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Chapter Thirty-SixRONSON
Iwas getting used to the sensation of smiling.
I turned, my arm tight around Mairwen's waist, her hand warm in mine, and my cheeks felt full and a little sore as I watched a loose strand of her hair fluttering as we spun. The ballroom's plentiful candles and lamps glittered around us, warming Mairwen's skin to gold. Her hand on my shoulder tightened, and her breasts caught my eye, just the faintest glimpse of the dark valley that made my mouth water, almost hidden by the lace collar worn to disguise her bite. Mairwen's eyes slid shut and she stumbled slightly, carried along to the music by my leading.
"Are you all right?" I asked, slowing a touch, but not enough to cause a hiccup in the dancers around us.
"Just a dizzy spell," Mairwen laughed, and she swayed closer, like she was about to lean against me, before recalling that we were in public.
I found a gap in the dancers and ushered us through it, guiding Mairwen off the floor for the moment, ignoring the polite rules of society to pull her close against my chest. If dragonkin was inclined to be scandalized by the sight of me holding my omega, then so be it.
It'd been a long time since I'd attended a ball. I might've declined this invitation too, if it hadn't been for Mairwen saying, "Oh, I always hated attending the assemblies. Standing to the side for hours in a crowded room, while others got to dance? What a bore."
My omega hadn't danced? That wouldn't do.
"You were dizzy this morning on our flight too," I said, bending my head so only she would overhear.
Mairwen hummed and shrugged, but she didn't pull away from my support. I slid my hand at her waist up to the back of her neck. She was hot to the touch, but the room was crowded and we'd just danced two rowdy dances in a row together. Even I was sweating.
"Are you tired?" I asked.
Mairwen shook her head, smiling and watching the isle swirling around the floor. "Although I suppose we won't get to dance together again," she murmured, brow furrowing briefly.
"Why shouldn't we?" I asked.
She twisted to stare up at me, lips parted to answer the obvious—we'd had our three socially polite dances already, and it was time to share our attention with the rest of dragonkin—but then her mouth hooked a wicked curve at the corners. "You're right. I don't mind being a scandal with you."
In that case, I thought, gri
"Time to share her, Ronson."
My growl rumbled, and I didn't straighten, glaring out of the corner of my eye at my brother, who possessed all the inconvenient timing in the world. But if Mairwen had never had chances to dance at any of dragonkin's balls, she certainly hadn't been escorted about by a collection of partners. I'd kept her to myself thus far. Niall would be a good second partner.
"Go on, then," I said with a sigh, diverting my kiss to Mairwen's temple, her lips stretched in a broad smile. "Don't accept a next partner we wouldn't—"
"I know," Mairwen and Niall chorused together, and then she slipped free of my hold and accepted my brother's arm.
I watched them take the floor together, Mairwen talking quickly as Niall studied the crowds around them. I had to clasp my hands behind my back to keep from rushing after, stealing my mate back for myself. With Niall escorting and Mairwen at a distance, the expressions of the surrounding dragonkin became clearer, and I eyed the company critically.
Betas stared at Mairwen with a mix of confusion and curiosity, and some with outright admiration. I couldn't decide if I was more offended by those who seemed baffled by my omega or those who looked a little too eager to renew their acquaintance. In the corners of the room, clusters of omegas whispered to another behind the cover of their fans, their gazes dissecting Mairwen, and I wanted to believe I saw approval in some of their eyes. The omegas of dragonkin had been out of my reach during my rule as alpha. If Mairwen succeeded in gaining their trust, the influence they might wield over their betas in the privacy of homes could be a great boon for any cause we wished to champion.
The slow advance of light brown wings pulled me from my study, and I stiffened at the sight of Mairwen's father approaching me. I hadn't forgiven Mairwen's parents for the horrible evening we'd spent with them, although I wondered now if my omega was more equipped to manage time with them. I wouldn't test the theory. We'd deal with the Posys if and when Mairwen asked to see them.
I considered turning away, snubbing Albert Posy, but he reached me before I made up my mind, murmuring my name with a deferential bow. I ground my jaw, glanced briefly at the dancers to make sure Mairwen was still smiling, and then answered him with a nod of my head.
He straightened and moved to stand at my side, watching the same scene, the same subject, that I couldn't help but be drawn to.
"I underestimated my daughter," he said softly, so none of the nearby eavesdroppers might hear.
"You did," I said, an easy enough answer to make.
"I am grateful, for her sake, that you proved us wrong."
"Mairwen is responsible for her own achievements, Lord Posy."
"You'll allow, at least, that you saw the potential we did not," he murmured.
I sighed and shrugged, already searching the room for a reason to escape this conversation. My gaze drifted, skipping back to Niall and Mairwen before returning to the edges, and I'd made nearly a full circuit of observation when I landed on a lone figure in a shadowy corner of the hall. A girl, nearly too young to be in attendance, I thought, stood at the fringe of the company.
