“It certainly is.” The string quartet ends their song, and we come to a halt with all the other couples on the glass deck. Still holding my hand, he bends forward and plants a gentle kiss on my knuckles. His brows move up as his gaze locks with mine. “But not as beautiful as you, Lady Riley.”
My hand trembles under his lips. He may be a dance partner thief, but he certainly has the charm of a true prince.
“Would you honor me with another dance, milady?” he asks softly as he straightens again, smiling down at me.
I’m just about to nod when someone interrupts our lovely moment. “I daresay it’s my turn to kidnap the fair princess for a dance.”
The voice is faintly familiar—I’ve heard it before, I’m sure. However, it takes a look into a feathered mask for me to recognize who it is. The robin.
His striking orange linen shirt stands out against the dark leather pants and boots of his costume. He no longer wears the beautiful, feather-embroidered cape from earlier. If his intention is to dance, it makes sense. The precious thing would only be in the way.
I would love to sway across the dance floor with Jacob once more, yet the robin’s request flatters me. When he holds out his hand to me, I instinctively put mine in it and send Jacob an apologetic smile. Except, he doesn’t even see it. The two men appear to be fighting a silent staring battle, neither of them backing down an inch. As if the alphas of two wolf packs were standing in front of me. Their gazes are like fire and ice.
Perhaps it’s best to leave the guys to themselves and return to my friends. I certainly didn’t come to this ball to start any rivalries. With my hand already clasped by the bird man, however, there’s no means of escape. And he makes sure of that by wrapping his fingers tighter around mine.
He’s also the first one to break the stare between Jacob and him before he turns to look at me. His face lights up with a warm smile as he walks me a few steps backward, away from Prince Jacob. The new song is much softer than the one before, the waltz a few beats slower. In a perfect dance position, we begin to move. Only this time, we twirl on the spot instead of dancing around the entire glass deck.
“Are you enjoying the feast, Lady Riley?” He tilts his head to one side as if trying to read my face and my reaction to him disrupting my encounter with the Prince of the Snow Plains.
I love the tender accent on my name when he rolls the R. It feels like the single word is sliding all the way down my body. “I’ve barely had a minute to breathe. But the company is very nice. The only thing that worries me is that I keep getting abducted by strangers.”
“Strangers?” He chuckles. “That is a rough term, don’t you think?”
“Hardly. I don’t even know your name.”
“Let me tell you then.” He swings me around in a zestful swirl in order to avoid a collision with an oncoming couple, and I feel how my gown fans out. When our dance is slower again, he gives me a dimpled smile. “I am Jaccomo Casanova. Prince of the South, and Duke of Secret Garden.”
My chin almost drops. “That is an incredibly long name.” If I’ve even heard it before, no wonder I can’t remember.
He laughs softly. “How about you just call me Jaccomo?”
Thank the thirteen fairies. That sounds a lot more manageable than the entire litany of his title.
Again, he moves me out of harm’s way when Cindy and Jason sweep past. In a turn when Jaccomo can’t see it, she flashes me a grin and gives me a thumbs-up over her husband’s shoulder before they disappear into the crowd again.
“I should have known that no man in this room would give you up easily.”
My attention is drawn back to my dancing partner. He looks like a robin, but his eyes are as sharp as those of a predator. I don’t know if it’s his intense gaze or his compliment that causes a light sizzle over my skin.
“Oh, now I think you’re exaggerating.”
“Am I?” He casts a brief glance to the side of the dance floor.
I turn my head, too, and find Prince Jacob still standing there. His right hand clasps the hilt of his sword, ready to draw, and a muscle works his jaw.
A soft laugh caresses my ear. “I bet he’d love to behead me for taking you away from him.”
The tickle on my neck from his breath makes me lower my head, but my gaze lingers for another short moment on the ousted prince. Would he really? The knuckles of his hand turn white from his hard grip on the rapier’s hilt. A wave of nervousness rolls through me, and I miss a step. “Goodness, he wouldn’t really, would he? He’s got a sword.”
“Your worry about my safety honors me, dear Riley. But I can assure you, I know how to defend myself. It wouldn’t be the first battle I’ve fought in my life.”
“It sure would be the first battle that someone fought over me,” I croak, barely able to rein in my drumming heart.
With frightened eyes, I search Jacob’s face until he allows our gazes to lock again across the distance. Silently, I plead with him not to do anything reckless. Every second that he stares at me with narrowed eyes feels like hours. Eventually, the hard lines of his face soften. His hand slips from the hilt of his weapon, and he presses his lips together in what looks like defeat.
“I can hardly believe that.”
“What?” I absently reply to the robin’s gentle words as he twists me away, and we dance a few steps toward the middle. It’s quite clear that he wants all of my attention. And he has it when I look up into his demanding eyes.
“That men haven’t been fighting over your beauty every day in the past.” He pulls me a little closer. The enticing smell of the wind clings to him and strokes my intrigue awake. It must come from the feathers on his mask. In this tight embrace, I can also feel how his body ripples with muscle under the orange shirt.
When my gaze trails down, he lets go of my hip and gently lifts my face with one knuckle under my chin. “From the moment you bumped into me, and your friends dragged you away, I wanted to learn more about you.” His voice is as dark as his eyes, seductive and slow. As if he had trained to speak this way.
Mine, on the other hand, is squeaky as I grimace. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to run you over.”
He gives me a little push and twirls me under his arm. As soon as he holds me again, his gaze captures mine as if tethered by an invisible cord. “Don’t be, sweet Riley. How else would I have met you tonight?”
A dreamy sigh threatens to escape me, but I keep it in check. I was absolutely right in my assumption that it always takes royalty for romance. Living proof holds me in his arms right now.
The song comes to an end, and while many couples leave the dance floor and others replace them, Jaccomo doesn’t break our swaying. An insecure smile escapes me. “The song is over. Shouldn’t we stop?”
“So that another stranger can abduct you?” Bringing his face very close to mine, he wrinkles his nose and slowly shakes his head. The gleam of desire in his eyes raises a nervous heat inside me as he whispers, “I don’t think so.”
When a new and slightly faster tune drifts from the string quartet, he picks up the pace, and we mingle with the dancers again. His determination makes me laugh. “But we can’t dance the whole night.”
A long moment of frowning passes as he considers that. Suddenly, something changes in his eyes—they blaze with delight. “You’re right.” He drops his hand from my side, but the other tightens around my fingers. Without warning, he cuts between the twirling couples and pulls me off the dance floor. “We should go outside. More privacy there.” His sneer meets me over his shoulder. “And no one to steal you for another dance.”
With this man, there really is no getting away. Giggling, I follow him off the dance floor and let him pull me toward the wide-open French doors. A refreshing waft of air hits me as we get closer, and a short stroll through the garden suddenly seems like a wonderful idea.