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My jaw tightened. I highly doubted any of them were actually dull. They just thought that's what he liked. More insidious rhetoric by the aristocracy that being vapid made one attractive.
The middle of a ball wasn't the time for that discussion, though, so I pushed the thought away and fluttered my eyelashes a bit.
"You're too charming, Prince Kierstall. Perhaps you'll even be kind enough to overlook the dozen times I step on your toes during our dance set."
"Ahh — is that why I've never seen you waltz before?" He chuckled. "I knew I should have worn my boots with steel toes!"
Wait. A waltz?! My stomach sank, and my legs turned to lead.
No. Lynn wouldn't do that to me!
I shot a frantic look at her, but she was engaged in a lively discussion with a tall man in a chartreuse suit. Likely my next dance partner.
Forsaken hells!
"Look, I was teasing you about the steel-toed boots," Jaiel said, chagrined. "You do know how to waltz, don't you? Surely Frexin wouldn't have overlooked it in your training."
I pressed my lips together and shook my head. "I made it through a full three lessons before my instructor quit …"
Those blue eyes widened. "Quit? Did they just get busy? Or … No —" He let out a disbelieving laugh. "You couldn't have been that bad."
I shrugged, cheeks hot.
His gaze slid from me to his toes, then back again before he let out a long sigh. "Who needs toes?"
My lips quirked.
Dancing was going to be terrible. There was nothing that could change that.
But perhaps watching Jaiel squirm as I stepped on his toes would be enough to get me through it.
Chapter 5
Kaiya
The first notes of the waltz rang out, and Jaiel slid one arm around my back, hand resting just above my ass, while the other hand held mine aloft. I rested a hand on his shoulder, and my chest tightened as a strange heat spread everywhere we touched.
It had been a while since I'd been with anyone, and my body seemed to be making its displeasure known.
Swallowing, I ignored the sensations and stared at my toes, attempting to remember what the instructor had said as the music started.
"One. Two. Three. One. Two —"
"Are you counting?" Jaiel's voice was full of suppressed laughter as we moved through the room.
My foot was moving before I could stop it, slamming my heeled shoe into his toes.
He let out a surprised grunt but masked it quickly, pulling us into a quick spin, as though his foot hadn't just been stabbed by a very pointy object.
"Fine. Fine," he muttered. "I should have seen that coming. But seriously — you don't have to count, Princess! A good dance partner should do all the work. Just close your eyes, feel the music, and trust me."
My brows rose. "Ha! Trust you?"
He shrugged. "Well, maybe not beyond this dance, but for this moment — yes. You can trust me."
"I think not." I tugged my gaze from him back to my toes and resumed counting. "One. Two. Three —"
"Fine. Don't trust me. I get it. Trust is too intense." He paused, hand flexing softly on my back. "Instead, think of waltzing as something fun and freeing, like —"