"We do love our girl, Lord Cadogan," Albert Posy said. "Gwen and I are a love match, and it is more than we hoped for to see Mairwen in one as well."
The girl in the corner was short and plump, and her pale hair was scraped cruelly back from a plain face. She was staring at Mairwen with a kind of wonder shining in liquidy eyes, one I could relate to. I wouldn't have noticed her while I was dancing with Mairwen, but I suspected she hadn't been asked to the floor yet. Even the youngest betas seemed to give the girl a wide berth, their eyes turned away from her to avoid being caught and required to play the part of the gentlemen they were meant to be.
"I know it is of general society interest whether you might have an heir. But I do wish to say, as a potential grandfather, that we look forward to any grandchild with a great deal of familial joy," the beta continued.
"No doubt," I said, then turned to face him before he could continue and press for information. His motivation might've been as Mairwen's father, or simply as one of the many of society who'd wanted the same answer. Had I been successful? Had I claimed an omega and achieved an heir at last? "Any a
"Of-of course, my boy—"
I cleared my throat, and Albert Posy's voice died. "If you might excuse me," I said when his silence settled. He flushed but ducked his head and set me free.
I crossed the room. I'd vowed earlier not to dance with anyone but Mairwen or Beatrice, but since I'd only sworn that to myself, it was an easy enough one to break. The girl was too focused on the room to notice my approach. When it became obvious, with me only a yard or two away, she balked visibly, stumbling back toward the wall, searching side to side in the hopes she might find some other reason for my nearness.
Do you always walk like you're on your way to claim your right as alpha? Mairwen's voice rang in my head, along with her bright laughter, and I reminded myself to slow, to put on a smile I usually reserved for one woman and one woman only. I stopped when I was close enough to be heard but not so close as to drive the poor girl to climbing the wall to escape me, then offered a short bow.
"Forgive my interruption," I said, and the girl's eyes widened. "I hope you'll forgive me for not seeking an introduction from another source."
She gaped at me, pale and startled and no doubt confused.
"Lord Cadogan," I offered, to prompt her.
Her eyes searched our surroundings, her face turning almost green when she realized the nearby dragonkin were staring. Perhaps I should've waited for Mairwen to return from dancing. She would've instructed me on how to soften my approach. But the girl rallied, curtsying low. "M-Miss Rebecca Underhill, my lord."
I sighed, relieved to be done with that part, at least. "Miss Underhill, I wonder if you might do me the honor of joining me for the next dance?"
She froze and so did the men and women around us, but her cheeks regained color and she straightened and smoothed her skirts. "It would be my pleasure, Lord Cadogan."
It occurred to me as we stood side by side watching the dancers, that I should've asked for the remainder of this dance, because making conversation with the terrified girl was awkward at best and the gawking of the room were stifling. But none of it mattered because my eyes were fixed on another pair, honey and warm and shining, Mairwen's smile reaching me from across the room.
My mate accepted Gideon Millward's hand for the next dance, and I led Miss Rebecca Underhill to join them—conveniently, a dance where partners would be exchanged. And the girl brightened as she exchanged hands with first one gentleman and then another, all who paid her courteous attention and a polite compliment. And all the while, Mairwen beamed at me, holding my gaze.
Gideon secured Miss Underhill for the next dance, and I would offer him some sign of my gratitude later, because Mairwen's hand was in mine and she was leading me from the floor, through the throng of watchers at the edges of the room, out a pair of double doors and into the cool night on a large open stone terrace.
"Mairwen?"
"I love you," she gasped, dragging me out of sight of the windows full of shadowed figures and candlelight, her hand pulling free of mine, grasping my sides instead, tearing open the buttons of my coat so she could press herself closer to the softer cotton of my shirt. "I love you, I love you."
I groaned and sank against her, nuzzling my face to hers as she dressed my jaw and throat and cheeks in kisses.
"It was only a dance," I murmured, wishing I could go back in time, wondering if I would've had the sense to pick Mairwen out from the shadows too, to ask her to dance.
"She will never forget it. I will never forget it," Mairwen whispered, arms wrapping under my coat. "I'm dizzy again, Ronson."
I frowned and lifted my head, reaching to cup her face, but her gaze was clear and bright when I found it.
"Take me to the nest, mate."
I bent and Mairwen was ready, slipping her arms up to loop around my shoulders as I scooped her up beneath her knees.
"We'll go to every ball from now on," I said, my wings stretching and starting to beat, stirring the air around us.
Mairwen laughed. "Only if you promise to ask a young omega looking out of place to dance at each one."
"To make you happy? I'd ask a thousand," I said.