Chapter 49

Since they didn't arrive by convention means of travel, which meant by dragon or ship, Dessa hadn't been able to look around the island city like she was then. Granted, Blackloch was fascinating during the day, but it came alive at night. She loved looking at the old buildings made of stone, the waterways that flowed throughout, even the homes that were made from ships. Twinkling light were all around, hanging between balconies, and warming lamps were lit to cut through the chill of the nighttime air.

Elys was holding onto her hand, their fingers intertwined, as they followed Kalla and her lovers Shyael and Dodge toward the more questionable parts of the city. There were more than enough taverns and pleasure houses, drunken laughter ringing down the alleyways...along with the moans of couples doing much more than kissing in the darkened corners. Sounds that had Dessa's face flushing in embarrassment.

Peeking over at her reaction, Elys let out a snort.

"Don't laugh at me," she told him, digging her nails into the back of his hand.

"And here I thought you wouldn't be fazed by anything."

"How can someone not be fazed by that?"

Madame Amoria's wasn't much better. Before they even turned the corner down the street it was located, the pulsing beat of the music within echoed out. Dessa's excitement started to increase. She hadn't been to one of Kalla's nightclubs since Elys had come home when she got drunk at Mirage and Fin had to help her home. Now that she was going to one with Elys...and one of the more risqué ones...well, anything could happen.

As soon as the double doors were opened and everyone inside caught sight of Kalla, cheers rang out and the music seemed to get louder. While Shyael and Dodge headed for the bar, Kalla turned and grinned at the five of them.

"Food and drinks first, then dancing, right?"

Dessa was the first one to nod, especially since her stomach started growling as soon as they left the villa.

The rumors of her magic must have found their way to Blackloch since all eyes seemed to land on Dessa as they made their way through the crowded dancefloor to Kalla's personal alcove seating area. She kept a tight hold on Elys's hand, but he ended up tucking her under his arm just to keep her close and not have anyone steal her away for a dance. It wasn't just the alcohol that had everyone smiling lazily as they danced with each other, but also a sweet smelling smoke that filled one corner of the room. As soon as Dessa breathed it in in passing, her head started swimming before a sheer sense of ecstasy had her smiling, too.

"Be careful with that," Kalla grinned, coming up on her other side. "You don't want to get too close or else you'll never want to leave."

Continuing on toward the back corner alcove, the gossamer curtains were already pulled back. Empty glasses were arranged on the low lying table in front of the curved booth and several pillows were arranged to make it more comfortable. Something new had been added to the dais behind it that hadn't been there before - soft bedding with mounds of pillows. Dessa could only imagine what probably happened there a time or two, though the scent of it was replaced with the fresh scent of laundry soap.

Kalla swept her arm across the space, showing it off. "Welcome to my home away from home. Make yourselves comfortable."

Archer, of course, was the first to plop down in the middle of the sofa, stretching his legs out and putting his hands behind his head in a show of leisure. "Bring on the food, alcohol, and females."

"A male after my own heart," Kalla laughed.

Shyael and Dodge were there as if on cue, both carrying several bottles of Blackloch Night and Arloerin Starlight, with another male carrying a tray laden with food to set in the middle of the table. Conversation flowed as easily as the drinks, which already had to be replaced once within that first hour and a half. Kalla and Archer had finished off a bottle of Night each and Milena, Eamon, and Elys were sharing a bottle of Starlight. As for Dessa, she was still on her first glass, having filled up on the assortment of meats, cheeses, and fresh vegetables.

Dessa sat on the end of the sofa a little while later, turned toward the alcove opening to people watch as she swirled her drink around in her crystal glass. Shyael and Dodge had already pulled Kalla on to the dancefloor and she could see Archer sweettalking a female at the bar. Milena and Eamon were still on the other side of the sofa, though Milena was seated in his lap, her face close to his as she giggled and whispered something to him.

A hand brushed against Dessa's shoulder after she took a few more sips of her drink, feeling the slight buzz finally starting to work its way into her mind before a voice whispered in her ear.

"We came here for a reason, you know," Elys said, voice low. "And you don't seem like you're having a good time."

She shrugged, looking at him over the shoulder his fingers were drawing circles on. Blood pounding in her ears, she gave him a smile. "You know me. I like to people watching with these things rather than be in the thick of it."

"No dancing for you then?"

"Maybe with a certain someone if he wants to."

Elys's fingers drew across her shoulder blade, then down her spine as he kissed the underside of her jaw. "Maybe later...since someone else is coming to steal you away from me for a little while."

She leaned back, narrowing her eyes. "Who...?"

Archer appeared then, the female from the bar gone from his side, and he leaned down to pluck the glass from her fingers. "Come on, cousin. Let's go give all the Blackloch citizens a run for their money when it comes to formal dances while maybe being a little bit drunk."

Even as he was pulling her up to stand, Dessa was shaking her head. "I don't think..."

"And I don't care," he challenged with a grin. "You're getting your ass on the dancefloor, I'm going to fight off every male who tries to grab you, and you're going to laugh and have a good time. Got it?"

