
He chuckled. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“No?” I was suddenly very interested in a portrait on the wall. I had no idea about Olympia’s historical figures, so who knew if the bearded man in the toga was important. “That’s hard to believe. Guys like you are snapped up quick. I mean, I bet every woman in a hundred-mile radius would forget about monogamy if it meant they’d get a piece of you.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked, cracking up.
Who the hell knew what I was talking about. I had graduated from embarrassing blushing to even more embarrassing rambling. This is what happens when you spend your prime teenage dating years separated from boys by a locked ward. What I wouldn’t give to have that alarmed door between us now.
“I don’t get much time for girlfriends in between training, training, and more training,” Alex said. “Plus, with who my dadis...” He shook his head. “I never know if someone is getting close to me because they want to be with me or because they want to get to my dad through me. Want to know the most amazing thing about you, Aella?”
“What—? Me? No— I—” I snapped my mouth shut on my runaway tongue.
“It’s that you don’t have a clue who I am.” He softened, looking down at our still-touching hands. “I don’t have to wonder with you. Your blushes and smiles really are just for me.”
If someone held a match to my face, it would’ve caught fire and brought the whole inn burning down around our feet. Was this an Olympian thing? Were all the guys here so direct?
“Come on.” Alex was suddenly on his feet. “Dance with me.”
“Dance? But I don’t know this music or how to dance to it.”
“What’s to know?” He tugged me up. “All you got to do is stick and move. Never let your feet land in the same place, and keep your hands above your head.”
“None of that sounds right.”
He winked. “I’ll show you.”
With that, Alex took off like a shot—jumping in the middle of the dance floor. My jaw dropped as he let loose. Stomping, jumping, clapping, and whooping, Alex wasn’t afraid of monsters, sparking cell phones, girls who jump on his head, or public humiliation.
He cleared the dance floor with his hooting and flailing around, and I screamed with laughter.
“Get over here,” he cried, holding out his arms. “Time you learned to dance like an Olympian.”
“You mean an Alexandrian because all the Olympians don’t know what you’re doing!” The shared glances and hanging mouths backed me up.
“Whichever one it is”—he spun in the air and landed on his toes, thrusting his arms in the air—“you still have to dance with me.”
“Yeah,” the harp player called. “Dance with the man.” He nodded at his friends, who quickly picked up their instruments. “Everyone! It’s a celebration.”
I couldn’t resist any longer. Laughing, I took Alex’s hands and we spun—twisting and spinning on the dance floor, the world blurring in a riot of jaunty music, sweet ale, laughter, and dance. I didn’t need to ask myself the last time I danced, partied, laughed, or gazed into the eyes of a cute boy who was smiling back. I already knew it was exactly two years before that day.
Alex was wild and fearless. He shook, wiggled, and twisted like he was being electrocuted, making me laugh so hard I nearly wet myself. Trying to copy him only made me laugh harder.
Any lingering tension or odd glances from the tavern-goers disappeared. Everyone was up and out of their seats—dancing, drinking, clapping, and partying like we were getting ready for the end-of-the-world festival, and this was our last time of fun.
The energy was electric. Pressure I couldn’t describe filled my chest. An emotion I didn’t remember tickled the back of my throat as I held Alex’s hands, laughing while we dove to and back from each other.
Fun.I was having fun, and I felt... happy.
Another jump and I tripped, pitching into Alex. He spun and caught me just before I hit the floor—his arms circling my waist and cupping my neck. My breath hitched when he bent over me, holding me to his chest.
I swam in his eyes, losing myself in crashing sea-foam waves, sky-rending lightning, and a chariot racing across the heavens—towing the sun. Why did the godly spark in his soul scare me before? There was nothing scary about Alexander Damien. With him, I’d never felt safer.
I couldn’t say who dipped or rose first. I only knew as the embers of heavenly fire faded, there was only Alex... and the soft press of his lips against mine.
