𝔇𝔞𝔴𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔇𝔲𝔰𝔨 (The Legacy Duet - 2)

Caedes

𝕸y heartbeat got louder, mixing with the boom of the fireworks. I could make a joke and move away. I could excuse myself. I could run. But I didn't. I didn't want to avoid anything. Not tonight. So I stayed, not looking at him, my gaze flickering to the faded sky.

"Want to dance?"

Dance? Dance? That's what he wanted to do? That's what he was thinking of right now?

For the life of me, I could not figure this man out.

He held out his hand and the feeling at the nape of my neck became more intense, more stirring, more than anything I could ever remember feeling. I let the doubts creep in and tangle in a nasty knot in my stomach. They screamed at me, shouting so loud they were all I could hear. The twisting of my insides felt permanent. I stiffened and floundered to come up with an excuse, but my mind went blank as Taimoor waited, his hand extended towards me. Even though I was dressed, I felt naked and out of control.

I couldn't decline or negotiate my way out of this.

I swallowed hard as my palm slid over his, my body jolting pleasantly at the warmth seeping from his skin, watching my fingers brush and then intertwine with his, his much bigger hand dwarfing and clasping around mine.

"Okay?" he asked. I nodded and he adjusted his hold on my hand, placing his palm on my waist and gently lifting me as he stepped into my space. The hand on my waist slid behind my back, pulling me up against him and into the dance frame.

"I don't know how to dance," I admitted as he pulled me in, standing right in front of me, so close that I could feel the heat rolling off his body.

"Are you admitting you don't know something?"

I gave him a sad smile. "And the sky hasn't fallen."

"Must be a night for miracles."

"You have no idea," I muttered, still reeling from his casual form of conversation and his dry sense of humor.

He took my hand and lead me farther out onto the terrace, pulling me in a little closer as the music from the ballroom below us swept us into a softer, more melancholic song. Low, sultry, comforting, and familiar, almost as if it was invented for this moment, It didn't take him long to find the beat and sweep us into a simple two-step, guiding my turns, the top of my head reaching his mouth in my heels.

"You're dancing, you can cross this off your list now."

"Bold of you to assume I have a list."

"Are you always ready with a comeback?" he said back, but they were just placeholder words, nothing-words. This thing was bigger than anything either one of us could say or would want to acknowledge.

"You tell me," I whispered as we moved across the floor, the starry night glittering around us and the crickets chirruping merrily, he met my eyes with a look I couldn't read. It felt like so much, like there was so much there, history and weight and meaning. I could almost hear the warnings in the back of my mind, taste the stale-sweet paste of my downfall on my tongue.