Psyche's Heart : CUPID'S MATCH BOOK 3

Chapter 38

The music blares. I can feel it throbbing through my being and buzzing beneath my skin. Loud, upbeat, swing music that sends people raucously jiving across the sticky floor. It all blurs around me – swirling skirts, and men in suits, and bottles of liquor.

The air is hot and smells like sweat and alcohol. It's filled with mirth. And it's contagious.

I laugh as Valentine twirls me beneath his arm. I stumble into his hard chest, one hand still clasped in his, then pull away and allow him to spin me around again. He is laughing too. It makes him look younger, somehow; his electric blue irises bright, his face relaxed, his broad shoulders softer.

He pulls me back into him, one hand on the small of my back. And we move and turn and spin around with the beat of the music. His eyes don't move from mine, a wide smile on his face.

We dance until my feet hurt, and I'm gasping for breath – hot beneath the tattered leather jacket I still wear. I must look a mess. My hair is tangled. My face covered in a layer of sweat.

But I don't care.

It's strange – considering I'm in the Underworld and surrounded by the dead – but I feel alive. I feel free. The fuzzy thoughts have left my head altogether. All I can focus on in the movement, and the laughter, and the music that vibrates through the air.

By the platform where the band play, the hourglass of glittering sand turns; and behind the bar the clocks move their hands to nonsensical times. I've lost track of time, though. My heart pounds with different rhythm; stamping feet and the beat of the music.

Morpheus and his new blonde guy join us for a bit – Morpheus picking me up and spinning me around round. I throw my head back and laugh – my eyes catching Valentine's as he twirls a woman with long red hair around. He grins at me, giving me a half shrug, as he sends her spinning back to her original partner.

Finally – when my feet are aching and my movements slowly – Valentine takes my hand and gently pulls me through the moving crowd that shows no sign of stopping. I don't resist. A yawn playing at my lips.

He leads me past the bar to the exit, and in silence we make our way up the steep steps back into the main part of Morpheus's castle. I'm sleepy. I don't know if it's that, or the lingering warmth of the alcohol, that makes everything still feel a little fuzzy around the edges as we navigate the corridors.

When we reach the door of the bedroom, we stop. Valentine turns me to face him – his hands lightly resting on my arms. My breathing quickens. He is stood close. Too close. I feel his body heat burning into me. His eyes are fixed on mine, his expression serious.

And still, neither of us speak.

The silence is deafening. And it carries something in it – something that needs to be broken.