Dancing

“Yes. He is amiable. Nice to talk to. Has a good nature. And he seems to adore my sister. I believe he would make a wonderful husband.”

Radna was very much displeased by her answer. How on earth could she see Ewald as a good partner for her sister? He was not handsome enough, smart enough, rich enough. He was a mere Marquis. Radna was a Duke, please! 

‘Why are you putting yourself into this? You are to be with Lily, not Mia!’, he scolded himself. 

“Your Grace?” Lily called for him and he blinked a few times, before looking at Lily. 

“I’m sorry. I got lost in thoughts.”

“I see. Well, Lord Ewald is coming his way with Mia.”

Radna looked to the side and saw Mia with her arm on Ewald’s and he pursed his lips. She was glowing, beautiful, resplendent. And Edwald looked like a stone. A tone on Radna’s shoe! 

“Your Grace!” Ewald, puffing his chest, proud because he had the most beautiful woman inside those walls, attached to his arm. Yes, Lily was beautiful, like an angel, but Mia… 

‘She looks like an angel and a demon at the same time. A Queen’, Radna thought. He noticed that no man could avoid their gaze from her and instantly, he wished he could take her away, lock her somewhere that only he would have the pleasure of seeing her beauty. 

“Your Grace dances very well.” Lily said, smiling. “But unfortunately, I am a bit tired.” She said and pouted slightly at Mia. 

“Do you want to sit then, sister?” Mia asked, glad for the opportunity to leave the dance floor and sit for a while, far from those people that were making her uncomfortable. And, as much as Ewald was a gentleman, he was too.. clingy. 

“Yes.. I would love to, but.. “ She looked at the Grand Duke. “I don’t want to leave the Grad Duke without a partner.” 

“Maybe your sister could give me the honor.” He said, understanding that Lily wished to see Mia and him dancing. 

“Ah…” Mia said and glanced at Ewald. This one knew that he could not refuse the Grand Duke. 

“I’ll help Miss Lily Chapman to the seats. While that, please, Your Grace, keep my partner company.”

“With utmost pleasure.” Radna said and looked Mia in the eyes. She felt a chill run down her spine, but she smiled at him, of course. 

“Oh, great!” Lily said and looked at Ewald, who seemed to be in pain from leaving Mia behind. 

“Miss Lily, “ he started, when they were a few meters away, but Radna could still hear him, despite that, “do you believe your sister would accept me if I proposed to her?” 

Lily swallowed hard. She knew the man was interested and it was not that she didn’t think him to be a good match, but the Grand Duke was far better.

“I don’t know about my sister’s heart regarding that, My Lord.” She said, trying to be as polite and gentle as she could. 

“Hm… I must say, Miss Lily, if that is not crossing the line, I am in love with your sister. I have been for a while, but had never had the chance to make my feelings known and now…” 

Lily was feeling bad about the man. Couldn’t he say that Mia was not interested? And he was confessing it to her, of all people! Her, that was trying to make Mia, the Marquis object of appreciation and love, fall for and marry the Grand Duke!

“Maybe.. we should talk about it another time, my Lord.” Lily said as they approached the seats. 

“But of course.” 

While they were talking, the music started and Radna pulled Mia to him. His hand went to her waist and a little bit down. 

“Your Grace… your hand is too low.” Mia told him, a bit embarrassed. 

“Is it?” He whispered to her, and inhaled her scent. “Your perfume is delicious.” 

“Oh… ah…” She started to stammer, since she didn’t know what to say. 

“Is it to allure those men?” he asked. “Are you a vixen, Mia?” 

He addressed her by her first name. 

“Your Grace!” She scolded him. “Please! Keep the formalities.” 

“Mia, isn’t that your name? And we are to be family, so.. we can forget a little bit about those ludicrous rules.”

“No, by all means. I prefer it if we don’t forget or ignore them. Please” 

“I had a little chat with Lily. Seems like you and her are very.. linked.” 

“Of course we are. We are sisters.” She said. “And we’ve been through a lot, as you well know. It created a bond very hard to break.” 

“I see.” He inhaled again. The music was slow and they were very close. Closer than convention ruled. “You should go home.”

“Excuse me?” She asked, startled and tried to take some distance in order to look at his face, but he kept her in place. 

“You are drawing too much attention.” 

“And so how is this your business, Your Grace?” She asked.

“I don’t like that.” He whispered. Radna was becoming a clouded mind because of her presence. He could feel her scent, the warmth of her skin and whenever he touched her, the tip of his fingers would tingle.

“That is not what I asked you.” 

“You are to be my sister-in-law. I don’t want you tarnishing our family’s good name.” 

She chuckled. 

“How dare you?” 

“Manners, now.” He said and smiled. He had to fight the urge to lick her neck. 

“Oh, now you want manners?” She asked. “Let’s go to the side of this dance floor. I don’t want to keep dancing with you.” 

Radna smiled and nodded, dancing through the ballroom until they were almost out of the dance floor, but he went to a dark corner and pulled her there. 

“What are you doing?” She asked. Radna used the invisibility he could just to get out of there. As a human, he could not use too much of his powers.

They were in a dark hallway. He shoved her into a wall and crashed his lips onto hers.