Even before he got her on the dancefloor, she was already laughing, shaking her head at his drunken nonsense. "Well, can't argue with that, can I?"

She didn't know how long it lasted, being hand in hand with Archer as they spun around the dancefloor in a perfect waltz even for the pulsing beat of the music. Being an Dalcaine prince, of course, he had to fight off every male that tried to put their hands on her, even after she fought them herself.

The sweet smelling smoke practically covered a section of the dancefloor then, and Dessa closed her eyes as she danced to breathe it in. Her head wasn't fuzzy from the alcohol she'd consumed, but rather from it. Archer was grinning like a fiend, spinning her around and around on the dancefloor and yet she didn't get dizzy. And finally, he got her laughing, throwing her head back as her hair flew out behind her.

"We're not going to tell our parents about this, got it?" Dessa grinned at her cousin. "Then the royal children of Dalcaine will really never hear the last of it."

Archer gave her a three-finger salute. "You got it. Mum's the word."

And then he was spinning her around again, but this time into the arms of another he saw coming toward them.

She was still giggling as an arm secured around her waist, pulling her back against someone's chest. With the way her dress was cut, that hand pressed against her stomach and a familiar jolt shot through her, so much stronger this time, though. Another breath and another cloud of smoke to pass them by and Dessa was leaning her head back against a shoulder, smiling at the beautiful male who held her.

"Well, if it isn't the very male who I want to kiss and kill," she grinned up at him.

Elys's mismatched blue eyes were twinkling with mischief. "Are you high, Dessa Jai?"

She giggled again, especially when his breath tickled her ear. "Maybe just a little. That smoke just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter the closer we get."

"Then allow me to dance you away from it, all right? Don't want you doing something you'll regret in the morning, do you?"

"If I do something with you, I will never regret it."

Elys groaned in her ear, his lips brushing up against the side of her head as she spun around to face him, bodies still pressed tight together. The hand that had been on her stomach was now at the small of her back, playing with the silk fabric of her dress. Dessa's eyes were on his mouth and noticed when he bit the inside of his lip as he touched her.

Then they were dancing, both of them holding the other close, Elys's finger wrap tight around her hand as they spun and swayed. Dessa couldn't stop grinning, not when she remembered how Elys became such a good dancer.

"Looks like those dance lessons Daddy made you suffer through are still put to good use, huh?"

"Of course," he winked, and spun her around quickly.

Everything around them blurred. Dozens of faces passed. Archer was stumbling back toward the bar with a sorceress on his arm. Milena and Eamon were finally on the dancefloor and wrapped around each other, not caring that the music was a fast, pulsing beat around them as they slowly swayed together. And Kalla...Kalla was in the arms of Shyael, though both females were smiling knowingly at Dessa and Elys as they twirled past.

Dessa was breathless and dizzy by the time Elys slowed them to a sway right in the middle of the dancefloor. The music still played all around them as tendrils of smoke curled away, letting her head clear for the first time in hours.

And all she could do was look at Elys, tightening her hold on him as she leaned in closer.

He smiled down at her, reaching up to curl a strand of hair around his finger before tucking it behind her ear. "Is this what you needed?" he asked her then, gesturing to the atmosphere of Madame Amoria's they were surrounded by. "Just to get away and have some fun after training so much?"

Dessa moved one arm to secure around his shoulders, fingers brushing the nape of his neck. The touch made him shiver and pull her closer as she pressed one hand to his chest right over his hammering heart.

"It definitely was," she nodded. "Thank you for suggesting it."

"Even though Jai never wanted you to step foot in this place."

"Oh, please. I've been here before. He just doesn't know it."

Elys snorted, leaning forward to brush his lips against her temple as she nestled her head against him. Her fingers curled into the collar of his tunic, then trailed down to the V neckline, drawing a line down his bare chest as far as it dipped. His hand curled into a fist against her back, body going ridged. The change in him made Dessa pull back to find him staring.

"I've never told you thank you," she whispered to him then. "Thank you for everything, Elys. For helping me with my magic, for learning what we can do together, but also for being here with me for every step of the way just as you've always been."

Her words made his silence linger until he could find his own, even as his shame colored his tone. "Except for the last five years, right?"

But Dessa was shaking her head, moving the hand that had been around his shoulders to rest against his cheek. "You're here, though. I'm here. And you're helping me in ways you can never imagine. I don't think I would be able to do half the things I can if it hadn't been for you. You are patient even when I get frustrated with myself. You push me to see how far I can go and cheer me on even when all I want to do is give up. You're there to tease me even when I want to slap you silly. And you're...you're my best friend, Elys. You always have been and always will be. And these last five years...they don't matter. You're here with me again and I don't plan on letting you go anytime soon. Like you said, we needed time to grow up without each other only for life to bring us back together."

Even as they continued to sway to the music, she could tell Elys was oblivious to anything and everything but her. "In a way, I'm actually grateful for those five years apart."

Dessa tightened her hold on him, her fingers brushing along the nap of his neck. "And why's that?"

