Page 63 of Taken By Shadows

“Peach, what are you doing?” he whispered.

I stammered as I tried to pull my hand from his, but he held it. I didn’t have an answer. What was I doing? I had overstepped his line and mine.

I’d agreed I would enjoy looking, but my body felt greedy as I was pressed against his. The music had made me drunk, and desire had made me weak.

I pushed off him until there was space between us, but I kept dancing.

His eyes hardened.

This was a mistake—all of it. Enjoying the sights was quickly becoming enjoying with all of my senses.

Denora appeared as if conjured from smoke. I hadn’t noticed her at all until she was right upon us.

“What is it?” Kaed’s entire demeanour shifted. His warmth turned icy, and he dropped my hands to step out of my space.

Denora looked between the two of us but didn’t answer.

They exchanged a glance, and then Kaed was ushering her off the dance floor with urgency. Leaving me alone. Bereft and humiliated as people watched.

As he left, I thought I might combust from the mortification of being abandoned in the centre of a dance floor. Without the connection to my partner, my movements stagnated.

My body just stopped flowing. Like a faucet being shut off. Thankfully, the music concluded and the heads that had been judging me turned away.

“It should be a crime to leave one’s partner like that,” a rich, male voice hummed behind me.

“He has enough of those on his plate,” I mumbled, more to myself. I’d spoken before I’d even cared to see who had approached me.

“I don’t believe we’ve met?” His voice entreated me to look.

A tall male with dusty brown folds of hair sprinkled with a few distinguished strands of grey, stood before me. He was tall and broad. Though his outfit lacked the flared shoulders or chest on display, he wore a similar outfit to Kaed’s, in a mesmerising colour that wasn’t blue or green, but both.

“Not difficult, seeing as Kaedian likes to either keep his things locked away or left entirely alone like a fool.” I smiled.

“Like I said, milady, a crime.” His grey eyes narrowed as he smirked, restraining mischief in his words. He was quite attractive. Refined. “Eryk.” He extended his hand as if to dance.

An offer I could refuse should I wish—a choice. But as the music began again, I took it, a little surprised at myself.

“Lord Eryk.” I smiled. “Imogen.”

“Just Eryk, Lady Imogen. My blood is not as noble as people might think.”

I smiled again. “Neither is mine.”

He smiled in return. “We have that in common, I suppose, then.”

“I thought this would be a place I wouldn’t need rescuing. But perhaps I’m a worse dancer than I thought, and Kaed couldn’t stand it.” I laughed, to my surprise.

Eryk responded with a throaty resonance. “This is the worst place of all. Society. Demands. Expectations. This is the first battlefield, Lady Imogen.”

And I relaxed then. Into Eryk’s laugh. Into the music. It was much freer than the last tune. This one lacked tension. It frolicked through the notes, carrying me with it.

“Seems you might be better at dancing than you give yourself credit for,” he said.

“The company helps.” My smile was timid as I looked at the male who was everything Kaed wasn’t. Respectful. Convivial. Unproblematic.

“Your dancing looked fine to me.” His eyes glimmered. “But I’ll take the compliment.”

He was dashing. That was the word for him. His grey eyes were playful. They flirted without effort, and it was charming, not stripping.