Page 84 of Her Ivory Flame

Her mind raced, the steak and color didn’t matter, but the dancing.

“But you danced with me at the ball?” she questioned.

“I did.” he answered.

“If you hated dancing, why did you ask to dance with me?”

“When a beautiful lady is standing in the middle of the dance floor needing a distraction, especially one that you are in charge of protecting, you dance,” he smirked.

“So what you are saying is you will only dance for me?” she teased.

“I will do whatever you ask of me, princess.” His eyes burned bright again, the promise in his voice familiar from before and she felt her knees wobble.

“Stay with me again tonight?” she whispered. “Xander said there might be more thunder rolling in.”

Her heart was racing but she didn’t know the exact source of it. It could have been the fact his stare was making her want to melt into a puddle, or maybe the idea of him confessing more to her than she could process. Maybe it was the sheer thought of him laying with her again and feeling the safety of his hold.

“Of course.” he nodded and then turned back to the road.

With that, she figured it was time to let him do his job and go back to the fire. The rain had lightened up but water still poured from the top of the alcove and the air was getting colder with the evening approaching.

“You ok staying with Finnley again?” she asked quietly as she sat next to Raine.

“I was actually going to ask you if I could.” Raine giggled.

“Kaden said he was a good guy and I believe him.”

“Finnley said the same about Kaden.”

They both grinned and looked towards the fire as the day dragged on.

Xander, Boone, and Titus came back from the waterfall, spending way less time there then they had, and started checking supplies. Titus started to cook food while the others secured tents and had small conversations.

By the time dinner was ready, Kaden was sitting next to her and Boone was standing out by the wagon with Finnley. She watched Titus take food to the two men on watch, returning quickly to dish out the rest to those sitting by the fire.

Another stew, but it was warm and she wasn’t going to complain. She casually leaned against Kaden to steal even more warmth from him and he didn’t object.

Xander was quiet as usual, his body always seeming tense and she wished she knew why he was like that. It seemed maybe he had seen a lot in battle and was permanently scared from it.

“We should be able to pack up easily tomorrow and head out.” Kaden spoke. “As long as someone gets up at a decent hour.”

Her eyes glared up at him knowing he meant her.

“Wake me up then!” she snapped.

“I don’t think any of us are brave enough to do that.” He chuckled.

She elbowed him in the side and everyone laughed except Xander, who just stared at her with haunted eyes. An odd feeling offamiliarity sparked in her, but she was sure she had never met him before.

Time kept moving and when everyone started for their tents, Kaden stopped her just outside hers.

“I have the first watch tonight, but I’ll be with you later.” His voice was soft, a hint of worry mixed in and she placed her hand on his arm in comfort.

“It’s ok. I’ll be here waiting.”

His eyes softened and he nodded before walking towards the wagon to relieve Boone from watch.

She dressed quickly into her now dry cotton sleep clothes and crawled under the blankets in hopes sleep took her quickly.