With the way she was touching him, he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers, humming in contentment. "Because I knew the Dessa I would be coming back to. This Dessa. This Dessa who is smart and strong and absolutely breath-taking, who loves her family and would do absolutely anything for them. This Dessa who is still so unsure of herself and the magic she didn't think she would ever have, who I know will break and reforge the world into something stronger, something brighter, something better."

Elys was still staring at her, noses touching, breath brushing against her lips. "This Dessa who...who will be mine in every sense of the meaning, who I've been dreaming about for all my life, even before Lyv rescued me in Filwey. It's always been you, Dessa Jai Deverell Ayveri, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

She didn't think she was even breathing as she listened to his every word. Her hands would have been shaking if she hadn't been holding onto him so firmly.

"So...you still don't think about me in a sisterly way, right?" she asked hesitantly, pressing herself closer to him.

Elys gave a laugh, shaking his head against hers as his fingers trailed up her spine and back down again. "You've always been mine to watch out for and protect, but like I told you before, I've never thought of you as a sister. Not now, not ever. How could I when I knew one day I would make you mine?"

This time, Dessa didn't hold back her breathy whimper. "And how do you know I want to be yours, Seer?"

Closer, closer, closer until his lips brushed against hers with every word of his answer. "You answered your own question a few days ago when you kissed me, Dessa Jai, and I couldn't keep myself from kissing you back."

She could do it. She could close that space between them in a fraction of a second and kiss him again.

He gave her a sly grin as those fingers continued trailing along her skin, as a heat so intense flared inside her, pooling in the pit of her stomach...and lower. "I think I like this dress as much as the emerald one you wore that first day I got home. I get to see more of you in this one, though."

Dessa licked her lips, fumbling with her words. "I, uh, brought the other one just in case the wardrobe change was necessary, though...um...I was thinking sometime in Laria," she said breathlessly. "The other dress...it's one of my favorites."

Leaning down, Elys kissed the underside of her jaw as he continued. "You want to know why I love most about that one?"

"Hm?"

"The color against your skin, the way the fabric glides beautifully against your body...all I could think about was you," Elys whispered to her then. Her breath hitched in her chest, which he made note of when his eyes dropped to the curves of her breasts pressed against him. "The thoughts that ran through my head in that council room with your parents and our family all around...well, they weren't very appropriate. And don't get me started on later that night when it was just the two of us in the hallway and the kitchen."

That statement had her head clearing in an instant, especially when his fingertips danced along the bare skin of her back.

"Really? Is the smoke getting to you, too?"

Just to prove his point, those clear mismatched eyes lifted to meet hers. "No, it isn't, but you are."

Dessa bit back a moan. "Me? How's that?"

Those eyes never left as he drew one hand up to touch one finger to her chin, then slowly, achingly dragged it down the center of her chest, lingering between her breasts, teasing beneath the full curve of one. "You're absolutely, breathtakingly stunning in this. No one's been able to keep their eyes off you...but I'm the only one who gets to put his hands on you, too."

She couldn't fight the shiver that raced down her spine. "Yes," she breathed out, head fuzzy. "Yes."

Then he was pulling away, walking backward as she stood there in a daze, watching his every step as he made his way to the cozy alcove room their group had occupied.

Steps she didn't even have to second guess in following.

It wasn't just the music's beat pulsing through her body, but also her heart in her ears, in her chest, and quickly winding down that the most intimate part of her. A bright flushed across her cheeks as she followed several paces behind Elys, trailing after him by his sandalwood and citrus scent alone as he became lost in the crowd.

Then she could see him, pulling back the gossamer curtains, leaving them parted just a few inches, enticing her to join him inside.

There was no need for that, though.

Those last few steps and her legs were shaking, though she was more sure about this than she had been about anything else in her life.

Hands gripping the fabric, Dessa slipped inside and pulled them together. The privacy it gave them was little, so she threw up a ward that only blurred what could be seen. She couldn't manage anything else, not when she had the male she wanted so desperately sitting on the sofa, ready and waiting for her.

Still with her back to him and hands gripping the curtains, Dessa swallowed hard. "If we do this," she started, then paused to take a deep breath and blow it out. "If we do this, we're not going to be able to go back to how it was between us."

Elys's eyes were practically burning into her back. "I know."

"I'm not going to be able to look at you and just think of you as Elys, my best friend. I'll look at you like...like Momma looks at Daddy, or Thia with Gideon, or Allel with Mik. Milena with Eamon even. If we do this...I can't go back after that, Elys. Because I want you. More than you could possibly know, more than I've admitted aloud. Want and need and...I couldn't take it if this changes us in a negative way."

Silence and then... "And there is no way in hell I'd want to go back either. Not when you're all I've ever wanted, Dessa Jai."

The nickname had her smiling. Dessa Jai. What he'd always called her when he wasn't addressing her as princess. She used to get annoyed by it, but then it became an endearment. And now, with the way his voice caressed every syllable...Mother above, it made molten heat flare through her. All she wanted to hear was her name on his lips as he did everything to her and she to him.