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“I do not—”

“Yes, you do.”

Well, yes, maybe she did. But they didn’t know each other enough for him to read her this well. And besides, it was her prerogative to worry.

Torr leaned down, his breath tickling her ear.

“Never be ashamed. There are some who will hold it against you, but they are not worth bothering with.”

She stared at him in shock.

One, how could he know she idolized J.K. Rowling?

Two, how did he know her hero’s words well enough to quote them to her?

And three, how had he guessed at the reason for her unease? Because if she was perfectly honest, she did want to let go. Forget that she feared the judgment of others.

Just this once.

Again, her body decided for her. The music morphed into an equally sensual but slightly less intense song. This one, she was feeling.

Torr, she was definitely feeling. Even more so when he pulled her closer and began to move.

God help her, Charlotte moved right along with him. He clung to her as they moved to the grinding beat, his hands venturing lower than they should.

It felt good.

Damngood.

Whipping her head back, swatting stray strands of hair away from her face, she looked into his eyes.

Bad idea.

He did that thing with his tongue at that precise moment. The tiny glimpse just enough to fuel her imagination of what that tongue would feel like inside her mouth. If he leaned down right now, she’d not only allow it . . .

Charlotte would welcome it. With open arms.

Or lips, in this case.

When had his hands full-on cupped her backside?

Not breaking eye contact, he pressed her against him, allowing her to feel what was one hundred percent his erection. Instead of pulling away, which she knew she should, Charlotte did what she wanted to do.

Slid her body up and down against him.

Her errant fingers moved from his shoulders to the nape of his neck, and she let them explore. She really shouldn’t shove them into his hair. It felt . . . intimate. Maybe it would be one intimacy too far. Maybe it would shatter this game she was playing.

But she did it anyway.

His hair was fairly short and kind of spiky on top, yet soft too—before it was ripped away from her.

He twirled her around so quickly that it was only when he lifted her arms back around his neck, her back against him now, that her mind caught up to the movements.

Must be the absinthe.

Going with it, Charlotte circled her hips as Torr’s hands cradled her backside and brought it closer to him. And even though they were one of the tamest couples on the dance floor, Charlotte already knew she’d never, ever, as long as she lived, forget this dance.

And that was before he lowered his face to her neck, close enough that she could feel his warm breath against her flesh. Torr’s fingers deliberately trailed a lazy path across her shoulders as he pushed her hair to the side.