Chapter 340: Dance
"Oh... " she started, then laughed, but it sounded thin. "I was joking, okay? Don’t... don’t look at me like that."
Like what, I wanted to ask. Like I’d already tasted the thing she’d named and wanted more. Instead I stepped closer, my hand still straining with the weight of the bags. I reached out and, before reason could tell me not to, I cupped her jaw with two fingers and pulled her nearer until we were close enough that the crowd fell away again.
"Say it again," I said, hardly more than a breath. My voice had that rough edge to it... the one that made her freeze. "Say it like you mean it."
She blinked, horror and mischief warring across her face. Then, because she was who she was, because she always dared me in the smallest, most dangerous ways, she smiled and whispered, "Husband?"
It sounded different this time. Not a tease. Not armor. Just her... soft, exhausted, bewilderingly real. The market seemed to exhale.
My laugh came out nothing like humor. I crushed my forehead to hers, barely touching, and the heat of her startled breath steadied the ache in my chest.
"Good," I said, the word a promise and a warning. "Because I intend to keep you."
Aria teased me again about being dramatic, tugging me away from the shawl stall as I carried her growing collection of trinkets. I didn’t even try to fight it; I followed her truly like a trained dog on a leash, hands full of bags and yet still feeling absurdly proud of myself.
We stopped at a few more stalls... jewelry that caught her eye, candied almonds dusted in sugar, little clay figurines painted in bright colors. Eventually, I spotted a bench under a line of hanging lanterns and guided her to sit, setting the bags at my feet.
"Sit properly," I muttered, nudging her when she slouched, brushing invisible dust off the bench before she touched it, adjusting the angle of the bags so her legs wouldn’t bump them.
She rolled her eyes at me. "Kael, stop. You’re fussing like some overbearing... "
"... Husband," I supplied, dead serious.
Her mouth twitched, but before she could fire back, a swell of sound filled the square. Live guitar strummed sharp and warm, hands clapped to a quick rhythm, voices rose in playful call and response.
People had already taken the open space, skirts spinning, hands clasping, shoes tapping on the cobblestone in patterns I didn’t recognize.
Aria’s eyes lit up, and then two children ran toward us, tugging at her hand and chattering excitedly in Spanish. I caught only fragments... ven, ven, bailar... but I didn’t need a translation. They wanted us in.
Aria didn’t hesitate. She laughed, rose to her feet, and let them lead her away. I sighed, set our bags down, and gestured subtly to Niko in the shadows. He moved closer, always watchful, and I stepped after her.
The circle welcomed us instantly. Aria tried to copy the steps... turn, clap, twist... and failed miserably. She laughed until her shoulders shook, then stumbled right into me. I caught her, arms around her waist, and instead of trying again she just melted against my chest, still swaying with the music.
Her cheek pressed against me, her hair brushing my jaw, and I tightened my hold. We didn’t need to dance like the others. Just moving together, her heartbeat under my hand, was enough.
"I think I’ve used all my energy for the month or year maybe," she sighed, voice muffled against me.
I lowered my head, lips brushing her hair. "Then we should leave."
She shook her head stubbornly. "No. I don’t want to. I’m having too much fun. It’s like... everything feels too good to be true. I don’t want it to end."
Her words cracked something in me. I pulled back just enough to cup her face, forcing her to look at me. Lantern-light shimmered in her eyes, teary and raw, and my chest tightened painfully. I wanted to kiss her so badly it hurt.
But before I could, the same kids burst back into the circle, darting around us, tugging at Aria again. She laughed, bent to scoop one up, spinning him around as the others clapped and danced around her.
I stood still, heart full, watching her glow in the middle of it all... my woman, alive, laughing, beautiful beyond reason.
And I thought, selfishly, ruthlessly: mine.
Aria waved goodbye to the kids, pressing some candied almonds and sugared figs into their little palms before they darted off, squealing with delight. She was still flushed from dancing, cheeks glowing, her smile wide as we slipped out of the square and back into the winding streets where our ride was waiting for us.
I had all her bags looped over one arm, the weight of them nothing compared to the way I couldn’t stop glancing at her. She looked alive tonight, and I wanted to sear that image into my mind.
