My guards tucked me away into a small waiting room, upholstered in velvet and with nothing entertaining to do. To keep myself from dying of boredom, I practiced sashaying across the floor, pretending I was going to the sort of sultry late-night dance party where something like this outfit might be worth wearing. I'd taken belly dancing lesson once upon a time, because my college roommate freshman year had been a belly dancer and had pestered me until I'd gone, and I pulled up those rusty skills, using them to control the movement of my hips so that my saunter went from Xena, Warrior Princess, more towards Aphrodite.

I didn't hear the door open, being focused on moving my body for maximum slinky sexiness. I therefore did not realize Dain had entered the room until I executed a catwalk pivot to face the door again, at which point I nearly levitated out of my skin in surprise.

The crown prince was watching me with one of those smoldering, half-lidded gazes that men get when they're waiting for you to notice them in a club, so they can sexily walk across the room at you and take you onto the dance floor to grind. Dain didn't do the sexy-walk-and-grind, but he definitely flicked his wolf gaze down my body, making no effort to hide his observation. He was wearing gray tonight, a deeper shade than my metallic dark silver, with silver chains linking the piercings on his ears.

"Hello, Crown Prince Sundamar!" I said, falling into a voice that regrettably sounded like a TV announcer. "I did not know you were there!"

"I'm aware," he said, his voice low and purring. "I didn't imagine you were walking like that for my appreciation." Dain walked towards me with his own saunter, which was more of a predatory stalk. "I did, however, appreciate it."

I attempted to collect the shreds of my dignity and also not to notice the movement of Dain's body, both with resounding failure.

He stopped maybe two feet in front of me, with a wicked smirk curling his mouth. "I wouldn't want to carry a debt, though." Dain tilted one ear towards me. "You say you know how I should move," he said with challenge, tension creeping into his face and shoulders. "Tell me if I'm doing it correctly." Rolling his shoulders, Dain pivoted to put his back towards me, his tails brushing against my thigh as he did.

I'd been doing okay up until that moment, mainly focused on the adrenaline rush of finding him in the room with me, but the instant his tails ran along my thigh the jig was up. My body flipped immediately into sex mode, to the point where I made a tiny whimpery squeak as he started walking away from me.