Clematis exhaled, relieved and excited both to once again feel Flor’s hand at his back, and focused on his steps this time when they separated. Flor bumped into his wings and laughed for it, apologizing in a shout as they pulled apart, as if he didn’t care about their audience or his misstep. Clematis had a smile for him that would not go away. He couldn’t banish it when that dance ended and a less formal but more energetic dance began. Nor when Flor’s hands landed on his hips to lift him briefly into the air, and the contact was hot even through Clematis’s clothing.
If Clematis made mistakes, he no longer noticed them. He was too eager to return to Flor, to be lifted again, to hear Flor breathing harder and see the warmth in his gaze from much closer up.
Clematis’s cheeks were stinging when the music ended. He had perspired into Lord Hyacinth’s coat, but when Flor stood at his shoulder, staring expectantly at him with a crooked smile on his lips, Clematis shivered to his toes.
“You liked it?” Flor demanded. Despite how he asked, he seemed satisfied with whatever he saw in Clematis’s expression.
Clematis had a feeling there were stars in his eyes. “Yes.” He wondered if he should admit that he did not think he would enjoy it as much with a different partner. He had not felt that way dancing with Lord Walter. “Yes, very much,” he added, as honest as he dared.
“Good.” Flor hummed along to the strains of the next song. “Would you like something to drink? Perhaps another sweet? We could also rest between dances. Some are venturing out on the balconies, but I wouldn’t presume.”
Clematis started to answer, but then someone stopped in front of him.
The woman, a fox in scarlet, stared at him despite addressing Flor. “Flor, are you going to monopolize this lovely for every dance?”
Clematis tangled his fingers with Flor’s as he would not have done even with Lord Hyacinth. He felt overly warm, his mouth still dry. Flor looked to him and gave his hand a small squeeze, then held still until Clematis squeezed back.
Flor turned to the fox. “Yes, I am. Terribly sorry.” He smiled at her with obvious pleasure before facing Clematis. “Another dance, sweetheart?”
The dance had already begun, but Flor slid an arm around Clematis and whirled him into the thick of it. He pulled Clematis close in a way that felt scandalous, but was no worse than what the other couples were doing. This dance was fast, almost dizzying.
Clematis put his hand on Flor’s waist and found he could not meet Flor’s eyes without blushing.
“You did not sound sorry,” he chided. They did not separate for this dance. Clematis was not sure of the steps, but Flor was, and that was enough to keep Clematis on his feet.
“Saying it was all that mattered.” Flor seemed as if he wanted to shrug. “I can be polite, if pressed.”
Many people would disagree. But not Prince David, and not Clematis.
“But if you want to dance with anyone else…” Flor started to offer, only to trail off as Clematis edged in closer. Flor was overheated from all the dancing, warm to the touch through his costume. The fabric was fine and soft.
“I don’t want to dance with anyone else,” Clematis said quietly but clearly. “Only you.”
Flor’s eyes were wide behind his mask. “Yes? Well. Good. I mean… me, too.” A sound burst out of him, high, startled laughter, and Clematis was surprised to hear himself echo it.
“I told you what I wanted,” Clematis realized aloud, stunned at himself, and released a long, shaky breath before dropping his head to Flor’s shoulder.
Flor stopped moving altogether. He splayed his hand over Clematis’s back, beneath his wings. Dancers whirled around them.
Flor bent his head and whispered above Clematis’s ear. “And you can tell me what more of what you don’t want, and I will listen. Please don’t be surprised. There shouldn’t be anything remarkable in being decent.”
Clematis had met decent people. This wasn’t about that, or not only about it. “This is exactly how I expected you to be,” he revealed on a sigh. “But itfeelsso different than how I imagined.”
“You imagined it?” Flor inched back. “You’ve thought about this before?”
Clematis raised his head, lips parted although he didn’t have an explanation ready that Flor would want to hear. He darted a look to the bright black of Flor’s eyes and then away, only to accidentally meet those of more than one stranger.
People were watching them. Naturally, they were. Clematis had all but embraced Flor in the middle of a dance, and Flor had halted right there as though the two of them were alone.
As though there were no one else in the entire world but the two of them.
“Oh,” Flor murmured, glancing around, and took his hand from Clematis’s waist. “Rather surprised David hasn’t appeared to gently remind me I’m in public.” Flor seemed to mock himself, and offered Clematis a fleeting smile before reaching up to brush Clematis’s warm cheek. “Nothing to blush over. It was my mistake. If anything, they are envious of me.”
Clematis shook his head to deny that. “You have your admirers.”
Flor picked up Clematis’s hand and tucked it into the crook of his elbow as he led the way through the watchful crowd. “I can’t claim that I haven’t broken, or at least, bruised, some hearts,” he said seriously. “But tonight, I have you, the mysterious beauty that stood alone for most of the evening, in my arms.Youare where they are looking. I must be honest and say there are some I could introduce you to. Some who are respectful, and likely smitten already.” Flor hesitated near the edge of the vast ballroom. “I would stay to watch over you. You would still be safe.”
“I said I only wanted to dance with you.” Saying it again sent a thrill down his spine. Clematis studied Flor’s determined, unhappy face. “I don’t mean to attract their attention.”
