We stepped into the revel together, coming in through the double doors without announcement. It didn't matter, though; everyone knew to expect the royals once the evening got underway, and people kept a weather eye out whenever there was a chance the Beast of Phazikai might show up. Eyes turned towards us and murmurs started, spreading out through the room like ripples. The fae parted in front of us as Dain led me out directly towards the dance floor, passing through all the little knots of courtiers to where the wild music of the revel played.

He'd never done that before.

Dain pivoted, turning to face me, and took me into my arms, holding me in a dancer's position, with one hand against my bare back and the other holding mine. Shocked, I automatically moved into the corresponding position, laying one hand on his shoulder and stepping close, so that our chests almost touched. I looked up into his face, bewildered, and he looked back at me with a soft expression, the faintest smile touching the corners of his mouth and his ears low and tilted towards me. It was the face of a man looking at his treasured love, and he looked at me like that in front of everyone.

My heart thundered, and I couldn't wipe the stunned, wide-eyed expression off of my face. Dain was looking at me like a man in love, looking at me like he'd never look away.

He didn't give me any longer to be shell-shocked. With the rise of the music, the crown prince of Stag Court swept me into motion.

I had never expected Dain to be a dancer, but as it turned out, he was incredible. I only sort of knew the steps, but he knew how to guide me, and the two of us stepped through the dance like deer, quick and sure-footed. The figures of the fae around me blurred into streaks of color, the music filling my veins as I became motion. I forgot propriety and I forgot any intentions of making the High Court believe I was prevaricating about stabbing Dain in the back. I moved with him and closer to him and ended up pressed against him, breathing in the scent of spruce and of his body.

He didn't smell like a wet dog anymore. Dain smelled like heat and darkness, full of the promise of sex and vitality. The scent of him made me want to have him naked and sweaty on a sultry summer evening, the kind of night where you make love for hours and lick the sweat off of your lover as he drowns in you.

"Dain," I said as the music slowed and we slid closer, my voice shaky and breathless.

"Leah," he replied, resting his face against the side of my head.

"What... what are you doing?" I asked.