Page 52 of Devils Don’t Deal

I lurched off my bench and probably almost cut off my own foot with his tail, but he released me faster than thought, and I was stumbling toward the dance floor. The music was one of the romantic things, so instead of beating myself against a crowd of strangers, I had to dance with my devil I had no business thinking of as mine. I’d never danced like this, but it seemed like people just closed their eyes and moved to the music without any kind of plan or rule. I could do that.

I almost clocked this scary-looking female, apparently a vampire if her bared fangs were any indication, and then my devil put his hands around my waist and pulled me into his dream. Everything blurred into rainbows and caramels as the world became him, his scent, his feel, the music floating through us, melting us together into one piece of pulsing flesh.

We moved through the crowd, spinning, leaning, falling, while I stared into his eyes and melted into an absolute puddle.

And then someone ran into me.

The yellow-haired fairy boy turned to look at me, blinking over-bright green eyes. He wasn’t in his right mind. Same.

“Hey! It’s the goblin-fairy. You came here looking for me? You should’ve jumped when you had the chance. I’m occupied now.” He smiled at the goblin girl next to him, who looked mostly bored but slightly amused by the idiot fairy boy.

I jabbed his chest. “Actually, I hoped I’d run into you so I could remind you that you owe me money. You never paid for your order.”

He blinked at me, staring while astonishment crossed his face. “I don’t owe you money. Your shop was graced by my presence. Don’t you know who I am?”

I glowered at him, almost forgetting about the devil still wrapped around me. “I know that you’re an arrogant and annoying thief. You’re also in my boyfriend’s club.”

The fairy boy fluttered his sparkly wings, sending glitter all over the place. That got mutters. This wasn’t a sparkle-wearing crowd, except for that one guy who had sequins glued to the backs of his hands. Some interesting choices were made.

“I don’t believe he’s your boyfriend. You’re too boring to date someone dangerous.”

Oh. He was actually right about that. The devil took that moment to lean over and lick the side of my neck, then nibble, then suck. What? Did other people exist? No, they did not. My knees went out, and he caught me against him, spinning me away from the fairy boy with his tail securing me.

“Wait! I need to get back to that monster,” I hissed, trying to look back at the fairy boy, but the devil was licking my neck again, and honestly, what else mattered?

“Forget about him,” he murmured against my neck.

“Okay.” My eyes drifted closed until I struggled back to myself. “No, wait, I’m here for the sole purpose of shaking him down. I tore up a perfectly respectable dress for this.”

His voice was low, persuasive, his mouth absolute heaven. “He’s a prince. The goblin was hired to keep him safe. There are five other bodyguards here in various glamours who will object to your interference. Also, I pickpocketed him when we were close and I have his wallet.”

I looked up at him, those glimmering, mischievous eyes and the slight wiggle of his brows while his lips twitched. I leaned against his chest and nipped his chin. “You’re amazing. And now I can take what he owes me then you can stick it back in his pocket.”

“Or I’ll put it behind the bar where his guards can collect it when he’s had as much fun as he can handle.”

I glanced over at the daffodil prince. “What makes him a prince?”

“You know fairies. Vicious blood. They have house wars, wipe each other out, and right now, he’s one of the lovely families that aren’t dead.”

“Nice. Oh! That’s how my parents met. My mom’s house was wiped out. Does that mean she was one of those…”

His eyes flickered with orange sparks. “Everyone’s a princess of something. But does it mean anything if there’s no money to accompany the title?”

“Absolutely. It means that people out there might have a reason to kill me. Maybe it wasn’t great-uncle Drestri, but someone in these house-war thingies.”

“Ah. House-war thingies. You’re clearly ready to engage in warfare.”

“Clearly. As long as I have my rabbit, I’ll be fine. Can we dance for real? Do they ever play anything like a waltz or a quickstep?”

He raised a brow. “You waltz and quickstep?”

“Of course. My mother taught me along with how to pour tea. Do you?”

He smiled then swept me into a waltz that somehow didn’t run into anyone else. Even more astonishing was that everyone else flowed around in their own waltzes, and the band morphed into music suitable for the fanciest fairy balls.

It was actually delightful, and much more me than the alluring stuff. We danced for ages, spinning out to float, hovering on the edge of his grasp before he pulled me back into his arms and we moved back into the round.

I gazed up at him as we danced, on and on and on until my whole soul was buzzing with happiness.