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Luc liked the vibrant way her face glowed in her ire, the way her gray eyes were bluer just then, but he hid the urge to smile, knowing instinctively that it would take whatever game he was playing with her too far. “You did. You said you didn’t want to when I asked.” He just wanted to win this battle, only he wasn’t exactly sure what he’d be winning at this point. Perhaps her acquiescence.
She narrowed her eyes, her hands still on her hips. “I don’t want to dance with you!”
“And why not?” He waved a hand at the dance floor as if he were presenting it to her. “Clearly you’d like to dance.”
“Because–” She twisted away from him, her arms crossed over her heaving chest. She didn’t finish her thought.
“Because?”
She refused to answer, refused to look at him.
“You’re angry because I danced with all your sisters before you.” He wasn’t sure why he wanted her to admit it.
She gasped, her arms falling to her sides as she turned fully toward him. “I am not. I don’t even like you.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “You don’t?”
She leaned forward. “I do not. You’re arrogant, condescending, and rude.”
He leaned toward her, his gaze dipping to her frowning mouth, rationalizing he was just trying to teach her a lesson as he leaned even closer to whisper in her ear. “Or maybe your pride is just smarting?”
He was hit with her scent, sweet jasmine with a warm layer of summer, and suddenly wondered if he was on the losing end of the game because he wanted to grab hold of her and whisk her somewhere else. He shook off the impulse.
She jerked back as if slapped, and instead of saying anything, turned and walked away.
That wasn’t what he’d wanted. He watched her weave through the room and duck out the door into the night, noting a retinue of possible suitors notice the same thing, and for the first time in his entire life, Luc felt two emotions with which he was mostly unfamiliar before Brinna: jealousy and regret, at least where a woman was concerned.
He'd pushed her too far and didn’t understand his desire to do it.
So, he followed her out. At least by being near her, he could make sure she was safe.
When he emerged from the meeting house, she wasn’t in sight, but he caught a glimmer of her blue dress between the trees. Eventually, he stepped into a small meadow to find her looking up at the night sky. It was beautiful, the light twinkling across the expanse of darkness, and Luc liked that there were bits of his power mixed with Nix’s to make something so dazzling.
But when he looked at Brinna, his breath caught, realizing her beauty superseded anything he might have ever created in the whole of his life. With her chin tilted up toward the sky, her silhouette created something otherworldly, as if she was a goddess herself.
His mind retreated into the memory of watching her pull that empty wagon, of her smile and her song. It was a time Brinna wouldn’t remember, since Aurielle had changed their reality when she’d broken the spell, but he remembered the unexpected way being near her had made him feel… rattled.
“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” he said with irritation that didn’t make sense. He’d won the battle of wills, after all. He should have felt superior, but he didn’t.
She twirled at the sound of his voice and made a frustrated noise as she turned away once more. “I’m trying to get away from you.”
“I’ve upset you.”
She lifted her chin. “What are you doing?”
“Making sure you’re safe.”
“I’m perfectly fine.” She glanced at him over her shoulder.
“I’d like to make sure, just the same.”
She looked up, shivered, and wrapped her arms around her torso, turned away from him once more. “Suit yourself.”
Luc removed his jacket. “Here,” he said and draped it over her shoulders. “You’re shivering.”
Brinna looked from the jacket to him, and he had the impression she was at war with wanting to throw it at him or burrow into its warmth.
He looked up at the sky once more. “You enjoy star gazing?”
