Always. Krystle Triplett
completely different to immortals. Humans were considered to have reached theirs by eighteen, but most immortals considered being frozen at their peak age the beginning of their adult lives. Lily knew it could happen any year between early twenties all the way up into early forties, whenever her body was at its peak physical form, but she still considered herself an adult now. Someone of his age might not.
Lily hoped it didn’t make him think less of her when she shook her head slightly. “I’m only twenty-two. An old maid by human standards but an infant by ours,” she said this with a forced laugh.
Tristan smiled at her comment. He had actually been smiling faintly at her since the moment they started dancing. “Well, you certainly aren’t an old maid, and I think you appear mature to me,” he said as his eyes shifted lower for a split second. “Definitely all grown up.” Lily felt herself blush. She had a fairly good idea what he was referring to; she did have an older brother who liked the ladies after all.
“So tell me something about you,” said Lily in attempt to fill the awkward silence his glance had caused. She knew he didn’t mean to look down because as soon as she started blushing, he looked rather guilty, like a naughty child being caught doing something they weren’t supposed to do. “Do you have any older siblings?” Lily knew he wasn’t old enough to have any younger ones.
“One older brother, Anthony. Still treats me like a baby.” Even though this clearly annoyed him, Lily could see how much he cared about his brother. Then his expression changed to one of worry. “He’s on the continent fighting Napoleon.”
This surprised Lily. “Really?” Their kind typically stayed out of mortal confrontations. They had to be careful not to show their immortality, and if they were injured on the battlefield then someone was bound to notice how fast they healed. “Isn’t that a little risky?”
With a rueful grin on his face he said, “That’s why I tried to stop him. I told him that they could handle it, but Tony is very stubborn…must run in the family, I guess. He was determined to help. I get letters from him pretty regularly, and so far, everything is going all right.” Lily could see the worry on Tristan’s face.
“I’m sure this will all be over soon, and he’ll be back home in no time,” she said with a reassuring smile. Lily knew what it was like to care about an older sibling.
He tilted his head a little to the side, a slight smile on his face again. “I can see now how you are related to William. You are both eternal optimists.”
She answered his smile with one of her own. Then the two of them just seemed to get lost in each other again. She could have stayed like that all night, wrapped in his embrace, but the orchestra had other ideas. The music stopped, but he didn’t let go of her. She couldn’t seem to pull herself away either.
As the other dancers made their way off the dance floor, they got caught up in the movement. He took her arm again and started walking her toward her friends. Lily noticed that Jane and William had made it over toward that side of the room. She gave her brother a smile, one he answered with a frown.
“Don’t you think you were dancing a little close?” he said to her once they reached the group. Apparently, a couple of her friends overheard this because they started giggling. She narrowed her eyes at him, a retort on her lips, but Tristan beat her to it.
“It was a crowded dance floor, William. If I didn’t hold her close, then she would have gotten swept up in the masses.” He gave her brother a chastising look before he said, “Besides, we were well in the lines of propriety.”
“I suppose so,” said her brother grudgingly.
Tristan turned to her. “It has been a pleasure, my lady.” He bent and kissed the back of her hand. “Till our next dance.” And with that he walked back over to his friends. Lily hated to see him leave. They had barely had a chance to talk.
“He’s so attractive,” whispered Anne to Lily. A sweet brunette who Lily had come to know pretty well over the last few weeks. She was rather shy around men, so she had pulled Lily over to the side, farther away from William. “He just seems very unapproachable. Whatever did you two talk about that had you looking so intense?”
Lily laughed to hide her discomfort. “What do you mean intense?”
“I don’t know,” said her friend. “You both just looked so absorbed in the conversation you were having. Neither of you would look away from the other for very long.” She shrugged it off like it was no big deal. “It’s hard to describe, but I got the feeling that the two of you were in your own little world.”
That’s exactly how Lily had felt. She didn’t want to tell that to Anne, so she just laughed lightly again. “Oh, I’m sure many of the other couples conversed the same way. After all, it is a waltz. The whole dance is meant to be rather intimate.” She blushed a bit at that last statement. Anne didn’t have time to respond because Lily’s next dance partner showed up just then.
Lily let him lead her onto the dance floor. They chatted about the weather or something equally unimportant until the music started. It was a lively country dance which made Lily happy. She was too busy dancing to have to talk to her partner after that. She couldn’t remember this man’s name either. Lily realized she really needed to start paying better attention, but it was hard with so much going on tonight.
After several more dances and a ton of awkward conversations with men who couldn’t seem to tear their eyes off of her breasts, it was finally time for her and Tristan’s second dance. Lily watched him make his way across the dance floor again; this time it was her who gave him a smile.
4
Tristan
Tristan’s steps faltered slightly. Holy hell. Her smile just then was like a revelation. It lit up her entire face. Before now he only saw her give him small grins, but this one was a full-blown smile. Once he recovered, he made his approach the rest of the way across the room. “My lady,” he said as he bent over her hand again. “I believe this dance belongs to me.” He turned his head toward his friend who was about to lead Jane onto the dance floor also. “Will, don’t tread on her toes.”
They all laughed. “Oh, I am an excellent dancer,” said William with a lofty look on his face. “You just make sure to not knock my sister over when you trip over your two left feet.” This got them all to laugh again.
As they made their way to the dance floor they separated into pairs. Lily turned to Tristan, a smile still on her face. “Thank you for teasing him like that. He had a look on his face like he was going to make things difficult again.” She glanced over at her brother and Jane. “And he thought we were dancing close.” She looked back at Tristan, and her smile faltered a little.
Tristan didn’t know what she saw on his face, but it must have startled her. “Sorry for staring, I just can’t seem to help it.” He looked over to where their hands were intertwined. “Lily, there’s something I think we need to talk about.” He paused again. This was going to be a tricky conversation; one he didn’t want to have in front of others.
He looked left. They were only about ten feet from the balcony doors. Tristan knew that if her brother noticed them gone there would be hell to pay, but he didn’t care. He twirled them toward the open French doors. Once they were outside, he moved them to the side of the balcony, away from prying eyes. They stopped dancing and he just looked down into her eyes. He was still holding her, their hands still clasped. “Lily… I…we—” Why was this so hard? Never in his life has he been unable to say what he needed to say. He opened his mouth again, hoping that this time he could get the words out, but before he could say a word, she beat him to it.
“We’re promised,” she whispered. Her head was down, so she was looking up at him through her lashes. He took his left hand and tilted her head back the rest of the way so that their faces were lined up. He then brought his mouth down to hers, giving her time to pull back if she wanted. She didn’t stop him.
It was just a