I looked up at Delano. “I can.”

“I know.” His smile widened, and then he started to move, taking small, swaying steps to our left and then the right. I followed him.

His steps were far surer, while mine were rigid, and I was sure I looked foolish, my arms stiff and cockeyed as I clutched his hand. Others moved faster around us, but as we continued dancing in our little circle, I realized that each of his steps was in tune with the steady beat of the drum. My muscles loosened, as did my grip on his hand. Delano stepped back, lifting our connected arms. The skirt of my gown billowed around my legs as he spun me. The hum in my chest sparked as my hair lifted from my shoulders when he turned me again. A quiet laugh escaped me, and then a louder one as he raised our arms once more and spun himself. His hand came back to my waist, and we moved faster in our little circle, swirling around the fire.

The hum in my chest found my blood as the hem of my gown twirled around my ankles. A new hand closed around mine as Delano let go. Whirling, I found myself held by Kieran.

I grinned up at him. “Hi.”

His lips curved up. “Hello, Poppy.” He stepped back, spinning me. I stumbled, laughing as he caught me. “You surprise me.”

“Why?” I asked as we moved around the flames.

“I didn’t think you’d dance,” he said, pulling me to his damp chest. “You honor us by doing so.”

Before I could even begin to question why that would be an honor, Kieran spun me out, and another hand folded around mine. I turned to find that it was Lyra who now danced with me. We were nearly as close as she and Kieran had been, her legging-clad thighs brushing mine with every sway of her hips. Taking hold of my other hand, we moved together around the fire. Strands of hair stuck to my neck and temples as we weaved in and out of those flowing with the beat around the fire, each spinning into different partners. On and on, I danced, both with people I didn’t recognize and those I knew, and all the while, that buzz in my chest and my blood vibrated in my skin. My head tipped back, my face exposed to the flames and moonlight as I was whirled into Delano’s arms and then into Kieran’s, who lifted my feet from the sand. Grasping his shoulders, I laughed as he turned us around and around.

“Someone is jealous,” he said when my feet touched the sand once more. We spun—

Kieran’s chuckle tickled my cheek as Casteel snagged me by the waist. I all but fell into him as he said, “I am definitely getting jealous.”

“No, you’re not.” All I felt from him was smoky spice. “You’re…”

“What?” he asked as he led me away from the fire, the dancers, and back into the moonlight-flecked shadows.