... and then suddenly, she stumbled.
At first, I thought she’d tripped. But when I caught her, her body leaned heavier than it should’ve, her skin too hot under my touch.
"Aria." My voice came out rough, sharper than I meant.
"I’m fine," she murmured, forcing a smile as if that could disguise the way her knees buckled.
"No, you’re not." I didn’t give her a chance to argue. I swept her off her feet, her bags forgotten in one hand, her body locked against my chest.
She wriggled weakly. "Kael, put me down. People are staring... "
"I don’t give a damn." My palm pressed to her back, and the fever radiating off her made my stomach turn cold.
By the time we reached the villa, her head had dropped to my shoulder. Her heat was worse... boiling under my skin, seeping straight into my fear.
"Damon!" My voice cracked like a whip at the head guard the second the door opened. "Call Dr. Álvarez. Now."
The man didn’t hesitate. He was gone before I’d finished climbing the stairs with her in my arms.
She stirred faintly, her voice small against my throat. "Kael... you’re overreacting. I told you, I’m fine."
"You’re burning up." My tone was harsher than intended, threaded with something closer to begging. "I don’t care what you say, I’m not taking chances."
She blinked up at me as I laid her down on the bed, her amber eyes catching mine with a softness that gutted me. "You’re talking like I might slip away from you."
My hands froze against the sheets. My chest locked, a sharp, hollow pain tearing open inside me. Because that was exactly it. That was exactly it.
Ivan. His blood on my hands. The silence after. The empty place that never closed.
I couldn’t force a word past my throat. My jaw clenched, my silence betraying me.
Her hand lifted, trembling, but steady enough to hold my face. She pulled me down until I had no choice but to meet her eyes.
"I’m not going anywhere," she whispered, her thumb brushing my cheekbone. "Not from you."
I swallowed hard. My chest was tight, too tight, like her words were breaking something open inside me.
I pressed my forehead against hers, feeling the heat of her fever burn into me. I didn’t care. "Then don’t," I rasped. "Don’t you dare."
Her palm stayed against my cheek, warm and trembling, and I knew it wasn’t just a fever... it was her. My Aria. Fragile in ways she never let the world see.
I should’ve let go. I should’ve prepared the room, found water, called Niko again to hurry the doctor... but my body wouldn’t move. I stayed where she anchored me, forehead to forehead, her breaths shallow but steady.
When she shifted, trying to sit up, I hushed her and reached for the hem of her clothes. "You’re burning up in this. Let me... "
She didn’t argue this time, only watched me with heavy-lidded eyes as I eased her out of the dress and replaced it with the soft cotton shirt I’d left folded on the chair earlier. One of mine. Too big, swallowing her frame. But she looked... right in it. Like she belonged Nowhere else.
I pulled the blankets over her, then sat on the edge of the bed and gathered her against me, her head tucked under my chin. My arms locked tight around her, because the thought of letting go, even to grab a glass of water, made something inside me recoil.
"Kael," she whispered against my chest.
I kissed the crown of her damp hair. "Don’t talk. Just stay."
And I meant it... stay in my arms, stay here, stay alive.
The knock at the door came too soon. Firm. Controlled.
I didn’t move. My jaw tightened as the knock came again, softer this time, respectful.
"Sir," Niko’s muffled voice followed. "The doctor’s here."
Aria stirred faintly at the sound, but I only pulled her closer, burying my face in her hair, breathing her in like I could fuse her into me.
Not yet. Not yet.
Another knock.
"Sir?"
"I heard you," I growled, but didn’t let go. My grip only tightened, my heart hammering like they were asking me to hand her over.
Her fingers brushed my shirt weakly, a small nudge against my ribs. "Kael..."
I looked down. Even fevered, she gave me that soft, stubborn look that always undid me. "Let him in," she whispered.
For a moment, I considered ignoring her. Pretending I hadn’t heard. But the weight in her voice... the trust.
I kissed her hair again, then forced myself to ease her back against the pillows, every part of me protesting. My hand lingered at her jaw, my thumb brushing her cheek as if to remind her I wasn’t leaving.
Then, with a final glance at her flushed face, I called hoarsely, "Come in."